| Castleford Civic Centre | |
|---|---|
_003.jpg) The building in 2021 | |
| Location | Ferrybridge Road,Castleford |
| Coordinates | 53°43′29″N1°20′35″W / 53.7247°N 1.3430°W /53.7247; -1.3430 |
| Built | 1970 |
| Architect | Griffiths Lewis Goad Partnership |
| Architectural style | Brutalist style |
  Shown in West Yorkshire | |
Castleford Civic Centre is a municipal building in Ferrybridge Road inCastleford, a town inWest Yorkshire in England. The building, which was previously the offices and meeting place of theMunicipal Borough of Castleford, is now used as a local events venue.
After significant industrial growth in the mid-19th century, largely associated with the coal mining and glass industries, alocal board of health was formed in 1851. The local board established its offices in a new building, which became known as the Town Hall, in Carleton Street in the 1880.[1] Castleford became anurban district in 1894[2] and amunicipal borough in 1955.[3] However, by the 1960s, theMunicipal Borough of Castleford had outgrown the old town hall, and decided to commission a new building to house the council's administration and also provide a venue for events.[4]
The council organised a competition in 1964, which was won by the Griffiths Lewis Goad Partnership,[5] described byNikolaus Pevsner as a firm of "three very young architects".[6] The winning design offered two large function rooms, the largest with a capacity of 700 people.[7] The building was designed in theBrutalist style and clad in pre-cast concrete. The first phase of the building, consisting of the offices and events venue, was opened byKatharine, Duchess of Kent on 14 March 1970.[8] The proposed second phase, a council hall, was never built.[7] Sculpture for the building was commissioned fromDiana Dean.[9]
The building ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlargedWakefield Council was formed in 1974.[10] However, the building continued to be used as a local events venue. In 1980,Henry Moore donated a sculpture, "Draped Reclining Figure", which was placed outside the building, but it was removed in 2012 due to concerns around possible theft.[11]
In 2022, the council considered closing the events spaces due to increases in energy prices.[12] The following year, the council described the building as "under-utilised", and proposed to sell it off.[13][14]
The five-storey offices and three-storey events space form two sides of a square, on Ferrybridge Road, and the two are linked only at ground floor level. They are clad in precast concrete. There is a basement car park. The offices consist of two blocks linked by a staircase and lift tower, with each storey stepped back from the one below.[5]