Hornsey Borough Council, eager to move from its original, outgrown home in Highgate, wanted to use land in Crouch End for its new town hall. (Bought in the 1920s, it had been set out as a public park.) However, the site was awkwardly-shaped, since the area was already built-up, and there was a lot to fit on it. In addition to the council chamber and offices, the council also wanted a large multi-purpose hall - and expenditure of no more than £100,000. Quite a challenge for the potential architect.
A competition was held in 1933, won by New Zealander Reginald Uren - a friend of Frank Pick and Charles Holden. In fact, he had accompanied them on their European trip which also inspired Holden's architecture for the Piccadilly Line. Indeed, in 1938 he and Holden would work together on the station at Rayner's Lane.
Uren completed this building in 1935, and the Town Hall was opened with great pomp on 4 November. The Duke of Kent attended; the Mayor was moved to tears; and there was top-quality entertainment for the guests. In the time it took them to tour the new rooms, the sprung floor of the main hall could be raised for dancing, using a mechanism still visible today. 
Although some disliked the new building, it also attracted much admiration and Uren won the RIBA London Architecture Medal for it.
Uren's first major British commission, the building bears his influence on all its details - right down to specially-designed window handles. Sinuous lines and geometric patterns repeat and complement each other, in the wood panelling, metalwork, glass panels, and floors. The design in the floor of the hall lobby is not purely decorative, but marks out a queuing system!
Such elegant practicality pervades the building, with natural lighting throughout and features such as a large committee room which can be subdivided into three smaller ones using sliding panels. And each sub-divided room still has its own clock; indeed, there are plenty of them throughout the building, and all were controlled centrally.
The tower is not purely decorative, but holds electrical equipment for the building. However, during construction, locals worried that a factory was being built!
Inside the council chamber, a sloped back wall acts as a sounding board. The curving table surface in front of the seating holds individual drawers.
Such attention to councillors' convenience is even more apparent in the Mayor's office. It had its own bathroom (a feature absent from many people's homes at the time) as well as its own fireplace.
In 1963, Hornsey became part of the new borough of Haringey, with a town hall in Wood Green. The former Hornsey Town Hall was demoted to an office building, and eventually ceased its municipal functions. The condition of the fabric has suffered; the effects of a flat roof and blocked gutters are painfully visible in the main hall. A fault-line is developing where the two parts of the building, the administrative and entertainment areas, meet.
The future of the building, now Grade II* listed, is not assured. It is currently the HTH Arts Centre, as well as a popular filming location (you may have seen its interior on Eastenders). Let us hope that it can achieve the stability, care and restoration it now needs.
There is one more tour scheduled, for 2pm on Sunday 17 January. Click here to book tickets.
