Enfield Civic Centre

Bronze statue of a smiling cherub holding a fish

The civic centre was commissioned to replace the aging former offices of the local board of health in Gentleman's Row.[1] The site selected for the new building, which had previously been occupied by open land,[2] was acquired by the Municipal Borough of Enfield in 1939.[1]

The new building, which was designed by Eric G Broughton & Associates in the postmodern style, was completed in 1961.[1] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with nine bays facing onto Silver Street; there were a series of small square windows amidst blue brickwork with a simple revolving door in the bay furthest north on the ground floor; there were nine larger windows amidst brown brickwork with two flagpoles below the window in the bay furthest north on the first floor.[1] The New River formed a decorative feature as it flowed past the front of the building.[1] Internally, the principal room was the council chamber on the first floor.[1] A mural by Gerald Holtom depicting scenes from local history was installed on the staircase and a bronze statue designed by Richard Bentley Claughton depicting the Enfield Beast was erected on top of a tall pillar in front of the entrance.[1]

The civic centre continued to serve as the local of seat of government when the enlarged London Borough of Enfield was formed in 1965.[3] It was substantially expanded by the addition of a 48.5 metres (159 ft) high,[4] twelve-storey stainless steel tower, designed by the same firm of architects, which was erected by Costain Group[5] at the north end of the original structure.[6] A bridge structure, displaying the borough coat of arms, connected the original structure with the extension: the expanded complex was opened by the Queen Mother on 6 May 1975.[7][8] A plaque was placed on the building to commemorate the occasion.[9]

In December 2014, a bronze statue of a smiling cherub holding a fish, which had been cast at the Singer Art Foundry and had been found abandoned at a local school, was given a new home at the civic centre.[10] An extensive refurbishment of the complex, which included asbestos removal, a change to open plan working and new timber grill ceilings, was completed at a cost of £7 million in 2017.[5][11]