The Borough Hall

Significance

The Borough Hall was built as part of the former Greenwich Town Hall and is considered one of the most sophisticated and complete town hall complexes in London.

The complex opened in 1939 to great acclaim. It consisted of two main blocks, the Town Hall (known as Meridian House), which contained administrative offices and the council chamber, and The Borough Hall, with its two public assembly halls for entertainment and social activities.

The design of the building is inspired by the architecture of Dutch modernist architect W.M. Dudok, and, in particular, his Hilversum Town Hall. It has an asymmetrical composition of stacked volumes with clear lines and a clearly definable horizontal emphasis. The main elevations are faced with orange hand-made bricks, laid in a special bond to create a decorative striped pattern.

The building proved a popular and fashionable venue when opened and hosted celebrity performers of the day, staging both concerts and plays.

In 1965 the boroughs of Greenwich and Woolwich merged, and the administrative headquarters moved. Meridian House was sold to a private owner and completely refurbished at the loss of the majority of the original interior. The Borough Hall remained in council ownership and continued in popularity as a main entertainment venue hosting a variety of live performance including music, theatre and dance until 2018.

This continued use, for entertainment purposes, has helped preserve the interior of The Borough Hall. Internally it retains its original plan form in its entirety and is almost completely intact in terms of fixtures and fittings, including the marble-lined stair and the original timber wall panelling to both halls. Original light fittings, doors, handrails, terrazzo floors and heating equipment all still remain. This high degree of intactness, within the building as a whole, is increasingly rare and adds to the building’s overall architectural and historical importance and interest.

The Borough Hall and Meridian House were listed Grade II as an ensemble in 1990. The site lies within the West Greenwich Conservation Area and the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site.

Why is this theatre at risk?

The Borough Hall was added to the Theatres at Risk Register in 2022.

The building requires significant investment to modernise and bring it up to the standards expected by current audiences and performers. There are also concerns surrounding the level of general maintenance.

There have been various plans for the building in recent years. In 2014, plans were submitted for a proposal to modernise the building, retaining it for live performance use but in a scheme that would have seen the loss of some of the important interiors and included controversial extensions to the exterior. The plans did not proceed.

More recently, the council and producer / regional venue operator Selladoor commenced negotiations to reopen the theatre as a 640-seat venue, hosting performances for transfer to the West End. Sadly, talks collapsed in 2020.

A planning application has been submitted to convert the adjacent Meridian House, which is in separate ownership, to residential use. The council has engaged with us on wording of a proposed planning condition requiring details of acoustic insulation measures and successful post-implementation testing to safeguard the future operations of Borough Hall. To date the application and its corresponding listed building consent are awaiting determination.    

In April 2024, it was confirmed that The Borough Hall had been sold to developer Lita Homes for £2.475m. The new owner has since made public its desire to redevelop the building as a hotel.

The redevelopment proposals for both The Borough Hall and Meridian House pose a risk to the theatre and the opportunity to reopen it as a live entertainment venue for Greenwich. Redevelopment also presents a risk of harm to the overall significance of this historically and architecturally important town hall complex. 

Theatre potential

The Borough Hall functioned as a place of entertainment for the local community until Greenwich Dance Agency moved out in 2018. As proven by Selladoor’s interest, with the correct investment, the theatre has the potential to return to live theatre use and provide Greenwich with a modern performing arts venue that would be a great asset to the local community.

Current situation

Theatres Trust has had various discussions with the council over the years, highlighting the importance of The Borough Hall and the opportunity and potential for the building to return to live performance use. We also raised concerns regarding the sale of the building and requested that the council ensured the future viability of the building, for its original use as a performance venue, be considered before consideration for non-cultural uses.

The sale of The Borough Hall to Lita Homes, and the new owner’s suggested desire for the building to be redeveloped as a hotel, is therefore considered a missed opportunity for the people of Greenwich.  Theatres Trust remains strident in our opinion that we do not consider the collapse of negotiations with one theatre operator to disprove viability and have sought to speak with the new owner to understand whether there may be possibility of an architecturally sensitive scheme that could see live performance brought back to the venue. We maintain that should the owner wish to explore other uses for the building it will be important for them to evidence why the loss of cultural use is necessary and that there is no market interest for such use. We have also been in contact with the council’s planning department to make them aware of our views on this building.

The Borough Hall is currently being leased to event management company, Eden Group Operations. The company has recently successfully applied for a premises licence to allow it to hold events including live music and theatre performances, and to serve alcohol.. Eden Group Operations noted that there had been much interest in using the building from local bands, organisations wishing to host events and also from local dance and ballet schools. This indicates that there is indeed a local demand for additional performance and community space and helps support the case to see live performance reinstated at this historically important venue.

Theatres Trust will continue to champion the future of this historically important theatre, with the aim for it to be returned to theatre use, and to ensure that any refurbishment or redevelopment of the building is carried out sympathetically and is sensitive to the social, architectural, and historic importance of this fine building.

Main image, the interior of The Borough Hall by Ian Grundy