| Hounslow House | |
| Location: | Hounslow |
| Built: | 2017-2019 |
| Architect: | Sheppard Robson |
| Architecture: | Postmodern style |
Hounslow House is a municipal facility in Bath Road, Hounslow, London. The building is the headquarters of Hounslow London Borough Council.
After Hounslow Civic Centre became uneconomic to operate,[1] Hounslow London Borough Council decided to procure a smaller facility which would be located in the centre of the borough and more accessible to the public.[2] The site they selected on Bath Road had previously been occupied by a car park.[3] Linkcity were appointed the developer for the site in January 2017.[4] [5]
Construction of the new facility, to be known as Hounslow House, began in November 2016.[2] It was designed by Sheppard Robson in the postmodern style,[6] built by Bouygues Construction[7] at a cost of £66 million[8] and became available for occupation in April 2019.[9] [10] Approximately 1,300 employees were relocated during the move.[11] The new building was officially opened by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, on 1 May 2019.[1] [12]
Hounslow Library, which had been based in the Treaty Centre, relocated to the new building as part of the development.[13] [14]
The design involves a symmetrical main frontage with sixteen glazed bays, separated by geometric shapes made from anodised aluminium, facing Lampton Road.[15] The building, which measures, is seven storeys high. The ground floor is occupied by public meeting rooms; the library and registrar's office as well as the new adult education classrooms, are on the first floor; the offices of the council officers and their departments are on the second, third, fourth and fifth floors, while the council chamber is on the top floor.[15] Hounslow Clinical Commissioning Group and the Metropolitan Police also have customer access points in the new building.[1]
The design was highly commended in the borough-led projects category of the London Planning Awards in January 2020.[16]