Abbey Foregate Shrewsbury SY2 6LY
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Sir Offley Wakeman, a former chairman of the county council, on 25 July 1964. It was designed by Ralph Crowe, the County Architect, in the Modernist style, built at a cost of £1.8 million and was completed in April 1966.
It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, on 17 March 1967.
The design for the six-storey building facing Abbey Foregate involved continuous bands of glazing with concrete panels above and below: it also included an unusual ovoid-shaped council chamber which jutted out to the south-west of the main building.
Pevsner described the building as – the major monument to post-war modernism in the county.
Shropshire Council initially backed a scheme drawn up by HLM Architects in 2017 to revamp Shirehall to provide modern working facilities as well as commercial opportunities. However this plan has not progressed and the local authority has said that making the building fit for purpose would require ‘a multi-million pound investment’.
in September 2020, the council indicated that it would rather sell the building and move to the town centre. Then in October 2020, following an application for a certificate of immunity from listing requested by the county council, English Heritage decided not to list County Hall as the building did not meet the criteria for listing post-1945 buildings.
In May 2021 the Twentieth Century Society placed the site on its Top 10 Buildings at Risk List.
The Shrewsbury Civic Society is fighting hard to prevent the demolition.
There is nothing else quite like it in the county, this is an excellent civic building, well-made and individual.
Owen Hatherley: Modern Buildings in Britain: A Gazetteer
I have previously visited Durham where the County Hall is also under threat, and Newcastle, where the Civic Centre seems to have a real future.
This what I saw on my recent visit to the site.
Modern Mooch 