Nottingham Guildhall was constructed in 1887/88 in a French renaissance revival style by London architects Thomas Verity and George Henry Hunt, replacing the original 18th century Guildhall which was nearby on Weekday Cross in the Lace Market area. The new Guildhall contained the Nottingham city magistrates court with the police & fire stations in a separate building on South Sherwood Street – the latter pair being in use until the opening of the new central police & fire stations in 1938. The Guildhall was last used by Nottingham City Council staff as office space from 1996 until 2010 when they moved over to Loxley House.
Plans to redevelop the site into a 162-bed hotel have been floating about for a few years now and currently a joint venture by Locksley Hotels and Ascena is looking to deliver the following:
‘[A] 13-storey, £120 million project aims to restore the Guildhall to its former glory, as well as build a large new block behind it.
Existing courtrooms in the building will be turned into bar and restaurant facilities, retaining original listed features.
The Guildhall building itself will house the main entrance to the hotel, while the extensions at the back of the building would be knocked down.’
This is one some of my friends tried a couple of years ago but for some reason I was doing something else and since then I’d fallen into the ‘they’ve started to turn it into a hotel’ trap that a few other folk had. I had a walk around the outside while in Nottingham earlier this year and noticed it still looked suspiciously derpy with some shit tagging on the inside of the windows. It was when I saw it start to appear on the socials a couple of months later that I decided to get a wiggle on and had a drive over with @raisinwing one evening. Unfortunately it got a bit too dark while we were in there, so I made a couple of solo visits soon after with better light and had a nice wander about.
Then
And now
The original police & fire stations are also listed and – I think – will be converted into a bar. I had a quick cursory glance in here but it turns out the mega loud alarm still works as @tarkovsky may have found out.
The 1887/88 police & fire stations (not my picture)
Main entrance
Plans to redevelop the site into a 162-bed hotel have been floating about for a few years now and currently a joint venture by Locksley Hotels and Ascena is looking to deliver the following:
‘[A] 13-storey, £120 million project aims to restore the Guildhall to its former glory, as well as build a large new block behind it.
Existing courtrooms in the building will be turned into bar and restaurant facilities, retaining original listed features.
The Guildhall building itself will house the main entrance to the hotel, while the extensions at the back of the building would be knocked down.’
This is one some of my friends tried a couple of years ago but for some reason I was doing something else and since then I’d fallen into the ‘they’ve started to turn it into a hotel’ trap that a few other folk had. I had a walk around the outside while in Nottingham earlier this year and noticed it still looked suspiciously derpy with some shit tagging on the inside of the windows. It was when I saw it start to appear on the socials a couple of months later that I decided to get a wiggle on and had a drive over with @raisinwing one evening. Unfortunately it got a bit too dark while we were in there, so I made a couple of solo visits soon after with better light and had a nice wander about.
Then
And now
The original police & fire stations are also listed and – I think – will be converted into a bar. I had a quick cursory glance in here but it turns out the mega loud alarm still works as @tarkovsky may have found out.
The 1887/88 police & fire stations (not my picture)
Main entrance
Above the door is a bust of politician Charles James Fox who died in 1806, it’s thought that it was actually on display in the original Guildhall and was moved here after its demolition in 1895.
Courts 1 & 2
Misc stuff from the upper floors
Cont.
Courts 1 & 2
Misc stuff from the upper floors
Cont.