Model of Proposed Civic Offices
1972
Architect's model of Reading Civic Offices
A symbol of the new post-war Reading, the Civic Offices were the centrepiece of a comprehensive redevelopment of the western part of the town centre to form a new Civic precinct, including the Butts Shopping Centre and The Hexagon theatre. It was planned from 1962 in connection with the construction of the first section of the Inner Distribution Road (IDR) between Castle Street and Caversham Road. There were also proposals to demolish the Victorian Town Hall in Blagrave Street, which houses the Museum, but these were abandoned after a public outcry.
The new Civic precinct was designed in the 1970s by architects from Sir R. Matthew, Johnson-Marshall and Partners. This model was made for the architects by Richard Powell Associates. The plan of the Civic Offices was an agglomeration of eight hexagons with the office floors forming a spiral around a central hexagonal core. The building opened in 1976, but had to wait until 17 March 1978 to receive their official opening by Queen Elizabeth II. In 2014 Reading Borough Council moved out of these offices and the building demolished in 2016.
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