Coventry City Library building (former Locarno Dancehall), St Michael's, Coventry

Summary

A former dance hall, now the Coventry central library. Built in 1958-60 by the Coventry City Architects Department in association with Kett and Neve as the Locarno Ballroom, it was converted to the city library in 1986.

Description

MATERIALS: the structure is of reinforced concrete, with the roof carried by steel trusses. The ground-floor shops have plate glass windows and above this the facings are of Portland stone and white marble with panels of glass mosaic and Blockley City Mixture red brick laid in English bond.

PLAN: the building is of four storeys with a basement. The block has shop premises at basement, ground and first floor levels, with a concrete canopy projecting over the pavements on Smithford Way and the approach to the Lower Precinct. The block was originally planned to house the dance hall and ten shops. The former ballroom, which now forms the reading room for the library, is at the second and third floor levels and has a continuous internal gallery approached by staircases in the corners of the space.

EXTERIOR: the eastern front to Smithford Way and the south front, facing the approach to the Lower Precinct, are similar. The ground-floor shops have plate glass windows divided by piers clad in stone veneer, with Portland stone facing to their first floors. There was originally a continuous horizontal band of glazing at first floor level, but this has been altered at the corner to include full-height glazing. Above this the two-storey ballroom has rectangular panels of red brickwork, laid in English bond. The grid between these panels is formed by an abstract mural of glass mosaic, designed by Fred Millet, with bright colours standing out against a dark background. Horizontal slit windows are included in the mosaic panels and regularly spaced to form a patterned effect and intended to be illuminated from inside at night. White marble fascia panels form horizontal bands above and below this patterned walling. A concrete canopy projects over the pavement on both street fronts, in line with similar canopies on other buildings in the Upper Precinct and along Market Way. This has been removed at the corner where the full-height first floor windows have been fitted. he northern end of the front facing Smithford Way differs from the portion to its south. The ground floor has had a lean-to glazed canopy added in the late C20 or early C21. Both the first and second floors are covered with stone panels, with horizontal ventilation and window slits at first floor level, as before. The third floor is stepped back and has windows and wall panels set in a metal grid. To the right again the staircase and lift tower which forms the new entrance to the library, added after 1986, has glazed walls with canted corners and metal mullions and transoms.

The Library abuts other buildings on its northern and western sides.

The rear of the building, facing onto the service yard bounded by Corporation Street, Smithford Way and Lower Precinct, is L-shaped. Its western face has brick walling laid in stretcher bond with few window openings. The western face has brick walling with service doors at ground floor level and horizontal slit windows above for the shop premises. The upper two floors project outwards and the overhang is supported on substantial concrete beams. Walling is of panels set in a metal grid with two and three-light casements.

INTERIOR: the library was refitted about 1986 when converted to form the city central library and shop premises have been refitted since then. The original double-height dance floor area was preserved and converted to the library reading room. The balcony to all four sides of the roughly square ballroom was retained, although its facings and handrails were altered and the suspended ceiling was replaced. A dogleg staircase leading up to the balcony at the north-western corner was retained with its original balustrade, featuring circle motifs of cast steel. There were originally four similar stairs, one at each corner, but the others have been replaced. Other fittings, such as doors, sanitary ware and partitions, are mostly of post-1986 date. Former cloakrooms, bars and service areas have been converted to use as meeting rooms and offices, but storage areas, with brick walls and exposed concrete beams, remain. The extension housing a lift and staircase at the northern end of the building after 1986 originally had a lobby and reception area at basement and ground floor area, but this has now been adapted to house public lavatories at basement level.

History

The city of Coventry became a centre for engineering at the start of the C20, particularly cycle and motor car manufacture. Many of the most notable English car makers had their base in the city. This rapid influx to the centre of a medieval city with a pattern of narrow streets caused problems and the city engineer, Ernest Ford built a southern bypass and laid out Corporation Street and Trinity Street near the centre in the 1930s. Plans for rebuilding the area around the cathedral to form a civic centre were revealed in an exhibition, ‘Coventry of Tomorrow’ of 1939-1940, but the major air raid of 14 November 1940 destroyed large areas of the commercial centre of the city and led to a more comprehensive assessment and plan for the city’s future requirements. The city architect, Donald Gibson, who was appointed in 1939, outlined a new, zoned plan in 1941 which included a large shopping centre to the west, built around a central axis which was aligned on the tower of the old cathedral.

The size of what was planned initially caused some concern to the city’s Chamber of Commerce and to the Ministry of Town and Country Planning, which would authorise loans for compulsory purchase of land and development. The city plan was refined during the 1940s and a version, which was close to what was eventually built, was shown in the exhibition, ‘Coventry of the Future’ in 1945. This drew large crowds and general admiration which, in turn, prompted the Ministry to authorise grants to purchase and develop 274 acres in June 1947. The final plan was approved in 1949, but by this time work had already started on site; the Levelling Stone was placed on Victory Day in 1946 and Broadgate landscaped in the following year. On 22 May 1948 Princess Elizabeth opened Broadgate Square and laid the foundation stone of Broadgate House, the first building of the new city centre.

The City Library was originally built as the Locarno Ballroom in 1958-60 by the Coventry City Architects Department in association with Kett and Neve. The builders were George Wimpey and Co and the cost was £211,000. Shops occupied the lower two floors and the dance hall was approached by means of a glazed staircase tower in the middle of Smithford Way which led to a glazed bridge that connected with the ballroom at second floor level. The dance hall was sold by Mecca, its original owners, and became Tiffany's nightclub and concert venue and hosted some of the most well-known bands of the late 1970s. It closed in 1981 and lay empty until conversion to the city central library in 1986. The revolving stage and sprung dance floor were removed, but the deep balcony was retained. The external stair tower and bridge were demolished shortly afterwards, and the entrance is now by means of an extension to the north of the library.

Reasons for Listing

The Coventry City Library building (former Locarno Dancehall) is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* the building forms a lively element in the post-war shopping precinct development in Coventry;
* the mosaic art murals on the exterior by Fred Millett are of considerable quality and particularly well suited to their location and to the nature of the building for which they were designed;
* despite conversion to a library, the plan, and in particular the double-height dance-floor space of the ballroom can still be easily identified.

Historic interest:

* the building marks a change from the controlling influence of Donald Gibson as city architect to Arthur Ling, and this change can be seen both in the respect for the earlier buildings and also in the alternative style which also suits the activity which the building housed;
* both as the Locarno and then as Tiffany’s the dancehall was a rock venue that hosted notable bands and influenced Coventry bands of the 1980s;
* as a clear assertion of the spirit of the vibrant and re-born city of Coventry after the damage which it suffered in the Second World War.

Group value:

* for its contribution to the post-war Upper Precinct buildings in Coventry including Broadgate House (Grade II).

External Links

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