New County Hall, Grade II listed building in Truro, England.
New County Hall is a three-storey concrete office building in Truro, Cornwall, which serves as the administrative seat of Cornwall Council. Its facades are divided by regularly spaced window openings and concrete slabs, giving the building its characteristic modernist appearance.
The building was opened in 1966 by Queen Elizabeth II to replace the previous County Hall, which could no longer meet the growing demands of local administration. The new structure reflected a broader shift in public architecture toward modernist forms that was common in Britain at the time.
The central courtyard holds 'Rock Form, Porthcurno', a sculpture by Barbara Hepworth, one of the most celebrated British sculptors of the 20th century. Paintings by Alfred Wallis, a self-taught Cornish artist who only started painting late in life, can also be found in the public spaces inside.
The building contains council offices, meeting rooms, and areas open to the public, all connected through the central courtyard, which makes for a useful starting point when finding your way around. It is worth checking in advance which parts are accessible to visitors, as some sections are reserved for administrative use.
The council chamber projects outward from the main block and overhangs the eastern facade, making it visible as a cantilevered volume from the street below. This feature, achieved without visible supports underneath, was a technically demanding detail for its time.
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