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The old egg-box town hall extension


Sheffield History

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Anyone got any memories of this crazy place?

Did you used to work there?

Let us know below...

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Why suggest it was "crazy". ??? Its architecture was distinctive...although, arguably, hardly complementing the existing Town Hall .It contained adequate office provision and always seemed "fit for purpose" and was, at times, a pleasure to visit...with a garden feature on the roof and, a staff restaurant better than most in the private sector.

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Looking back on it now , it doesn't look that bad  compared to the other buildings that are shooting up.

I think it looks better than the cheese grater.

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The design and appearance of the egg box always seemed to divide opinion and when I first saw it I thought WTF ! However over the years I became quite fond of it but its position next to the town hall was always a mistake.

In 1984 I began working in it, for 6 months, on the first floor in the extreme left end, overlooking Surrey St/Norfolk St. I think the floors were divided into either two or three area, divided by lift areas. Each office area must have been about an acre in size and was open plan office working. At least it sort of was open plan but, for example, all of the left hand section was taken by different housing department sections so 6 foot tall free-standing room dividers were used to separate off the different sections/work functions. This then created a maze like effect and on a few occasions when wanting to speak in person with another officer I was unable to actually get to them and had to phone them and get them to stand up and wave a piece of paper !

The good things about working in the building were that it was modern, it had a great staff restaurant and small kitchens on each floor for making drinks etc. And it also had a morning and afternoon tea trolley come round selling drinks, biscuits, cakes etc. The meeting rooms overlooking the Peace gardens were able to expand from small rooms to larger ones able to accommodate possibly 200 people.

The problem was that the building made people ill, with sore throats and chest infections common. The source of the illnesses was never satisfactorily discovered and the air con system and the carpets (they did give off a funny chemical smell) were both suspected.

Also the male toilets next to the staff entrances on the ground floor became used for cottaging for a while, which led to the occasional surprise for the unsuspecting !

At times it was impossible to get a seat in the restaurant as the majority of diners were not employees, often people out for a day's shopping !

My section eventually moved to offices on St Paul's Parade, above what is now Brown's, which were interesting but not suitable for a modern office work environment, all narrow winding staircases and attic rooms. Very Dickensian.

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