[2] After Hornsey had become an urban district in 1894 and then been incorporated as a municipal borough in 1903, civic leaders decided this arrangement was inadequate for their needs and that they would procure a purpose-built town hall.

[3] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with seven bays facing onto a small courtyard in Hatherley Gardens with a wing of six bays enclosing the courtyard to the right; the main frontage featured wide steps leading up to three doorways with a canopy above on the ground floor; there were seven tall windows on the first floor with a wrought-iron balcony in front of the central three windows.

[11] Following a tender procurement process advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union, Mountview appointed architects Purcell to develop plans for the site to include publicly accessible theatres, acting and dance studios, production arts workshops and student welfare facilities.

[12] However, an independent review carried out in 2015 revealed that the cost of developing the site would be greater than originally anticipated and beyond the combined affordability of Haringey Council and Mountview.

[14] In November 2015, the London Borough of Haringey offered the town hall on a 125-year lease to anyone who would take on responsibility to develop residential accommodation on the site and allocate some of the proceeds to restoring the building.

[19] The modernist style and Art Deco interior of the Town Hall has proved popular as a location for film and TV productions.