[2][3] Following a rapid growth in the local population caused by industrial expansion,[4] civic leaders decided to procure purpose-built council offices: the site chosen for the new building was a plot of open land on the corner of Broadway and West Ham Lane.

[1] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with eleven bays facing onto Broadway; the central section of three bays featured a full-height portico with rounded-headed doorways flanked by Doric order banded columns on the ground floor and round-headed windows flanked by Corinthian order columns on the first floor.

[6] The principal rooms included a council chamber and an assembly hall which was elaborately decorated by the French designer, Mons Boekbinder.

[13] It also served as offices for the education department of Newham council until a major fire broke out causing considerable damage on 26 June 1982.

[2] It was restored to the designs of the borough architect, Kenneth Lund, and was re-opened by Queen Elizabeth II as a conference centre on 16 July 1986.