Derby Marketplace, war memorial and Assembly Rooms

The Derby Assembly Rooms is a events venue in Derby. It was built in 1977 in the brutalist style.[1][2]

The Assembly Rooms building was designed by Hugh Casson and Neville Conder.[3] It replaced an 18th-century building of the same name that burned down.[4]

The venue has seen performances by Elton John, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Take That, the Manic Street Preachers, Tony Bennett and Frankie Laine. It is also notable as the original home of Bloodstock Festival which began there as a one day indoor event.

The building has been closed since a 2014 fire in the plant room of an adjacent multi-storey car park damaged the Assembly Rooms' ventilation system.[5] Historic England issued a Certificate of Immunity from Listing in April 2023, guaranteeing that the building would not be statutorily listed within the next five years.[6]

In October of 2023 a council-led investigation was announced into why the complex had lain unused for 10 years. A council leader commented that £20million levelling up funding awarded from April 2023 was insufficient to cover demolition and replacement with a new theatre.[7]

References

  1. ^ Hawley, Zena (21 January 2021). "This is the latest on what could happen to the Assembly Rooms". Derby Telegraph. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Derby Assembly Rooms and the brutalism battle". The Economist. 31 October 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  3. ^ Murray, Jessica (2 May 2021). "Last-ditch bid to save Derby's postwar modernist gem from bulldozers". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  4. ^ Hurst, Will (8 April 2021). "Derby Council set to approve demolition of Brutalist landmark". Architects' Journal. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  5. ^ "Derby Assembly Rooms demolition plan moves forward". BBC News. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  6. ^ Historic England (13 April 2023). "Derby Assembly Rooms, including adjoining multi-storey car park, Market Place, Derby, DE1 3AF (Certificate of Immunity from Listing) (1475117)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  7. ^ New investigation into Derby Assembly Rooms rebuild BBC News, 19 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023

52°55′25″N 1°28′35″W / 52.9237°N 1.4764°W / 52.9237; -1.4764

Categories