Hamilton Townhouse
Encyclopedia
Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
Hamilton is a town in South Lanarkshire, in the west-central Lowlands of Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It is the fifth-biggest town in Scotland after Paisley, East Kilbride, Livingston and Cumbernauld...
, South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, which is operated by South Lanarkshire Council. It contains both the town's main public hall (formerly known as Hamilton Town Hall) and public library, as well as various council departments, including Licensing, and community learning.
The building, although appearing to be one, was actually built in stages over a 21 year period. The library section of the complex was opened by Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
in 1907. The adjacent townhouse offices were opened by King George V in 1914 and finally the town hall completed the building in 1928.
In 2002, each section of the building was closed to enable the building to undergo a massive regeneration project, costing £9 million. This was required to bring the internal facilities to current standards, while restoring the exterior of the A-listed building. In August 2004, the new integrated Townhouse complex was opened to the public, with an official opening by HRH Princess Anne
Anne, Princess Royal
Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
in September.
The library won two awards: the "Architect Meets Practicality Award" for libraries of significant architectural interest that are practical and user-friendly and the "Mary Finch Accessibility Award" for the library which most addresses access issues from physical through to cultural barriers.