Hove Town Hall

Hove Town Hall

With excellent transport links and physical access, Hove Town Hall is often the default choice for community events.  However poor acoustics in the main hall and lack of contrast may present some problems for visually and hearing impaired users.

Access information:

  • There is level access
  • Accessible toilets on each floor
  • Infrared and induction loops in each main room
  • Venue Description: The building is used for multi use purposes - show performances, Council meetings, functions and offices including the Ceremony Room for marriages and citizenship.

    Hove Town Hall, also known as the Hove Centre, boasts a dedicated audio visual suite, concert hall and the flexibility to offer the perfect location for many smaller events. Lord Rupert Nevill opened the new Hove Town Hall, designed by architect John Wells-Thorpe, on 5 March 1974, following a fire which gutted the original Town Hall which is memorialised in a modern etched glass window inside.

  • Address: Norton Road
    Hove
    BN3 4AH

  • Phone: 01273 2926978
  • Web: www.brighton-hove.gov.uk
  • Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  • Getting There / Parking: It is located in the centre of Hove, is easily accessed by bus and is conveniently placed opposite a public car park. The underpass from the car park to the basement cloakrooms is now closed.

    The following buses serve Hove Town Hall regularly all day long -1, 1a, 2, 2a, 5, 5a, 5b, 6, 11x, 46, 49, 49a and 81.

    There is a dedicated slip road directly outside the entrance with disabled parking bays nearby.

  • Getting In: The main entrance is in Norton Road. It is wide and level with sliding doors and push pads outside.

    There is another entrance in Tisbury Road which is not so easily accessed.

  • Getting Around / Facilities: Hove Town Hall has 4 floors. There are 2 large public lifts to the left of the main entrance with ample space for wheelchairs and scooters. There are push pads to open doors in all main rooms.

    The parking shop and the Planning Department entrances are located also on Norton Road a few yards north, with another level entrance on Tisbury Road. There is a slight sloped ramp and 2 steps joining the two buildings. There are hand rails where needed and sloped ramps for all the main public spaces and lowered sections to the counter for reception and the Ticket Office.

    There may be a lack of access to top-floor dressing rooms for wheelchair users.

    The pine decor is architecturally appreciative though some people with visual impairments may find a lack of contrasts or tones to distinguish between walls, frames and doors.

    Staff are very helpful and are trained in assisting people. Wayfinding for signage is appropriate and is to be improved soon. Accessible toilets are on all floors apart from the balcony.

    The public gallery overlooking the Council Chamber can be a bit vertiginous at the top so those who wish to be seated at the ground floor can do so with permission. The is an infra red and induction loop system for each main room.

  • Additional Comments: Future improvements will be New signage (tactile where relevant) and lift access to the balcony to the Great Hall and the possibility of using the existing goods lift for passenger and evacuation use and an accessible toilet to the balcony.
  • Reviewed By: Roy
  • Review Date: November 2008, updated 3/3/2011 by Pappya