 It hosted many mainstream and fringe political and artistic events and after the Second World War was the most popular register office used by high society and celebrities who required a civil marriage.Following a design competition set by the parishes of St Margaret and St John, the chosen design was a proposal by William Lee and F.J. Smith in an ornate Francois I style using red brick and pink sandstone, with slate roofs.The facility, which contained two public halls known as the Great and York Halls, was duly constructed and opened as "Westminster Town Hall" in 1883.