The modern Council House is the latest in a series of buildings dating back to the Norman Conquest in which important decisions have been taken about the future of Nottingham. For centuries there were two town halls where important decisions for the city were taken, one for the English and one for the French. The Norman building, the Moot Hall, once stood at the corner of Wheeler Gate and the English town hall, or Guildhall remained at Weekday Cross until the 1880s. The affairs of the town were administered from a fine chamber in that building.

The last meeting of the Council in this building was in 1877, after which it met in temporary accommodation until 1879, when the old Exchange, which stood on the site of the present Council House, was adapted for use in 1879. But by the 1920s it was obvious that the Exchange and the area at the rear, known as the Shambles, needed rebuilding.

The services of esteemed local architect, Cecil Howitt, were commissioned for the prestigious project. The original architectural brief for the replacement of the Exchange and the Shambles was that it should be replaced by a shopping arcade and office accommodation. An attractive scheme was submitted which would have cost £500,000, but when councillors realised that they would have to spend a further £100,000 on new civic offices and a Council chamber elsewhere, they asked Cecil Howitt to revise his plans. He went back to his drawing board and returned with a plan for a building that would dominate the skyline, just like the medieval castle that had once stood on Castle Rock.

Choosing a style of architecture was not an easy task for Cecil Howitt – it had to be appropriate as a central building facing onto the market square, and it also had to suit its main function as the seat of local government. Finally he settled on a classical design, as something more fashionable was in danger of becoming dated.

The proposed design did not please everyone, of course, and some people argued that spending half a million pounds at a time of economic depression was unwise. But the Council gave assurances that the sum would be recovered from businesses using the premises. They also took the precaution of getting the plans approved by the President of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He concluded that the design would provide a "fine and noteworthy building worthy of the site, simple and dignified in treatment and suitable for its commercial purposes"

The contact was let in 1925 and the foundation stone laid in 1927, on what was to be the largest stone building commissioned in the country since the First World War. But controversy emerged when it was discovered that the market, until now always concluded in the square, was to be moved to the fringes of the city, whilst the annual Goose Fair, traditionally held in the square, was to be moved to the Forest Recreation Ground. Protestors objected that both market and fair had occupied the square for centuries, but the argument that the increasing congestion they caused made the move inevitable won the day. Thus the Great Market Place became the Old Market Square with its distinctive broad pavements, lawns and fountains.