History of Frere Hall

History of Frere Hall

Frere hall is one of the iconic buildings in Karachi which now serves as an exhibition hall and library.

Frere Hall

It was built during British Raj in India. in 1863, August, the construction of it started and ended on 1865, 10 October. The architect of the building was Henry Saint Clair Wilkins, who was a prominent member of East India Company and a notable architect. The building's land was purchased for 2000 British Indian rupees, donated by Scinde Railway, one of the pioneering railways in Sindh during that time. The total cost of the hall was 180,000 rupees, 10000 rupees by Government and the rest by Karachi municipality. It was to serve as public hall. 

Bartle Frere

It was named after Henry Bartle Frere in 1884 who promoted Sindhi language to a great extent and made the first Sindhi dictionary. After the independence of Pakistan, the library on it was named as Liquat Hall. Liquat hall is the one of the largest libraries in Karachi, containing 70,000 books which included rare manuscripts and books.

The hall's ceilings were designed by famous artist Sadequain in 1980's and remained an incomplete project because of his death in 1987. Several other works of Sadequain are found in the hall, named as 'Galerie Sadequain'. Due to terrorists attacks in nearby US consulate from 2002 till 2011, it remained closed and reopened in 2011.

Sadequain design on the roof of Frere Hall

The building is built of primary yellow-tonned limestone, stone details made of white oolite stone. Red and grey sandstone are also used in the building. The roof of the hall is coated by Muntz Metal. The hall is surrounded by two lawns named Bagh e Jinnah or Jinnah's gardens.