British architect Colonel John Garstin built the Kolkata Town Hall , to specifically provide a space for societal gathering of the British settlers in Calcutta. The construction began in the year 1807 but it took close to seven years to be completed in the year 1814.

The majestic Town Hall , in Esplanade Row West, B.B.D.Bag,  is an important heritage building of Kolkata. The construction of this building was completed in 1814. Rs 700,000 to fund the building was raised through a public lottery. It houses a museum, founded by the Asiatic Society in 1814, and showcases some of the brilliant exhibits covering different branches of learning.  The architecture is Palladian Neo-classical Doric in style.

Garstin also designed the Gol Ghar, a beehive shaped structure in Patna. It was supposed to be the first of a series of grain stores to prevent famine in these areas. It was ordered by Warren Hastings the then Governor General of India and was the first and last of the kind