Royal Institute Of British Architects |
| Hob Uid: 1159488 | |
Location :
Greater London Authority
City of Westminster
Non Civil Parish
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| Grid Ref : TQ2904980963 |
| Summary : No. 9 Conduit Street, London, is a terraced town house and now restaurant (2010) which was originally two houses, built in 1718. They were later remodelled by James Wyatt in 1778-9. The top storey dates to the Victorian period and is thought to have replaced a full-width pediment. From 1859 until 1934, the building housed the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) who initially shared the building with the Architectural Association and the Architectural Exhibition Society. Three top-lit galleries were added for their use at the rear of the building in 1859, and in 1879 first floor alterations created a meeting room which was later a library. Of the three rear galleries, just the one to the east remains with the west and central galleries replaced in 1910 and 1924 respectively. The building was converted to a shop at some stage after 1934 and it became a restaurant in 2001-2.Stuccoed with a slate roof, it is of four storeys with a basement and is three windows wide. The ground floor is rusticated and there is a giant order of Ionic pilasters through the first and second floors. The entrance is to the left and is flanked by Doric columns. The two ground floor windows have arched openings while those to the first floor are pedimented. On 17 July 1869, the first public meeting of the London National Society for Women's Suffrage (LNSWS) was held here. Part of a national federation of suffrage societies, they promoted the cause for women's suffrage through the production and circulation of a range of pamphlets and publications and membership was open to all, including working men and women. It was at the aforementioned meeting that "the audience heard for the first time women speak from a London platform in the furtherance of their cause." |
More information : No. 9 Conduit Street is a terraced town house built in 1779 to the designs of James Wyatt. Stuccoed with a slate roof, it is of four storeys with a basement and is three windows wide. There is a giant order of Ionic pilasters through the first and second floors with an enriched frieze and cornice, and the attic storey has a cornice and blocking course. The town house has a rusticated ground floor and an entrance to the left hand flanked by Doric columns with fluted frieze and mutule cornice. There are arched openings to the door and windows at ground floor level. The windows to the first floor have architraves and pediments. (1)
According to Pevsner and Bradley, 9 Conduit Street was originally two houses, built in 1718. They were later remodelled by James Wyatt for Robert Vyner MP in 1778-9. The top storey dates to the Victorian period and is thought to have replaced a full-width pediment.
From 1859 until 1934, the building housed the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Initially RIBA shared the building with the Architectural Association and Architectural Exhibition Society. Three toplit galleries were added for their use at the rear of the building in 1859. They were built to the designs of Charles Gray and J. Edmeston Jun. Of the three galleries they designed, just that to the east remains (2002) with the other two having since been rebuilt. First floor alterations were carried out by Macvicar Anderson in 1879, after which it was used as a meeting room and later, a library. In 1910 the west gallery was rebuilt to the designs of H.T. Hare. The centre gallery at the rear was rebuilt in 1924 and designed by Arthur Keen and Oscar Faber.
The building was converted to a restaurant in 2001-2. (2)
Today (2010) the building is still in use as a restaurant. (3)
The London National Society for Women's Suffrage (LNSWS) was formed in 1867, succeeding the Enfranchisement of Women Committee. Their first public meeting was held in the Gallery of the Architectural Association on 17 July 1869. According to Crawford, "the chair was taken by Mentia Taylor and the audience heard for the first time women speak from a London platform in the furtherance of their cause."
With its establishment, the LNSWS joined the Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage (MNSWS) with the intention of creating a federation of suffrage societies. Unlike the Manchester Society however, the LNSWS never operated from a formal office but instead gathered at the homes of its members and gave its official address as that of the secretary in post at the time.
The LNSWS promoted the cause for women's suffrage through the production and circulation of a range of pamphlets and publications and membership was open to all, including working men and women. The LNSWS split in 1871 with some members leaving to the form the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage (CCNSWS). The reasons for the split were due to the objections of some LNSWS members to the MNSWS's intentions of forming a London-based committee of provincial members and also to the involvement of some MNSWS members in working for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act. In 1877 the LNSWS and CCNSWS merged, under the name of the latter society. By this time those most in opposition to the ideas of the CCNSWS were no longer active. (4)
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