| Summary : The Royal Festival Hall was built in 1949-51 and was the only permanent building to be constructed on the Festival of Britain's South Bank site. It was designed by the London County Council Architect's Department and was a replacement for the bombed Queen's Hall in Langham Place. Leslie Martin was responsible for the plan. The hall, known as the 'egg in the box', was built with foyers beneath and to either side. All were connected by stairwells, another of which led to a restaurant overlooking the river. All load-bearing walls were built from reinforced concrete, while the auditorium was clad in Derbyshire fossil stone, inside and out. In 1963-65 the exterior was rebuilt and faced predominantly in Portland stone with passages in blue-grey mosaic and some small areas of cream-brown tiling. At the same time as these alterations, foyers and terraces were added to the riverside façade and dressing rooms were added to the rear. The hall is ceiled in fibrous plaster with openings for lighting and for acoustic systems, and there is a suspended curved canopy of elm over the orchestra. The auditorium is stepped to a depth of 100 feet from the slate floor in front of the orchestral platform and main cantilevered balcony. The sides of the auditorium are gently canted on plan and mainly panelled with strips of elm. Boxes with fronts of curved profile are cantilevered off auditorium walls and connected by internal passages and backed with red wool hangings designed by Sadie Speight. The rear wall of the auditorium is canted with an organ in the centre built in 1950-53 by Harrison and Harrison of Durham to a specification by Ralph Downes and installed behind a screen of pipes designed by Leslie Martin. In the 1990s Allies and Morrison restored much of the open character of Peter Moro's foyers while in 2005-7 the hall underwent further substantial refurbishment. In 2010, a fundraising campaign was underway to raise £1.3 million to complete the restoration of the organ. |
More information : The Royal Festival Hall was built in 1949-51 and was the only permanent building to be constructed on the Festival of Britain's South Bank site. It was designed by the London County Council Architect's Department and was a replacement for the bombed Queen's Hall in Langham Place. Leslie Martin was responsible for the plan.
The hall, known as the 'egg in the box', was built with foyers beneath and to either side. All were connected by stairwells, another of which led to a restaurant overlooking the river. For all load-bearing walls the main structural material was reinforced concrete, while the auditorium was clad in Derbyshire fossil stone, inside and out. In 1963-65 the exterior was rebuilt and faced predominantly in Portland stone with passages in blue-grey mosaic and some small areas of cream-brown tiling.
The auditorium is stepped to a depth of 100 feet from the slate floor in front of the orchestral platform and main cantilevered balcony. The hall is ceiled in fibrous plaster with openings for lighting and for acoustic systems, and has a suspended curved canopy of elm over the orchestra. Sides of the auditorium are gently canted on plan and mainly panelled with strips of elm. Boxes with fronts of curved profile are cantilevered off auditorium walls and connected by internal passages and backed with red wool hangings designed by Sadie Speight. The rear wall of the auditorium is canted with an organ in the centre built in 1950-53 by Harrison and Harrison of Durham to a specification by Ralph Downes and installed behind a screen of pipes designed by Leslie Martin.
In the 1990s Allies and Morrison restored much of the open character of Peter Moro's foyers. (1-5)
The Royal Festival Hall is noted as a venue for live popular misic performances since 1951. (6)
In 1964, substantial alterations were carried out which involved adding foyers and terraces to the riverside façade as well as further dressing rooms to the rear.
An 'open foyers' policy has operated at Royal Festival Hall since the late 1980s, which has allowed public access to the main foyers throughout the day. (7)
Between 2005 and 2007 the Royal Festival Hall underwent refurbishment. As part of this project, one third of the organ was reinstalled. In order to restore the rest of the organ, a campaign called 'Pull out all the stops' has been launch to raise the necessary funds. Some funding has been received from the Heritage Lottery Fund, however it is hoped that this campaign will raise the further £1.3 million needed. Restoration work is due to begin in February 2011 and should be completed by 2014. (8)
This source contains more detailed information on the design and construction of the Royal Festival Hall. It specifically elaborates on the 'egg in the box' concept and how it overcame the accoustic challenges resulting from its location adjacent to Hungerford Bridge. The source also reflects upon contemporary responses to the opening of the Royal Festival Hall. (9)
The Royal Festival Hall is a listed building and information used to create this record has been taken from the National Heritage List for England - for a full description of the site please go to this source. (10) |