63-462: The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre , one of central London 's leading cultural complexes. It is named after the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats. The Purcell Room has hosted a wide range of chamber music , jazz , mime and poetry recitals. In the context of the Southbank Centre it is the smallest of
126-494: A cost of £2 million and officially opened on 3 May 1951 with a gala concert attended by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth , conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent and Sir Adrian Boult . The first general manager was T. E. Bean, who had previously managed the Hallé Orchestra . "I was overwhelmed by a shock of breathless delight at the originality and beauty of the interior. It felt as if I had been instantly transported far into
189-467: A hurried burglary, but none has a compromised sightline. The ceiling was wilfully sculptural, a conceit at the very edge of building technology and, as it turns out, way beyond the contemporary understanding of acoustics. Robin Day , who designed the furniture for the auditorium, used a clearly articulated structure in his designs of bent plywood and steel. The original building had lushly planted roof terraces;
252-541: A number of rich and varied ensembles which alone or in combination could equal the dynamic scale of any orchestra or choral grouping, in addition to coping with the entire solo repertoire. The design principles enshrined in its construction gave rise to a whole new school of organ building, known as the English Organ Reform Movement , influencing in the UK alone the cathedral organs of Coventry and Blackburn and
315-655: A second concert hall and an art gallery on the eastern part of the South Bank site previously occupied by a lead works and shot tower (and which had been earmarked as a site for the National Theatre ). It was another 12 years before the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the linked Purcell Room opened to the public. Together, they were to be known as South Bank Concert Halls. In 1968, the Hayward opened, under direct management of
378-530: A set of three venues, the other two being the Royal Festival Hall , a large symphony hall, and the Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH), which is used for orchestral, chamber and contemporary amplified music. The Purcell Room was built at the same time as the Queen Elizabeth Hall, with which it shared a common foyer building and architectural features as an example of Brutalist architecture . The focus of
441-400: A single day easier, and to add to the flexibility of the venue. Theatre consultants Carr & Angier worked with ISG Interior Exterior and Stage Technologies to create a new working space over the stage area with four large movable lighting bridges, capable of load sharing to lift large touring productions without the need for custom rigging . Delstar Engineering supplied eleven lifts to form
504-659: A special project. A 1948 sketch by Martin shows the design of the concert hall as the egg in a box. But the strength of the design was the arrangement of interior space: the central staircase has a ceremonial feel and moves elegantly through the different levels of light and air. They were concerned that whilst the scale of the project demanded a monumental building, it should not ape the triumphal classicism of many earlier public buildings. The wide open foyers, with bars and restaurants, were intended to be meeting places for all: there were to be no separate bars for different classes of patron. Because these public spaces were built around
567-491: A third of the organ was reinstalled. The remainder was reinstalled between 2012 and 2013, and voicing completed in 2014. The Festival Hall was one of the first concert halls in the world to be built using the application of scientific principles, both theoretical and experimental. Hope Bagenal and his colleagues from the Building Research Station formed an integral part of the design team. The acoustic behaviour of
630-416: A wing running parallel to Waterloo Bridge behind the Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium. Its features were to include a glass pavilion, new arts spaces, a literature centre, cafes and commercial units. The proposed alterations would have replaced the skate park which has developed in the undercroft , hailed as the birthplace of British skateboarding, with retail units to fund the new arts spaces. By May 2014,
693-730: Is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London , England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames , not far from Hungerford Bridge , in the London Borough of Lambeth . It is a Grade I listed building , the first post-war building to become so protected (in 1981). The London Philharmonic Orchestra , the Philharmonia Orchestra , the Orchestra of
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#1732852340081756-813: Is a complex of artistic venues in London , England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge ). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the National Poetry Library , the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room ), together with the Hayward Gallery , and is Europe’s largest centre for the arts. It attracted 4.36 million visitors during 2019. Over two thousand paid performances of music, dance and literature are staged at Southbank Centre each year, as well as over two thousand free events and an education programme, in and around
819-669: Is an early example of the external treatment of such equipment. This idea later reached a peak in the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and Lloyd's building in London in the 1970s and 80s respectively. The roof of the building, which is supported independently of the auditorium, holds the plant room for both the QEH and the Purcell Room. The plant room's three massive vents are housed high above
882-464: Is reported to be fitted with a Helmholtz resonator to allow its acoustic properties to be modified. The access link from the foyer building (shared with the QEH) is through a massive sculpted concrete casing, visible from outside the entrance to The Hayward, near the overhead bridge. The artists' foyer is between the Purcell Room and QEH auditoriums at ground level. The treatment of the ventilation services
945-588: The Arts Council . The new buildings had their main entrances at first floor level and were integrated into an extensive elevated concrete walkway system linked to the Royal Festival Hall and the Shell Centre . This vertical separation of pedestrian and vehicle traffic proved unpopular due to the difficulty pedestrians had in navigating through the complex, and the dark and under-used spaces at ground level below
1008-892: The Brutalist movement better known. The buildings re-opened in 2018 following completion of the works. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic , which halted live performances and closed exhibitions, most of the centre's 600 employees were furloughed, and in July 2020 up to 400 were expected to be made redundant. The Hayward Gallery reopened in August but the Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall were expected to remain closed until April 2021. The resident orchestras at Southbank Centre are: 51°30′20.56″N 00°07′0.34″W / 51.5057111°N 0.1167611°W / 51.5057111; -0.1167611 Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall
1071-505: The Building Research Station ; Henry Humphreys, Peter Parkin and William Allen. Martin was 39 at the time, and very taken with the Nordic activities of Alvar Aalto and Gunnar Asplund . The figure who really drove the project forward was Herbert Morrison , a Labour Party politician. It was he who had insisted that Matthew had Martin as his deputy architect, treating the Festival Hall as
1134-543: The Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room (opened 1967) and the Hayward Gallery (1968), eventually becoming an independent arts organisation, now known as the Southbank Centre , in April 1998. The complex includes several reception rooms, bars and restaurants, and the Clore Ballroom, accommodating up to 440 for a seated dinner. A large head and shoulders bust of Nelson Mandela (by Ian Walters , created in 1985) stands on
1197-819: The Women of the World Festival , Madani Younis (previously Artistic Director at the Bush Theatre ) was appointed to the new role of Creative Director from January 2019, to work alongside Gillian Moore, the Director of Music, and Ralph Rugoff , Director of the Hayward Gallery. Younis resigned in October 2019. The role of artistic director remained vacant until the appointment of the former creative director of Manchester International Festival , Mark Ball who took up his position at
1260-678: The Age of Enlightenment , the London Sinfonietta , Chineke! and Aurora are resident orchestras at Southbank Centre. The hall was built as part of the Festival of Britain for London County Council , and was officially opened on 3 May 1951. When the LCC's successor, the Greater London Council , was abolished in 1986, the Festival Hall was taken over by the Arts Council , and managed together with
1323-480: The Greater London Council vol. 144, no. 857, 1968 July, p. 14-30 Official Architecture & Planning: South Bank Cultural Centre, London borough of Lambeth; Architect: H. Bennett, chief architect of the Greater London Council 1969 Aug., p. 918-923 51°30′23″N 0°06′57″W / 51.5065°N 0.1159°W / 51.5065; -0.1159 Southbank Centre Southbank Centre
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#17328523400811386-503: The Hall were relined to change their acoustic qualities and the undulating plaster ceiling panels were completely reconstructed using more robust materials to provide greater warmth of sound and support for bass frequencies. New adjustable acoustic canopies were placed over the stage's width to allow bass frequencies to resonate in the space above the stage, and for treble frequencies to be reflected back to improve feedback to performers. The stage
1449-515: The Jubilee Gardens Trust and the car park on the remaining land beyond Hungerford Bridge was sold in 2013, to extend the gardens as part of the Shell Centre redevelopment. The site is next to the National Theatre and BFI Southbank , but does not include them. The closest Underground stations are Waterloo and Embankment . Misan Harriman became chairman of the Board of Governors of
1512-493: The Level Two foyer café had been able to spill out onto the terraces looking out on the river, and original entrances were positioned on the sides of the building, enabling visitors to arrive directly at the stairs leading to the auditorium. The foundation stone was laid in 1949 by Prime Minister Clement Attlee on the site of the former Lion Brewery, built in 1837. The building was constructed by Holland, Hannen & Cubitts at
1575-578: The Southbank Centre in 2022, succeeding Susan Gilchrist, who had held the role since 2016. Elaine Bedell was appointed as Chief Executive in 2017; from 2009 to 2016 that position was held by Alan Bishop, former chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi International and Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information . September 2005 saw the arrival of Jude Kelly as the centre's Artistic Director. After Kelly stepped down in order to devote herself to
1638-671: The Southbank in January 2022. The history of Southbank Centre starts with the Festival of Britain , held in 1951. In what was described as "a tonic for the nation" by Herbert Morrison , the Labour Party government minister responsible for the event, the Festival of Britain aimed to demonstrate Britain’s recovery from World War II by showcasing the best in science, technology, arts and industrial design. It ran from May to September 1951, and by June
1701-464: The airflow in the auditorium. During the 2000s a building comprising seven commercial units was erected opposite the western side of the hall, with many of the Southbank administrative offices above. Shops and restaurants were added along the river frontage. The venue officially reopened to the public in June 2007. The refurbishment was estimated to have cost in the region of £91 million. A film documenting
1764-597: The auditorium, they also had the effect of insulating the Hall from the noise of the adjacent railway bridge. To quote Leslie Martin, "The suspended auditorium provides the building with its major attributes: the great sense of space that is opened out within the building, the flowing circulation from the symmetrically placed staircases and galleries that became known as the 'egg in the box'." The hall they built used modernism's favourite material, reinforced concrete, alongside more luxurious elements including beautiful woods and Derbyshire fossilised limestone. The exterior of
1827-428: The authorities, after prolonged experiment, had become convinced that no improvement in the hall's reverberation could be achieved by any further treatment of its surfaces. Longer reverberation would require modification to the main structure, reducing the seating capacity and the provision of a new ceiling. This was considered too costly, particularly as any hypothetical gain in 'warmth' or 'resonance' might well be by
1890-452: The building is its interior space and it makes few concessions to external decoration. From outside, even its position within Southbank Centre is not easy to discern. The Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room were designed, with The Hayward , as additions to the Southbank Centre arts complex by Hubert Bennett , head of the architects department of the Greater London Council , with Jack Whittle, F.G West and Geoffrey Horsefall. The venue
1953-425: The building process. A specific problem for performers was the difficulty of hearing each other on the platform. Both the angled 'blast' side walls and the plywood reflectors projected sound away from the stage. The general consensus was that the hall was 'too dry', not reverberant enough, particularly at low frequencies, and that the bass tone was weak. The definition was 'excellent' for chamber and modern music, but
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2016-451: The building was bright white, intended to contrast with the blackened city surrounding it. Large areas of glass on its façade meant that light coursed freely throughout the interior, and at night, the glass let the light from inside flood out onto the river, in contrast to the darkness which befell the rest of London after dusk. The hall originally seated 2,901. The cantilevered boxes are often described as looking like drawers pulled out in
2079-479: The campaign group strongly opposing the proposals called Long Live Southbank had gained over 120,000 members. As well as the skateboarders, the National Theatre also had objections. In early 2014, the scheme was put on hold when the Mayor of London, then Boris Johnson , said he would not support removal of the skateboarding area from the Queen Elizabeth Hall undercroft to under Hungerford Bridge. The development of
2142-574: The concert hall organs of the Fairfield Halls , Croydon , and the Bridgewater Hall , Manchester : there are also innumerable organs in other countries which have been influenced by it. However, the design of the organ in its housing made maintenance difficult, and by 2000 it had become unusable. It was consequently completely removed before restoration of the Hall itself began in 2005, and after restoration and updating by Harrison & Harrison,
2205-489: The concert hall space was almost entirely intact until this re-modelling, which saw its stage canopy and walls rebuilt in plainer more rectangular forms. Seating was reduced slightly to 2,788, including the choir seating. This was carried out in the face of opposition from conservationists, led by the Twentieth Century Society . On the advice of acoustics firm, Kirkegaard Associates , the lack of reverberation and
2268-439: The difficult performance conditions for musicians were corrected by changes in the fabric of the auditorium. Surfaces that had previously absorbed sound were transformed to support and sustain that sound. The tapestries on the back walls of the boxes were gathered up to increase reverberation, but can be redeployed, together with additional absorbent blinds above the stage and around the Hall whenever needed. The wooden wall panels of
2331-487: The east side of the RFH, running along Belvedere Road towards the Shell Centre was removed in 1999–2000, to restore ground level circulation. The Waterloo Site (the late 1960s buildings) has been the subject of various plans for modification or reconstruction, in particular a scheme developed by Richard Rogers in the mid-1990s which would have involved a great glass roof over the existing three buildings. This did not proceed due to
2394-509: The following year most of it had been dismantled, following the victory of Winston Churchill and the Conservative Party in the general election of 1951. The Royal Festival Hall is the only building from the Festival of Britain that survives. From 1962 to 1965, the Royal Festival Hall was extended towards the river and Waterloo station and refurbished. The London County Council (later, Greater London Council ) decided in 1955 to build
2457-514: The future and that I was on another planet," said journalist Bernard Levin of his first impressions of the building. The 7,866 pipe organ was built during 1950–1954 by Harrison & Harrison in Durham , to the specification of the London County Council 's consultant, Ralph Downes , who also supervised the tonal finishing. It was designed as a well-balanced classical instrument embracing
2520-418: The hall was not as effective for music of the late Classical or Romantic period. Sir John Barbirolli commented, "Everything is sharp and clear and there is no impact, no fullness on the climaxes." A water source heat pump was used to heat the building in the winter and cool the building in the summer. Water was extracted from the River Thames below Hungerford Bridge using a centrifugal pump . Heat
2583-518: The high degree of National Lottery funding required and likely high cost. In 2000, a masterplan for the South Bank Centre site was produced. The main features were In line with the plans, in 2006-7 a new glass-fronted building was created to provide office space for Southbank Centre staff as well as a range of new shops and restaurants. This was inserted between the RFH and the approach viaduct to Hungerford Bridge . New restaurants and shops along
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2646-406: The low frequencies which critics and musicians thought did not adequately reverberate in the hall. 172 channels were used to cover a frequency range of 58 Hz to 700 Hz, increasing reverberation time from 1.4 to 2.5 s in the 125 Hz octave band. However, the system never fully solved the problem, and as it aged it became unreliable, occasionally emitting odd sounds during performances. It
2709-450: The low level Thames elevation of the Royal Festival Hall replaced an earlier cafeteria area and accompanied pedestrianisation of this frontage, achieved by removing the circulation road. Between 2005 and 2007 the Festival Hall auditorium was modified, the natural acoustic enhanced to meet classical music requirements. Seating was also reconfigured, together with upgrades to production facilities and public areas, with provision of new bar areas,
2772-534: The organ, the original organ builders, Harrison & Harrison , finally completed the reinstallation on 29 August 2013. Further work including re-balancing the pipework followed and was completed in time for the re-inauguration of the organ on 18 March 2014, exactly 60 years since it was first inaugurated. The first orchestral and organ concert was on 26 March 2014 and was recorded for the London Philharmonic Orchestra's own live label. The organ remains
2835-400: The performing arts venues. In addition, three to six major art exhibitions are presented at the Hayward Gallery yearly, and national touring exhibitions reach over 100 venues across the UK. Southbank Centre's site, which formerly extended to 21 acres (85,000 m ) from County Hall to Waterloo Bridge , is fronted by The Queen’s Walk . In 2012 management of Jubilee Gardens transferred to
2898-403: The refurbishment, entitled This Is Tomorrow , was directed by Paul Kelly and produced by Andrew Hinton. The organ has been reconfigured to suit the new architectural and acoustic requirements: its depth has been reduced by 110 cm, but the basic principles of the layout have been respected. Following a successful campaign to raise £2.3 million for a full restoration and reinstallation of
2961-448: The removal of most shops from foyer spaces, and refurbished lifts and WCs. In early 2013 the Southbank Centre unveiled plans, which soon became a source of vigorous debate, for alterations to the Hayward Gallery and Queen Elizabeth Hall dubbed the "Festival Wing", funded by Arts Council England . The proposal would have provided arts spaces in a new high level L-shaped building linking the Hayward Gallery and Purcell Room buildings and with
3024-413: The reverberation time by a system called 'assisted resonance' in which some of the acoustical energy lost to the surfaces of the hall was replaced by acoustical energy supplied by a loudspeaker. Each microphone and its associated loudspeaker was limited to the one frequency by placing the microphone inside a Helmholtz resonator fitted into the ceiling in a range of sizes which resonated over a wide range of
3087-471: The sacrifice of other positive qualities for which the Hall was generally esteemed, for example, its clarity, its comparative uniformity of acoustic response and its freedom from echo. It was known that the ancient Greeks had developed the technique of using vases built into their auditoria which added resonance to strengthen tone or improve its quality, though the effect was very weak. The Building Research Station developed an electronic method of lengthening
3150-655: The scheme was granted planning permission in May 2015. The Southbank Centre also received funding for the conservation and limited alteration scheme, known as "Let the Light In", from the Heritage Lottery Fund and was raising funds from individuals for the final £3 million required. This more conservation-orientated approach has also included joining with the National Trust to make the centre's 1960s buildings' contribution to
3213-403: The seats was measured and tested in a laboratory to enable more exacting design. Careful consideration of external noise problems was undertaken. Following the opening of the hall, there was some criticism of certain aspects of the acoustics. This was partially attributable to the fact that some of the original specifications for room surfaces determined by the acoustic consultants were ignored in
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#17328523400813276-407: The stage platform. These allow the stage layout to be reconfigured in many ways to suit the nature of the performance taking place. The choir benches can now be wheeled out to provide a level floor for staged and dance performances. The space between seat rows has been extended by 75mm by rebuilding the concrete floor of the stalls, with a loss of only 118 seats. Cooling has been introduced by reversing
3339-514: The undercroft area was a key commercial and financing feature of the Festival Wing new building proposal and the scheme could not proceed in its proposed form without the commercial development or substitute funding which was not available in the amounts required. Arts Council England awarded a £16m grant towards a two-year programme of repairs and conservation work on the Queen Elizabeth Hall , Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery in May 2014 and
3402-467: The walkway between the hall and Hungerford Bridge approach viaduct. Originally made in glass-fibre it was repeatedly vandalised until re-cast in bronze. The complex's variety of open spaces and foyers are popular for social or work-related meetings. The closest tube stations are Waterloo and, across the river via the Jubilee Bridges, Embankment and Charing Cross . The Festival Hall project
3465-579: The walkway near the entrance to the Hayward and also towards the Waterloo Bridge side of the north corner of the roof. Large concrete ducts lead from the plant room: vertically to the foyer building below via the mysterious concrete tower, and horizontally to the QEH auditorium. Arup Journal: South Bank Arts Centre; Architects: H. Bennett, Greater London Council chief architect 1967 July, p. 20-31 Architectural Review: South Bank Arts Centre, London borough of Lambeth; Architects: H. Bennett, architect to
3528-550: The walkways. Following abolition of the Greater London Council in 1986, the South Bank Board was formed to take over operational control of the concert halls. The following year, the South Bank Board took over the administrative running of the Hayward from the Arts Council . Collectively, the arts venues, along with Jubilee Gardens, became the South Bank Centre, responsible to Arts Council England as an independent arts institution (after transitional arrangements). The walkway on
3591-405: Was extracted from the river water using a heat pump. The compressors were driven by two Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, adapted to run on town gas . It was highly successful, providing both heating and cooling for the Hall, but over-sized, and was sold off after the Festival of Britain . As a structure, the new Festival Hall was technically stretched, and maintenance was soon required. The building
3654-460: Was led by London County Council 's then chief architect, Robert Matthew , who gathered around him a young team of talented designers including Leslie Martin , who was eventually to lead the project with Edwin Williams and Peter Moro , along with the furniture designer Robin Day and his wife, the textile designer Lucienne Day . The acoustical consultant was Hope Bagenal , working with members of
3717-435: Was much compromised by these changes and the later additions of raised concrete walkways around the building to serve the neighbouring Queen Elizabeth Hall , Purcell Room and The Hayward, built in 1967/8. Leo Beranek , an American acoustics engineer who had undertaken measurements of all of the world's leading concert halls , had identified that the interior treatment of the auditorium was absorbing too much sound. By 1962
3780-406: Was reconfigured to provide more space for performers, and the arrangement of walls around the stage was altered significantly. The original Robin Day designed seats were restored and reupholstered to make them more comfortable, and more acoustically appropriate. The major refurbishment presented an opportunity to add to the infrastructure of the venue to make the process of 'get-in' and 'get-out' in
3843-484: Was substantially altered in 1964 by adding the foyers and terraces to the river side of the building, extending the footprint by 30 ft, and more dressing rooms to the rear. Alterations to the façades overlooking the river removed the decorative tiles, altering the Scandinavian Modernism of the building's primary public face in favour of a plainer and hard-edged style. The building's original entrance sequence
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#17328523400813906-478: Was switched off in 1998, which returned the acoustics to their poor state, so bad that they make performers who play in it "lose the will to live", according to Sir Simon Rattle. The building underwent a substantial renovation between 2005 and 2007 aimed at improving the poor acoustics and building layout, led by architect Diane Haigh of Allies and Morrison with consulting engineer firms Max Fordham LLP (M&E) and Price & Myers (structural). The interior of
3969-492: Was temporarily closed in September 2015, for major renovations, and re-opened in 2018. The Purcell Room stands between the Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) auditorium and The Hayward , aligned parallel to Waterloo Bridge , with the stage backing on to the side of the QEH auditorium (the north-west end). The auditorium is cantilevered out over the centre access road and its rear façade faces the entrance to The Hayward . The auditorium
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