Building    From 3/5/1951 

Royal Festival Hall

Categories: Dance, Music / songs

A 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre. The only remaining building from the Festival of Britain and the first post-war building to be protected with a Grade 1 Listing, in 1981.

The project was led by London County Council's then chief architect, Robert Matthew, with a young team of talented designers including Leslie Martin, who was eventually to lead the project.

Built on the site of the former Lion Brewery, the foundation stone was laid in 1949 and the building was officially opened on 3 May 1951.

A London Inheritance has a splendid post about the construction of the RFH, with lots of historic photos.

We've chosen this image to illustrate the page because it puzzles us and perhaps someone out there can explain it to us. It show the ground floor north-east elevation of the RFH.  Between the 3 pillars are entrance doors. Behind the temporary stack of metal barriers etc. (bad timing on our part) is the feature which we cannot explain. The slanted projecting frame surrounds air vents at the top and a projecting rectangular space with some surprisingly domestic-looking windows.  And it is nicely finished with blue and grey tiles. The tiles are surely original while the air vents may not be.  The whole arrangement is so different from the rest of the building that we feel there must be a story behind it.  Something to do with the Architectural strand in the Festival of Britain?  Got any ideas?

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Royal Festival Hall

Commemorated ati

Clement Attlee - Royal Festival Hall

This film shows what looks like a time capsule being buried, and Attlee layin...

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Cecil Sharp

Cecil Sharp

Collector of English folk-songs and dances. Born Denmark Hill. Spent 1882 - 92 in Australia. Developed an interest in English folk-music in 1899 and began his prolific collection which later expand...

Person, Dance, Museums / Libraries, Music / songs, Australia

1 memorial
Dame Marie Rambert

Dame Marie Rambert

Ballet dancer who had a great influence on ballet in Britain. Born Cyvia Ramberg in Poland. Arrived in England in 1914. Married Ashley Dukes in 1918, a marriage which lasted until his death. Founde...

Person, Dance, Poland

2 memorials
Roy Castle OBE

Roy Castle OBE

All round entertainer. Born Yorkshire.  Died at home at Gerrards Cross of lung cancer, although he was not a smoker.  Before his death he campaigned for more research into cancer and the campaign c...

Person, Dance, Humour, Music / songs, TV & Radio

1 memorial
Sophie Fedorovitch

Sophie Fedorovitch

Russian-born theatrical designer who worked with ballet choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton from his first choreographed ballet in 1926 until her accidental death in 1953. Fedorovitch designed for s...

Person, Art, Craft / Design, Dance, Theatre, Tragedy, Russia

1 memorial
Anya Sainsbury

Anya Sainsbury

Former ballerina. Born Anya Linden. She studied at the Royal Ballet School under Sir Frederick Ashton and others. She and her husband Sir John Sainsbury, established the Linbury Trust, which offers...

Person, Benefactor, Dance

1 memorial