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 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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