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The '''Royal Festival Hall''' 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).<ref>{{cite book| last=McKean| first=John| title=Architecture in Detail: Royal Festival Hall| year=2001| publisher=Phaidon Press Ltd| location=New York| isbn=978-0-7148-4160-1}}</ref> The [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]], the [[Philharmonia Orchestra]], the [[Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment]], the [[London Sinfonietta]], [[
The hall was built as part of the [[Festival of Britain]] for [[London County Council]], and was officially opened on 3 May 1951.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/may/04/royal-festival-hall-dedicated-1951 |title=Festival Hall scene of grace and dignity |date=1951-05-03 |work=Manchester Guardian |access-date=2018-05-01 |language=en |archive-date=26 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626082950/https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/may/04/royal-festival-hall-dedicated-1951 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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 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.<ref>{{cite web| title=Southbank Centre History| url=http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/about-us/history-and-archive/southbank-centre-history| publisher=Southbank Centre| access-date=29 July 2013| archive-date=11 September 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911225852/http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/about-us/history-and-archive/southbank-centre-history| url-status=dead}}</ref>
The complex includes several reception rooms, bars and restaurants, and the
The complex's variety of open spaces and foyers are popular for social or work-related meetings.
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[[File:London downstream from Westminster Pier geograph-3071087-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg|alt=View downstream from Westminster Pier, 1958|thumb|right|View to the south from Westminster Pier, 1958]]
The Festival Hall project 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<ref>{{cite web| title=Edwin Williams| url=http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=205350| work=[[Dictionary of Scottish Architects]]| access-date=2017-08-15| archive-date=24 September 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115050/http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=205350| url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Peter Moro]], along with the furniture designer [[Robin Day (designer)|Robin Day]] and his wife, the [[textile designer]] [[Lucienne Day]]. The acoustical consultant was [[Hope Bagenal]], working with members of the [[
The figure who really drove the project forward was [[Herbert Morrison]],
===Architecture===
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.<ref name=":4" />
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 the auditorium, they also had the effect of insulating the Hall from the noise of the adjacent railway bridge.<ref name=":5">{{cite journal| last=Goodfellow| first=Natasha| title=Royal Festival Hall: a building to lift the spirits| journal=Homes & Antiques| year=2008| url=http://www.homesandantiques.com/feature/royal-festival-hall-building-lift-spirits| access-date=30 July 2013| archive-date=11 November 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111072625/http://www.homesandantiques.com/feature/royal-festival-hall-building-lift-spirits| url-status=live}}</ref>
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'."<ref>{{cite book| last=Martin| first=Leslie| title=Buildings and Ideas: From the Studio of Leslie Martin and his Associates| year=1983| publisher=Cambridge University Press| location=Cambridge| isbn=978-0521231077}}</ref>
The hall they built used modernism's favourite material, reinforced concrete, alongside more luxurious elements including beautiful woods and [[Derbyshire]] fossilised limestone.<ref name=":5" /> The exterior of 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.<ref>{{cite web| title=Royal Festival Hall| url=http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/heritage/royal-festival-hall| work=From Here to Modernity| publisher=Open University| access-date=30 July 2013| archive-date=11 November 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111073527/http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/heritage/royal-festival-hall| url-status=live}}</ref>
The hall originally seated 2,901. The [[
The original building had lushly planted roof terraces; 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.<ref name=":0">{{cite news| title=London's new concert hall takes shape| url=https://www.theguardian.com/fromthearchive/story/0,12269,1591006,00.html| work=[[The Guardian]]| date=3 October 1949| access-date=2017-08-15| archive-date=22 February 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222104925/https://www.theguardian.com/news/1949/oct/13/mainsection.fromthearchive| url-status=live}}</ref> The building was constructed by [[Holland, Hannen & Cubitts]]<ref name=":1">Cubitts 1810 – 1975, published 1975</ref> at a cost of £2 million and officially opened on 3 May 1951 with a gala concert attended by King [[George VI]] and [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]], conducted by
"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 the future and that I was on another planet," said journalist [[Bernard Levin]] of his first impressions of the building.<ref name=":5" />
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===Organ===
The 7,866 [[pipe organ]] was built during 1950–1954 by [[Harrison & Harrison]] in [[Durham, England|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 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.<ref name=":7">{{cite web| title=Royal Festival Hall Organ| url=http://www.harrisonorgans.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ROYAL-FESTIVAL-HALL-Full-Spec.pdf| publisher=Harrison & Harrison| access-date=30 July 2013| archive-date=4 March 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304034919/http://www.harrisonorgans.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ROYAL-FESTIVAL-HALL-Full-Spec.pdf| url-status=live}}</ref>
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 Cathedral|Coventry]] and [[Blackburn Cathedral|Blackburn]] and 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.<ref>{{cite web| title=Pull Out All the Stops festival| url=http://www.pulloutallthestops.org/organ/| publisher=Southbank Centre| access-date=30 July 2013| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629130837/http://www.pulloutallthestops.org/organ/| archive-date=29 June 2013}}</ref>
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, a third of the organ was reinstalled. The remainder was reinstalled between 2012 and 2013, and voicing completed in 2014.<ref>{{cite web| title=History of the renovation| url=http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/pull-out-all-the-stops-the-history-of-the-organ| publisher=Southbank Centre| access-date=30 March 2014| archive-date=7 April 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407164705/http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/pull-out-all-the-stops-the-history-of-the-organ| url-status=live}}</ref>
===Acoustics===
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 [[
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 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.<ref>{{cite web| title=Royal Festival Hall| url=http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/acoustics_info/concert_hall_acoustics/?content=rfs| work=Concert Hall Acoustics: Art and Science| publisher=University of Salford| access-date=30 July 2013| archive-date=20 March 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320103602/https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto%3A300%2C400%2C500%2C700%7CRoboto+Slab%3A400%2C700&subset=latin%2Clatin-ext&ver=3.0.1| url-status=live}}</ref>
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===Heating systems===
A [[water source heat pump]] was used to heat the building in the winter and cool the building in the summer.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Rolls-Royce performance| date=3 May 2001| url=http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/home/rolls-royce-performance/181204.article| journal=[[Architects' Journal]]| access-date=10 December 2015| archive-date=11 December 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211022935/http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/home/rolls-royce-performance/181204.article| url-status=live}}</ref> Water was extracted from the [[River Thames]] below [[Hungerford Bridge]] using a [[centrifugal pump]]. Heat 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]].<ref>{{cite web| title=Ground & Water Source Heat Pumps – Royal Festival Hall| first=Dave| last=Andrews| date=25 March 2014| url=http://www.claverton-energy.com/introduction-to-thermogeology.html| publisher=Claverton Energy Research Group| access-date=25 March 2014| archive-date=25 March 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325163503/http://www.claverton-energy.com/introduction-to-thermogeology.html| url-status=live}}</ref>
==The 1964 alterations==
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===Assisted resonance===
[[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.<ref>{{cite web| last=Purcell| first=Jack| title=Dr. Leo Beranek| url=http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/5191.html| work=Oral History Transcript| publisher=American Institute of Physics| access-date=30 July 2013| archive-date=9 March 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150309062107/http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/5191.html| url-status=dead}}</ref> By 1962 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 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.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Acoustic Treatment of the Royal Festival Hall| journal=Proceedings of the Institution of Electronic and Radio Engineers| date=May–July 1964| volume=2| issue=3| page=64| doi=10.1049/piere.1964.0008}}</ref>
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 [[
==The 2007 renovation==
{{more citations needed|section|date=April 2019}}
[[File:Royal Festival Hall as seen from outside the Hayward Gallery.jpg|thumb|right|
The building underwent a substantial renovation between 2005 and 2007 aimed at improving the poor acoustics and building layout, led by architect [[Diane Haigh]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/sep/05/diane-haigh-obituary|title=Diane Haigh obituary|work=[[The Guardian]]|first=Peter|last=Carolin|date=6 September 2022|accessdate=12 January 2023|archive-date=12 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112024141/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/sep/05/diane-haigh-obituary|url-status=live}}</ref> of [[Allies and Morrison]] with consulting engineer firms Max Fordham LLP (M&E) and Price & Myers (structural).<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Royal Festival Hall Refurbishment |url=http://www.ajbuildingslibrary.co.uk/projects/display/id/229 |newspaper=The Architects' Journal |date=2007 |access-date=4 August 2014 |archive-date=22 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222104935/https://www.ajbuildingslibrary.co.uk/auth/login |url-status=live }}</ref> The interior of 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 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 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 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.<ref>{{cite web| last=Kirkegaard| first=Larry| title=Why we have changed the acoustics in the Royal Festival Hall| url=http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/sites/default/files/documents/rfh_acoustics.pdf| publisher=Southbank Centre| access-date=30 July 2013| archive-date=17 February 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217050404/http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/sites/default/files/documents/rfh_acoustics.pdf| url-status=live}}</ref>
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 a single day easier, and to add to the flexibility of the venue. Theatre consultants Carr & Angier worked with [[ISG Ltd|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 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 the airflow in the auditorium.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Stage Technologies' Technical Transformation at London's Royal Festival Hall| journal=Entertainment Technology| date=Spring 2008| url=http://www.stagetech.com/sites/default/files/royal%20festival%20hall%20ETNow.pdf| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001092959/http://www.stagetech.com/sites/default/files/royal%20festival%20hall%20ETNow.pdf| archive-date=1 October 2015}}</ref>
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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.<ref name=":7" />
Following a successful campaign to raise £2.3 million for a full restoration and reinstallation of 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.<ref>{{cite web| title=CD: Poulenc & Saint-Saëns organ works| url=http://www.lpo.org.uk/recordings-and-gifts/search-recordings/4283-cd-poulenc-saintsaens-organ-works.html| access-date=2017-08-15| publisher=London Philharmonic Orchestra}}</ref> The organ remains the third largest organ in Great Britain by number of pipes, with 7,866 pipes and 103 speaking stops.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}. The organ sounds uncomfortably constrained in the hall acoustic and is seldom played, either for recitals or to accompany orchestral concerts.
==Gallery==
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