Southbank Centre

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Southbank Centre is a complex of arts buildings located in London, England on the South Bank of the River Thames between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge. It comprises the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Purcell Room, The Hayward and the Poetry Library, and is Europe’s largest venue for the arts.

Nearby, but not part of Southbank Centre, are the National Theatre and National Film Theatre. This is one of the most popular public spaces in London, part of a very pedestrian-friendly stretch of the river extending eastwards from Westminster Bridge, past The London Eye, Southbank Centre, the Tate Modern and the new Shakespeare Globe Theatre to the east.

In all, Southbank Centre manages a 21 acre (85,000 m²) site from County Hall to Waterloo Bridge, including Jubilee Gardens and The Queen’s Walk, attracting more than three million visitors annually. Nearly a thousand paid performances of music, dance and literature are staged at Southbank Centre each year, as well as over 300 free foyer events and an education programme, in and around the performing arts venues. In addition, three to six major art exhibitions per annum are presented at The Hayward, whilst National Touring Exhibitions reach over 100 venues across the UK.

In February 2002, Lord Hollick was appointed Chairman of the South Bank Board Ltd, the parent company of Southbank Centre. In May of the same year, Michael Lynch, former Chief Executive of Sydney Opera House, was appointed Chief Executive.

The closest Underground stations are Waterloo and Embankment.

[edit] History and Development

Southbank Centre was developed as the South Bank Arts Centre by London County Council on former industrial land, which had been used for the Festival of Britain in 1951. The Royal Festival Hall is the only surviving building from the Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre came under the authority of the Greater London Council in 1965.

Southbank Centre facilities were expanded in a major building programme in 1965-68 comprising The Hayward, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room on the site previously occupied by a lead works and shot tower. The RFH was also extended towards the river and Waterloo Station at this time. The new buildings had their main entrances at first floor level and were linked by an extensive elevated concrete walkway system to the Royal Festival Hall (RFH) 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 the walkways.

Following abolition of the Greater London Council in 1985, Southbank Centre became responsible to Arts Council England as an independent arts institution (after transitional arrangements).

The walkway on the east side of the RFH, running along Belvedere Road towards the Shell Centre was removed circa 1990, to restore ground level circulation.

Southbank Centre's 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 the high degree of National Lottery funding required and likely high cost.

In 2000, a masterplan for the entire Southbank Centre site was produced by Rick Mather Architects. The main features of the masterplan are: a new administration building, now completed and occupied; the removal of access for delivery vehicles to the south of the Hungerford Bridge approach viaduct and east of The Hayward (by Waterloo Bridge); the creation of three new public spaces around the RFH (Festival Riverside, Festival Square and Festival River Link); modification of the Queen Elizabeth Hall undercroft and the lower two levels of The Hayward to provide a frontage onto Festival Square; and a new British Film Institute building partly underground on the Hungerford Car Park site. The developments at Southbank Centre since 2000 have been undertaken in line with the Rick Mather Masterplan.

Refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall site began in 2004. A slim new glass-fronted building, which provides office space for Southbank Centre staff, was inserted between the RFH and the approach viaduct to Hungerford Bridge. This new building was designed by Allies and Morrison, with detail design by Building Design Partnership who were commissioned by the contractor, Taylor Woodrow.

Also begun at this time and completed in July 2005 was the insertion of new retail units to the low level Thames elevation of the RFH, using the space below the walkway added in the mid 1960s. This development was designed by Allies and Morrison and the main contractors were ISG Interior Exterior. Gross Max are the landscape architects for the new public squares and Queen's Walk as well as future work to the areas to the rear of the RFH.

In the RFH auditorium, the natural acoustic is to be enhanced to meet classical music requirements, while being flexible enough to suit the demands of amplified sound. Other features include reconfigured seating and upgrades to production facilities and public areas, particularly WCs. Festival Square is to have patterned paving, informal seating and public art.

The Hungerford Car Park site lies south of the RFH and the Hungerford Bridge approach viaduct. However, the Hungerford Car Park site was designated as Metropolitan Open Land by London Borough of Lambeth Council in 2006.

One of the more notable temporary art works to appear at the Southbank Centre was Polaris by David Mach, exhibited in 1983 on the now-removed walkway outside the eastern facade of the Royal Festival Hall, near The Hayward. This consisted of 6,000 car tyres arranged as a lifesize replica of a Polaris nuclear submarine, a controversial political subject of the time. An arsonist tried to burn it down, suffering fatal burns in the process.

[edit] External links

Southbank Centre (Bookings and general information)
Richard Rogers Partnership (Masterplan section contains models and drawings of Rogers ambitious mid 1990s scheme to overhaul the Southbank Centre's Waterloo site)
Rick Mather Architects (Masterplan section contains impressions and description of the masterplan approach of 2000)
Allies and Morrison architects (Architects of 2003-5 works)
Gross Max landscape architects (Landscape works 2003/4)
Live Design website (Article on new exterior lighting for the South Bank Centre)
http://www.flickr.com/groups/southbankcentre/ (A Flickr group dedicated to pictures of the Southbank Centre)