{"id":581,"date":"2019-06-11T12:51:55","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T12:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/london-southbank-centre-architecture-tour\/"},"modified":"2023-12-26T17:42:30","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T17:42:30","slug":"london-southbank-centre-architecture-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/london-southbank-centre-architecture-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"London Southbank Centre Architecture Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The London Southbank Centre along the Thames was constructed for the Festival of Britain in 1951, and it is currently the UK\u2019s largest arts centre. This massive arts venue<\/a> welcomes more than six million visitors each year, hosting more than five thousand dance, theatre, music, literature, art and debate events. To learn more about this unique centre, we joined the Southbank Centre Architecture Tour \u2013 and got schooled in history to boot!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read about other dance venues, classes, shows and events in London<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: India Roper<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

London Southbank Centre Tours<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Occasionally the Southbank Centre runs tours, such as the Behind-the-Scenes Tour and the Architecture Tour. Although I have little architectural knowledge, a volunteer named Michael introduced me to the Brutalist architecture of London , and specifically the Southbank Centre, with incredible insight and passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On his tour, Michael delved into the history of the Southbank and helped me to see beyond what I originally saw as dreary concrete buildings. Michael showed me the artistry of the Southbank Centre, which is like an \u201cinterlocking jigsaw\u201d with intersecting paths and stairwells and the detail of the concrete that was purposefully created with imprints from pine wood forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: India Roper<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The History of London\u2019s Southbank<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The tour begins in Royal Festival Hall, the only permanent building from the post-WWII Festival of Britain, constructed alongside temporary pavilions, a boating lake and the 365-foot wide Dome of Discovery. Michael explains that the land along the Southbank used to be marshy and was considered an industrial slum area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It stood in stark contrast to the area north of the river, which was more developed and seen as sophisticated. The Southbank was home to a brewery and tanneries, and the entertainment was viewed as seedy. However, after the marshland was drained, more than eight million visitors visited the festival spectacle over five months.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: India Roper<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Royal Festival Hall<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Royal Festival Hall in London is the most well-known building of the Southbank Centre. Although most famous for its large auditorium, you\u2019ll also find The Poetry Library, Clore Ballroom, Riverside Terrace Caf\u00e9, Central Bar and Skylon Restaurant and the Southbank Centre Shop within the Southbank Centre Royal Festival Hall. The building has evolved over the years, adding skylights and, but it was recognised and listed as Grade I in April 1988.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guests enter the hall through the buzzy open foyer, chatter echoing off the marble and limestone interior. The public may visit daily, so you can take advantage of free exhibitions and performances \u2013 or just explore the space, searching for fossils embedded in the floor. The clean lines evoke a modern-Scandinavian vibe, and the area overlooking the Clore Ballroom is reminiscent of a ship. In a punny way, that suits well, since the carpet patterns parallel a sound wave<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love watching shows? See our latest dance performance reviews<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When visiting Royal Festival Hall for a show, visitors can take the unique \u2018singing lift\u2019 to the auditorium, which is interestingly suspended over the foyer and insulated from the noise. Although it may not be obvious from the building\u2019s exterior, the hall\u2019s performance arts venue looks fittingly regal, indeed, with gleaming blonde wood. And, in 1989, the hall was established as London\u2019s unofficial \u2018third opera house\u2019 when it won the Evening Standard opera award in conjunction with The London Philharmonic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Queen Elizabeth Hall and The Purcell Room<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre<\/strong> holds 900 black leather seats, yet the performance space feels compact due to the intentional absence of a balcony. The venue, which also houses the Purcell Room, opened in spring 1967. The intimate space of just under 300 seats was designed for chamber orchestra, but it also suits experimental theatre pieces well \u2013 such as Wen Hui\u2019s <\/a>RED<\/a><\/em> dance performance<\/a>, complete with video projections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the whirlwind tour around the grounds, Michael showed me the underground tunnel connections that can usher superstars off the premises in secrecy. But even if you\u2019re not actually a celebrity, you\u2019ll still feel like a bit of a VIP touring the auditoria and facilities.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Morley Von Sternberg<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If You Go to the Southbank Centre<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Address: <\/strong>Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearest Underground Station(s): <\/strong>Waterloo Underground, Embankment<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearest Train Stations: <\/strong>Waterloo, Waterloo East<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening hours: <\/strong>Buildings at the Southbank Centre have different opening hours. See website below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Website: <\/strong>https:\/\/www.southbankcentre.co.uk\/<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phone Number: <\/strong>+44 2038799555<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All information correct and up-to-date at time of posting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Disclosure: The London Southbank Centre provided Dance Dispatches<\/em> complimentary access to the Southbank Centre Architecture Tour for an honest written feature. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The London Southbank Centre along the Thames was constructed for the Festival of Britain in 1951, and it is currently the UK\u2019s largest arts centre. This massive arts venue welcomes more than six million visitors each year, hosting more than five thousand dance, theatre, music, literature, art and debate events. To learn more about this […]\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[84,85,69,94,87,95],"class_list":["post-581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-england","tag-europe","tag-london","tag-spotlight","tag-uk","tag-venue"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/RFH-RIVERSIDE-TERRACE-BY-INDIA-ROPER-EVANS004.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":587,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581\/revisions\/587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}