Royal Festival Hall

An activated public realm on London’s Southbank

The public realm around the Royal Festival Hall was transformed by GROSS. MAX. in conjunction with the Rick Mather Master Plan and the refurbishment by Allies & Morrison of the Grade 1 listed former Festival of Britain building originally designed in early 1950’s by Robert Mathew and Leslie Martin. The Royal Festival Hall is unique in its conception as building as public open space accessible from all directions and from different levels. The pedestrian flow around and through the Royal Festival Hall is a major component of the transformation of the public realm. Festival Square has become a strategic positioned public plaza with cafe terraces, public art and performance space anchoring the Royal Festival Hall within the Borough of Lambeth and allows for diagonal pedestrian movement across. River Link Square transformed the formerly run-down left-over space between the Royal Festival Hall and the Hayward Gallery but also provides an important pedestrian route between Festival Square and Queens Walk. Riverside Terrace, the frontage of the Royal Festival Hall towards the river Thames, has undergone a major transformation by the removal of a former service road and the installation of an elegant slightly curved flight of steps which radius corresponds to be bend of the river Thames and the curved façade of the Royal Festival Hall. Our newly designed angled lamp columns are inspired by the former angled flagpoles fronting the riverside.

The Refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall and surrounding public area was the first ever winner of The London Public Space Award presented by Design for London and RIBA London.

The citation of the awards says: The scheme has reshaped the entire environment surrounding the Royal Festival Hall and has been critical to the renaissance of London’s South Bank, providing a world class public space”.