The Royal Festival Hall is an iconic Grade 1 listed building on London’s Southbank. It was completed in 1951, and is the only part of the post Second World War “Festival of Britain” that survives.
Apart from some additions in the 1960s, the building had undergone only basic maintenance since construction, and consequently was in need of significant renovation. In particular, the acoustic performance of the hall needed to be upgraded to modern standards, the mechanical and electrical installations had to be almost completely replaced, and substantial quantities of asbestos were to be removed.
Davis Langdon was appointed as cost consultants in 1999, having previously executed various cost studies with regards to the refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall. The project was funded with generous donations from the Arts Council England (ACE), Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), the Department of Culture, Media and Sport as well as Southbank Centre’s own resources plus support from Trusts and Foundations, individuals and the corporate sector. The brief was developed to match the funds available, and in 2003 a scheme was signed off that comprised refurbishment of the Auditorium and Foyer areas (approximately 80% of the building in total). Davis Langdon costed various options as part of this process.
The project was done in four phases under three different contracts:
a) Offices-single stage lump sum design & build
b) Retail -single stage lump design & build
c) Foyers & hall-two stage design & build
d) Festival square-traditional single stage
b) and c) were part of a single two stage contract, for which the first stage was awarded in July 2004 and the second stage agreed in June 2005.
Davis Langdon delivered some grant services and specification writing.
The area of the building undergoing renovation and refurbishment is approximately 18,500 m2 spread over eight levels.
In order to restore the foyers to their original scope it was necessary to relocate the client’s existing offices to a new building (The Extension Building) adjacent to the Royal Festival Hall.
During the services refurbishment the entire main infrastructure was stripped out and replaced; all lifts were refurbished and a new glass lift was built; and the entire stage machinery and lighting was renewed as well as all the chillers and boiler equipment.
The building reopened to the public in June 2007, to critical acclaim, having been sensitively modernised, whilst still retaining its original character. It has drawn praise from artists and visitors alike.
