What's next...
New Landscaping & Lighting
Detailed plans have been developed for landscaping and lighting the areas around the Royal Festival Hall, including Festival Square, Riverlink Square and the Queen's Walk along the river from County Hall to the National Theatre.
Landscaping
Gross Max, architects for Bilbao, the Birmingham Bull Ring, and nearby Potters Field, are the landscape architects for the new public squares and Queen's Walk.
Work will commence in late 2006 to transform Festival Square, front door to Lambeth, with new paving, landscape and lighting.
Riverlink Square will bring trees to the terrace and light to the restored main entrance for concert goers. Limestone paving will extend the RFH foyer into the granite surface of the Hungerford terrace.
Lighting
Spiers and Major, lighting consultants for the BA London Eye and for Hungerford Bridge, have produced an imaginative scheme for the Southbank Centre which is being implemented in the context of the whole area.
Ideas include blue L.E.D. lights in the trees on Queen's Walk, (matching those already in place from Oxo Tower to the National Theatre) highlighting of the balcony edge, riverside terrace and the canopies, the Hungerford Terrace and Waterloo Entrance. New masts now light the Queen's Walk. The Sturgeon Lights have now been completely refurbished by South Bank Employers Group with the support of funding from Transport for London through the cross River Partnership. Further lighting concepts are being developed for Festival Square.
Royal Festival Hall foyers and auditorium
With the refurbishment designed by Architects Allies and Morrison, the major renovation of the Grade I listed Royal Festival Hall by contractors ISG InteriorExterior began in summer 2005. Funding comes from the Arts Council England Lottery Fund, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and donations and private sources. (See our Support Southbank Centre pages)
In the auditorium, the natural acoustic will be enhanced to meet classical music requirements and will be adaptable to suit the demands of amplified sound. This work is being done by acousticians Kirkegaard Associates. Improvements to the platform and production areas designed by Carr & Angier will increase the hall's capabilities and efficiency. Audience comfort will be improved by a reconfigured layout of the seating, with increased legroom throughout the stalls and terrace areas. Heating and ventilation systems will be upgraded. A new, expanded education centre is planned as well as improvements to access and to public facilities in the foyers.
The 50-year-old organ has been carefully removed and stored. This has provided an opportunity for essential renovation of the organ to be undertaken. The first section of the organ is to be reinstated in 2007, thus enabling it to be used in an orchestral context. The remaining part will be reinstated as soon as possible thereafter so that it can be used once again for recitals.
Jubilee Gardens
A brief for the park was completed in Spring 2004 and four concept designs for Jubilee Gardens were showcased at a public unveiling in the Royal Festival Hall on 9 May 2005, chaired by Rowan Moore, Director of The Architecture Foundation, and at an exhibition which toured Waterloo as part of the consultation process.
Local businesses, community groups, statutory authorities and the Southbank Centre have joined forces to form the Jubilee Gardens Steering Group which is leading the redevelopment. The plan is to set up an independent trust to manage the creation and on-going maintenance of the park.
West 8 were selected in June 2005 to develop proposals in response to the final brief and to undertake additional consultation.
Lambeth Council gave planning consent to the scheme in April 2006.
Work on the park will begin in the autumn of 2007 with completion due by the autumn of 2008.
Full details are available on the special Jubilee Gardens website where you too can have your say: http://www.jubileegardens.org.uk/
Hungerford Car Park and Waterloo Site
(Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery)
The future role of the last two remaining sites will soon be the subject of review. This review will be based on the new artistic vision at Southbank Centre and bfi southbank. These are expected to be published in the summer. As a result proposals for the two sites are unlikely to be announced until later in the year.
Sustainability
The Royal Festival Hall project incorporates two boreholes 125 metres in depth to provide cooling water for the air-conditioning system. Proposals are being developed with neighbouring organisations for this water to be put to a variety of uses including irrigation and non-potable water supplies.
The feasibility of using it for drinking water is also under investigation. Specialist's advice is being provided by Max Fordham and Davis Langdon Crosher and James
