The Southbank Centre secures £10m investment to help safeguard the future of the Royal Festival Hall

The Southbank Centre has today been awarded £10m from Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to undertake critical infrastructure repairs to the Grade I listed Royal Festival Hall.

Awarded through the Creative Foundations Fund, the grant will address urgent structural challenges, ensuring this world-class venue and the UK’s home for classical music remains fully operational, as well as helping to reduce its carbon footprint.

The critical work the grant will support includes replacing the building’s original single-glazed windows and its aging flat roof to stop water damage from flooding and improve energy efficiency. The funding will also modernise the auditorium’s rigging systems. 

‘We’re incredibly grateful to have been awarded £10m by Arts Council England and Government to protect the future of the Royal Festival Hall. For 75 years, the Royal Festival Hall has made a unique contribution to the UK’s cultural ecology; it is a world-class stage for global superstars as well as amazing home grown talent, the UK’s home for classical music, and a place where people of all ages come to create lasting memories. We are proud custodians of this unique cultural asset and this award will allow us to address urgent repairs – including fixing leaking roofs, failing window glazing and ageing rigging systems. In doing so, ensuring we can focus our attention and income on artistic innovation, talent development and serving the millions of visitors who bring this iconic site to life.’

Elaine Bedell OBE

The Creative Foundations Fund award follows the Southbank Centre’s recent publication of its Impact Report 2025, which highlighted that it welcomed 11.6m visitors to its 11-acre site in 2025 and that 55% of its programming was free. It also demonstrates the Southbank Centre’s success opening up classical music and orchestral experiences to more people – with 40% of its classical music tickets sold to people booking with the Southbank Centre for the first time.