Archive Sessions
Interested in history? Come and help our Archive Team to document and preserve our fascinating archival collections, and keep the legacy of our venues alive.
Our archive holds 1.4 kilometres of memories about performances, exhibitions and events from the creation of the Southbank Centre site in 1951 to the present day.
It holds documents, oral histories, programmes, artworks and objects from across the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and the Hayward Gallery.
In this volunteer session, you can help sort material, make archival decisions and make the material accessible to all.
Need to know
For your visit
This event is held at the Archive Studio Southbank Centre
Our Archive Studio is located on Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall.
Exhibitions at the Archive Studio are open six days a week.
Tuesday, 10am – 6pm
Wednesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.
Plan your visit
The Archive Studio is located in our Royal Festival Hall which is also home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.