Princess Alexandra Hall, The Royal Overseas League, London

Client: Royal Overseas League
Cost: N/A
Status: Completed

The Princess Alexandra Hall (formerly St Andrew's Hall) had for many years been at the heart of the Royal Overseas League's famous music programme but had recently become in urgent need of a re-design.

The hall seated 200 and had a very small proscenium with a very high stage. There was also an awkwardly angled side wall creating an imbalance in the room which had been made considerably worse by the addition of a heavily timbered gallery. This accentuated the asymmetry and resulted in a very poor acoustic.

To correct this, the gallery was stripped out, the proscenium was widened and the stage increased to allow it to take an ensemble of at least 10 musicians with the same audience capacity.

To re-balance the room a series of 4m tall, highly polished lacquer panels were placed down each side, with the windows on one side echoed by mirrors on the other - in the manner of the Galerie des Glaces at the Palace of Versailles. This not only balanced the light and reflections and made the room seem very much larger and elegant than before but considerably improved its acoustic too.

"The urge to pop into the Hall, almost every day, to enjoy the symmetry and clean lines of the design is one I cannot seem to resist. I am fast becoming a Princess Alexandra Hall anorak. At every opportunity I show off our new concert hall to anyone remotely interested and without exception they are full of praise for your design."

Robert Newell, Director General, ROSL

"The aim of the ROSL Annual Music Competition since it was established in 1952 has been to provide a central London platform for outstanding young musicians from the UK and the overseas Commonwealth. At last, after more than fifty years, we have a concert hall worthy of the musicians it is our privilege to support."

Roderick Lakin MBE - Director of ROSL Arts

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