London SE1 > News & Features > August 1999

Millennium makeover for Royal Festival Hall

The Royal Festival Hall has been awarded £12.5m for the first phase of the restoration of the South Bank building. "We will enable many more people to make the most of our unique riverside setting by restoring the roof terraces with their spectacular panoramic views of the London skyline" says Chief Executive Karsten Witt. "The restoration of the riverfront café will reconnect the spacious internal foyers with the Queen's Walk beside the Thames. We will make the building more welcoming and exciting by reinstating the original main entrances, clearing access routes and improving orientation."

American-born architect Rick Mather's plans for the South Bank Centre include turning Jubilee Gardens into an artificial hill with shops underneath.

www.sbc.org.uk