(menu)

Venue Focus Magazine Feature, Summer 2006 - 'Great Space'

Address:	The Royal Institute of British Architects - RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London W1
Tel	020 7307 3888
Fax:	020 7307 3763
Email:	Contact by email
Website:	Visit their website

Venue Focus Magazine Feature, Summer 2006 - 'Great Space' Information:

As you’d expect, the newly refurbished RIBA is architecturally stunning, says Helen Lewis

Looks aren’t everything when it comes to choosing a venue – but when the place in question is as stunning as the headquarters of The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), they can certainly help your event stand out. The exterior of this Grade II-listed 1930s building north of Oxford Circus looks imposing enough, but step through the revolving doors and you’re inside an architectural showcase of etched glass, wood and black marble.

The key to the building’s success is its fusion of old and new – it offers all the atmosphere you’d expect from a historic building, but with the convenience of a modern venue. The most impressive spaces are the high-ceilinged Florence Hall, which has full-length windows, an adjoining terrace garden and was recently refurbished by Conran & Partners; the wood-panelled Jarvis Auditorium on the ground floor; and the first-floor Lutyens meeting room, with its built-in balcony and original artwork.

These rooms, and ten other spaces, date back to the building’s construction and exemplify its art deco style. But a recently completed expansion and upgrade programme has added another ten rooms, designed to be used by smaller groups (eight to 60 people) for meetings and seminars. These are decorated in a minimalist palette of grey, white and black, but with splashes of colour provided by boxes of freeze-dried red roses.

‘These are much more contemporary, and mean that we can take care of businesses’ day-to-day needs,’ explains venue manager Victoria Gordon-Ingram. The renovation has also given all rooms state-of-the-art plasma screens and up-to-the-minute AV equipment, and there is now full disabled access to all six floors – no mean feat in a listed building.

‘It’s just the perfect space,’ says Katy Hemmings of the Financial Times, who organised an awards dinner at The RIBA a few months ago. ‘The building is beautiful, very understated and elegant. It doesn’t need much more dressing up than flowers and lighting.’ She adds that the quality of The RIBA’s in-house catering department, headed by Michelin-starred chef David Cavalier, was another draw.

For a formal dinner, the menu might include roast scallops with a fricassee of girolles, followed by guinea fowl breast with seasonal vegetables, and a chocolate millefeuille to finish. For more low-key events, the team can provide anything from a hearty English breakfast to a finger buffet or canape selection.

Finally, there’s the fact that the events team has more than a decade of experience organising conferences, meetings and dinners. The RIBA’s four full-time venue co-ordinators are supported by two in-house technicians and six other staff. ‘We had complete confidence in them, and that’s what’s important,’ says Hemmings.