House of enlightenment

The refurbishment of the RSA House aims to combine respect for its history with confidence in its future

By Andrew Summers

This month, work begins on the long-awaited refurbishment of the RSA House, which will embody the RSA's 21st century enlightenment mission for both Fellows and visitors. The aim is to create a technologically advanced space that is fit for the 21st century, but that remains strongly linked with the RSA's 18th century heritage.

"Our challenge is to restore the original architecture as sympathetically as possible, without being aggressively historical," explains architect Matthew Lloyd, who is working on the project. "We see our role as recreating the original architecture of the Adam brothers in a contemporary way, resulting in fresh, clean and beautiful spaces that befit a royal institution."

The refurbishment project, which was approved by Trustees in September and will run from December 2011 to June 2012, will involve work on the Great Room, the Benjamin Franklin Room and other ground-floor spaces at John Adam Street. The Fellow-led RSA House Development Committee is working closely with Matthew Lloyd Architects and other specialist consultants to ensure that the project meets the needs of Fellows, visitors and all those who come into contact with the RSA.

A concern for historical details runs throughout the proposals for this Grade I-listed building. Lloyd and his team have spent time looking through the Adam brothers' archives to understand not only how the building originally looked, but also how it has changed over the years as different architects have worked on it. In some cases, the task will be to strip away the more recent additions and restore the original appearance of the 18th century building: on the main staircase, for example, the carpet will be removed to reveal the centuries-old mosaic that lies beneath it.

In other cases, there is a need for more modern interventions. "21st century enlightenment is all about progressiveness," says Lloyd, "and that includes technological advances." The refurbishment will create new and improved technological facilities for visitors, including the ability to relay events from and to the Great Room, creating real-time links with Fellows and public audiences in the UK and internationally. This will enable more visitors to benefit from the RSA's free annual events programme, which, with more than 150 events a year, is one of the most exciting in the country.

Flexibility is the principle behind all the refurbishment work. In its current state, the Great Room only fulfils the function of an auditorium, but in future, it will become a multipurpose space that can be used for seminars, debates, exhibitions, dinners, weddings and other events. The new room will have a flat floor – as was the case in the 18th century – and movable seating that can be arranged to suit different functions.

The ground-floor area will be opened out, making  it more accessible for visitors of all abilities. It will incorporate new informal meeting areas and screen-based information about the RSA's latest initiatives. A new lighting feature, which will be created by the winner of a forthcoming design competition, will hang above the main staircase.

The RSA expects that the refurbished House will generate enough revenue through visitor events to recoup the costs of the work within five to eight years. It is hoped that this will be the start of a longer-term project to renovate other areas of the building in the same style.

The project will strengthen the RSA as a platform for ideas, building on its Enlightenment past while positioning it for future growth. "The architecture of the House has undergone change every 10 or 20 years since its inception," says Lloyd, "but our goal is to create something that will last for at least a century."


Andrew Summers is a former RSA Trustee and chair of the House Development Committee. Follow the progress of the RSA House refurbishment. Image: RIBA Library Photographs Collection