Southbank Centre | visitor behaviour study
Southbank Centre Furniture Study
A research commission to study visitor behaviour and the relationship between space, food, art, commerce and operation. Can they co-exist?
The Southbank Centre London SE1
Photography Gareth Gardner
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Our update for the Members’ Room helped to increase all-day use which made opening the bars viable, and this prompted the South Bank Centre to ask where else in the building could work better: can furniture make a difference to the way the venue presents itself, to how visitors see and use it and what it offers?
The study looked at 4 areas assessing the space, commercial use, existing furniture and visual impression. We also spent time chatting to people passing through and met groups learning a language, practicing dance moves, friends meeting regularly with their packed lunches as well as people coming to see a show or visit the poetry library.
Fast-forward to the conclusion and we found that there was not enough furniture, of the right kind, in the right place at the right time, leaving this ever-changing population fighting for a seat.
The final part of the report is a strategy to accommodate the fantastic range of activities both programmed and unexpected that are part of daily life at the People’s Palace: a shortlist of new pieces to fit in with the existing, and a rolling programme to reclaim unused spaces throughout.
Southbank Centre Members’ Room
Royal Festival Hall Interval Bars