Sinfonia Smith Square awarded National Lottery Heritage Fund grant

Arts organisation Sinfonia Smith Square has today announced that it has been awarded a significant grant to transform its venue Smith Square Hall into a ‘world-class cultural venue’. The grant, given by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, totals £452,035 and is intended to help transform the 18th-century building into a centre for culture and classical music.

The grant will fund Sinfonia Smith Square’s Doors Open project, which aims to repair the historic fabric of the building, improve accessibility, expand facilities for players and guest artists and upgrade the venue’s lighting, sound, heating and ventilation systems. The project will also facilitate the installation of renewable energy technologies throughout the building in line with Sinfonia Smith Square’s ambition to become carbon neutral.

Sinfonia Smith Square chief executive Rosie Fraser said: ‘We’re delighted to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players. This is a huge step forward for the organisation, and we are working towards making the building fit for purpose for our players, audiences, and visitors. We wish to embed the building and our music programmes in the local community, working with local schools and community groups to create a vibrant cultural venue, while providing meaningful training and volunteering opportunities.’

The news follows the organisation’s 2024 rebrand, changing its name from Southbank Sinfonia at St John’s Smith Square to Sinfonia Smith Square. This initial sum will allow the organisation to progress with its development plans. Detailed proposals will be considered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund at second round, where a final decision is made on the full funding award of £3.7m.

Dating from 1728, Smith Square Hall is Grade I listed was bombed during the Blitz and rebuilt to its original design in the late 1960s. A full consultant team has now been appointed, including Burrell Foley Fischer architects, Burke Hunter Adams as quantity surveyors, and ORM Developments as project manager to undertake urgent repairs. Work on the building is expected to commence in early 2027 and take around 18 months to complete.

The Doors Open project also intends to embed the venue within its local community with an initiative capturing ‘reminiscences of people who have lived and worked in the local area or taken part in performances in the Hall’.