Centre for Music, London


The Centre for Music is a proposed concert hall in the City of London.
The plans include a 2000-seat, "world-class" auditorium, as well as other performance spaces, rehearsal rooms, education facilities, and four storeys of commercial space. The site is currently occupied by the Museum of London. The building would be the new home of the London Symphony Orchestra, and would also be used by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. It would be run by the Barbican Centre.
The estimated cost of £288m to build the centre would need to be raised entirely from private donations. The construction time has been estimated at four years.

History

Campaigning for the hall began in 2015 when Sir Simon Rattle, then considering joining the LSO as Music Director, said in an interview that London's concert halls were not up to international standards.
After meeting with Rattle, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne ordered a feasibility study for a new London concert hall, and committed £5.5 million to fund the development of a business case.
In late 2015 the City of London Corporation agreed in principle to make the site available when the Museum of London moves to West Smithfield.
In 2016 central government funding was withdrawn on the grounds that it did not offer value for money.
The City of London Corporation then provided £2.5 million to establish a business case for the project, which was submitted in December 2018, and a further £2.49 million to continue the project’s development in 2019.
Concept designs by New York-based architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro were made public in January 2019.
In March 2020 the City of London Corporation approved the spending of a further £1.95 million to enable work on the proposals to continue.