Over its three-century life, LSO St Luke’s has taken on many forms. Originally built in 1733 as St Luke’s Church, the building later fell into ruin before being restored and transformed into the London Symphony Orchestra’s headquarters in 2003. Since then, it has welcomed world-renowned artists including Elton John, Annie Lennox and Bruce Springsteen, while also becoming a valued community hub.
Now, following a multi-million-pound upgrade, the Grade I-listed venue has opened a new suite of facilities, giving one of the capital’s most distinctive cultural landmarks a new lease of life.
Inside the new LSO St Luke's
The works, led by Levitt Bernstein, build on the practice’s original transformation of the building in the early 2000s. Rather than reinventing LSO St Luke’s, the project carefully enhances its existing character. The qualities valued by the orchestra have been retained, while technical infrastructure, acoustics and public spaces have been upgraded to support a wider range of creative work
‘Every intervention has been shaped by the need to respect the historic character of the building while making it more appropriate for contemporary use,’ states Arts Studio Director at Levitt Bernstein, Mark Lewis
Central to the transformation is a new bespoke Audio Control Room, designed to meet the highest standards of recording, mixing and post-production. Featuring an impressive Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 reference monitoring system, ATC speakers and an Avid S4 console, the space gives LSO St Luke’s a world-class technical backbone.
Linked to every performance space in the building, the Audio Control Room allows the venue to accommodate a broad range of uses, from orchestral recordings and podcasts to broadcast projects and commercial content. The main Jerwood Hall has also been upgraded with new acoustic measures to significantly improve sound quality. Alongside this, the enhanced Clore Rooms and Master Control Room provide premium digital and broadcast recording facilities, including a camera gallery for high-definition capture.
‘We now have the facilities we need to support our work properly,’ says Managing Director of the London Symphony Orchestra, Kathryn McDowell.
Careful attention has also been given to how people arrive, move through and experience the building. The aim was to make the underground spaces feel more natural, warm and welcoming,’ says Lewis. Improvements include changes to the main entrance, enhanced external lighting to the façade, more accessible spaces and the introduction of gender-neutral facilities.
‘We wanted to make the building more appropriate for the needs of today,’ says McDowell.
For the managing director of LSO, these changes have shifted how the former church can be used. ‘The project has opened the building up in a completely new way, making it more connected, accessible and better equipped for the needs of artists, producers, and filmmakers’
With its historic shell, LSO St Luke’s is a striking music venue rooted in the past yet designed for the future. Like the London Symphony Orchestra itself, it brings together heritage and innovation, creating a place where history and music meet. ‘LSO is a historic orchestra with a contemporary heart and this building is exactly the same.’
