Conway Hall

. Speakers: Gilbert Murray, Graham Wallas, John A. Hobson, Richard H. Walthew, Athene Seyler. Music: Maurice Cole, Winifred Small.]] ]] The building was commissioned by the South Place Ethical Society, which had previously been accommodated in a chapel in South Place, near Finsbury Circus. The site they selected, in Red Lion Square, was a tenement, previously used as a factory belonging to James Perry, a pen and ink maker. The new building was designed by Frederick Mansford in the Art Deco style, built in silver-grey brick with red brick detailing and was officially opened on 23 September 1929. It was named after an American, Moncure D. Conway, who led the Society from 1864 to 1885 and from…

The new building was built on an L-shaped strip of land which the Society had acquired between Theobalds Road and Lamb's Conduit Passage. It was Mansford's largest project. The main entrance is located on an angle with a narrow arch rising to the top of the first floor. The arch is flanked by two columns in silver-grey brick while the rest of the building is varied with red-brick detailing. There is an opening with four doors on the ground floor, a Diocletian window on the first floor and a Venetian Window on the second floor. The glazing bars form a distinctive tiny criss-cross pattern reflected in Conway Hall's logo. The general feel is that of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at…