The Royal Society of Arts

The Royal Society of Arts is a Grade I listed learned society premises and lecture hall, built between 1772 and 1774 by Robert Adam. The building is constructed of brown brick with stone dressings and features a slate roof. It has a distinguished Adam temple front, consisting of three main storeys, an attic, and a basement, with three widely spaced window bays.

The central entrance features a tripartite doorway with a panelled door and sidelights, framed by pilasters and a central projecting porch adorned with "Tower of the Winds" columns. The porch includes a fluted frieze decorated with paterae and swags, topped by a cornice. The flanking windows are recessed glazing bar sashes set under flat gauged arches, while the central window on the first floor is a large Adam Venetian window, set within a semicircular arched recess and embellished with fan decoration above the three lights, with the centre light arched and divided by slender Ionic columns.

Above the plat band, the three bays of the upper floors are enhanced by a giant engaged order of Ionic columns that support an entablature featuring a triglyph frieze, which is interrupted by the inscription "Arts and Commerce Promoted," along with a cornice and dentil pediment. The building is enclosed by cast iron area railings topped with pineapple finials.

The rear elevation, visible from the Strand, also presents a monumental appearance with four stone fluted Ionic pilasters that frame figure panels across the blind first and second floors, accompanied by an entablature and pediment. Inside, the building retains several fine original features, including the lower part of the staircase, the library with its column screen and chimneypiece, and the lecture hall, which, despite being redecorated by J.R. Hay in 1846, still showcases James Barry's impressive sequence of wall paintings.