Cadogan Hall

First opened in 1907 as a New Christian Science Church designed by Robert Fellowes Chisholm, the hall hosted congregations of 1400 in its heyday. In 1996 the congregation moved to a smaller church due to the decline in the congrigation The property was sold but fell into disuse for several years. The Cadogan Estate purchased the Hall in 2000 to safeguard its future. The Hall reopened as a concert hall in June 2004 and now seats 900. It currently holds 300 concerts a year. It is only a three minute walk from Sloane Square station.
I came here for the first time yesterday to see a concert version of Sweet Charity. I was pretty impressed with the architecure. There was a bar in a very large foyer extrance as you entered the building. The main auditorium was simple looking, but looked beautiful. I was seated in the gallery, which really retained the church feel, as all the seating here was in the old church pews. In the stalls, I could see that the seating was more traditional theatre seating.
Froim where I was sitting, I had a clear view of the stage, although the safety railing at the front of the gallery, give a slight obstruction to the viewing of others. The sound quality was excellent, which is probably why this is a popular concert venue.
I enjoyed my experience here, and would definately come here again to see a concert.

Proms tickets for B’Rock on Saturday 8^th August. We’re seasoned Prom-​goers but had never been to Cadogan Hall. Husband uses a rollator and was desperate for the loo when we got there. I went to the bar to get some drinks and he was gone for ages! Turns out the toilets are on a lower level (there is a lift) but, when he approached a staff member asking for an accessible toilet, was told to use the baby change!
Whilst he was gone I bought him a diet coke and a bottle of water (small!). As he’d been gone so long I realised he’d probably want to take his drink in and have it once we were seated, and I know you can’t take bottles into any venue, but the bar man advised that they don’t have plastic cups! At the end of the performance I saw a plastic cup (presumably for tap water) left on the bar tsk tsk!
Having explained his dissatisfaction over the accessible toilet information to a senior front of house staff member she advised that there WAS an accessible toilet and apologised profusely. Staff should know about this and, if they don’t then they haven’t received appropriate training!
The senior front of house member then accompanied us since, to get to the auditorium, we had to go back into the lift and down a level. She handed us over to a young colleague to show us to our seats who, immediately rushed off ahead of us with no regard to the fact that my husband was disabled and couldn’t walk that fast. Disability awareness training sorely needed for all staff in a public-​facing role!
It was a difficult venue to get to and finding a blue badge bay was a nightmare. We’d left ourselves ample time to travel in but didn’t bank on being unable to find a blue badge bay. We ended up going to the NCP car park for which patrons of Cadogan Hall can get a concessionary price of £10 rather than the £34 we would have otherwise had to pay! Then we had to get a taxi to Cadogan Hall because although on their website they say it’s just a few minutes’ walk from the car park to the hall — they haven’t factored in that not everyone is able-​bodied! To add insult to injury, as we got out of the taxi, lo and behold there was an empty blue badge bay! Who would have thought that a blue badge bay would be vacant with just 20 minutes to go before the concert started? We certainly hadn’t!
Thankfully, the couple of other Proms we have tickets for are all at the RAH and we know we won’t have a problem parking.

Very good. The tickets to Thea Gilmore (folk band) were waiting for me as promised when I received a telephone call from Manchester saying I’d won tickets from a Surrey local newspaper.
Nice bars inside and we were able to get our drinks served into plastic glasses to go outside with a cigarette.
Very civilized punters (what I would expect I suppose in Chelsea). Auditorium rather like a masonic hall with quite large, plush cushioned seats in the stalls. Support act crap although I really enjoyed Thea Gilmore even if she was a lefty. I found Cadogan Hall a thoroughly civilized experience.

Codagan Hall is a classy, intimate venue perfect for acohstic and small group performances.
It’s a stunning setting with a simple stage. Horse shoe seating on ground floor and balcony.
They’ve got an eclectic line up, mainly classical. Within sight from Sloan Square station, just past the royal court, it’s easy to find. Slightly old fashioned, but what I’d prefer to call classical ambience and seating.
A great place to perform as well, organised and helpful. Quirky changing area.

Cadogan Hall is a beautiful art-​deco venue just off Sloane Square. We were here for an orchestral night and the natural sound of the strings and flutes filled the theatre well, creating some decent decibels without any electric assistance.
Seating is comfortable on both levels, even though the terrace is just pews and benches. Around the room are famous stained glass windows and art-​deco lamps revealing the history of the theatre as a (not very well attended) Mormon church. Mohammed Al-​Fayed bought it up a few years ago and the music venue was then born.
While some Rachmaninov may be perfect for this hall, I can also imagine it working well for a bit of anything — boxing, comedy, gigs.

We went to watch the Real Variety Show here. It was a free, pretty packed evening. The entrance hall filled up with lots of bodies and there was nowhere really to comfortably be. The bar was ok, if a little limited — but surprisingly reasonable, A glass of wine was around a fiver and water was about 1.50 a bottle.
The loos are downstairs and there are not many of them — causing the inevitable queue outside of the ladies. The hand driers are rubbish!
Altogether, it may be a good venue for smaller groups, but it got really hot and sticky and claustrophobic when it was packed.

Fab space with amazing sound. Seen two acoustic gigs here so far — Shelby Lynne and Ryan Adams — both faultless, and in this amazing venue a touch of magic is added. Will be back.

I really enjoy coming here, it’s airy and comfortable. I’d definitely recommend coming for a concert here.

This is a good venue with really great acoustics. I did get a bit lost getting here but then again i walked from victoria. The bar is a bit over priced but they always are in london. I saw a ‘pop’ concert but i believe they also put on a lot of classical stuff here as well. Ticket booking was easy through their web site.

This is a great little 900 seat concert hall in the heart of Chelsea, just off Sloane Square. It was converted from a Church of Christ, Scientist in 2002 (I’ve always wondered about how that religion works, so looked it up just now. Apparently Christian Scientists tend to rely more on spiritual healing than modern medicine, which may explain why, by 1996, their congregation had shrunk to a point where a new use for the building was needed!)
Anyhow, totally-​unfounded-​in-​truth jokes aside, the concert hall is really attractive — the classic shoebox shape, with excellent acoustics and a gallery around the top. Pretty much all the original mouldings etc from its former use have been preserved. Seats downstairs are comfortable, upstairs less so. Lots of top notch classical music ensembles perform there and it’s the home of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. There are full listings/​tickets etc on their website.
There’s a bar area, and plenty of space for the audience to mill around both before and after the performance.
Having performed there (get me!), I can also comment on the backstage area. There are A LOT of stairs, so make sure you’ve left enough time to get on stage, or you might have to try and sing/​play the first phrase whilst purple in the face and gasping for air. Otherwise it’s very well set up with several reasonably sized rooms for changing etc, and male and female WC/​showers.
There are also a number of rather good pubs nearby for pre/​post-​concert refreshment. My shout goes to the Antelope on Eaton Terrace.
If you can deal with being in a concert hall with a Sloane-​Ranger-​ish crowd, or, indeed if you are a Sloane-​Ranger yourself, then this is a mighty fine place to listen to a bit of the classical stuff.