Past Events

We all know that there is a housing crisis. The city plan identifies sites for 13,000 new homes. The likely need is well over twice that number. This raises some big questions. What sort of homes do we need to build? Where can these new homes be built? How can land, finance and ambition be brought together to get development moving? A panel of expert speakers will help us try to find answers. There will be plenty of time for…

Please note change of venue for this event which will now take place in the Hanover Room at the Brighthelm Centre on North Road.  A lecture by Simon Henley, with RS trustee Kate Jordan. Simon Henley is the co-founder of the award-winning practice Henley Halebrown and was UK Public Building Architect of the Year in 2011. Simon is the author of The Architecture of Parking and Redefining Brutalism and writes for ArchDaily. He teaches on the MArch programme at Kingston…

Lecture by Elain Harwood, researcher at Historic England and co-editor of the Twentieth Century Society Journal. Eric Lyons set up Span in order to revive the concept of ‘developer-architect’. He set out to build spacious homes at affordable prices using simple construction and off-the-peg materials. Span designs created car-free environments with separate parking courts and placed heavy emphasis on high quality communal landscaping. Park Gate in Hove was built by Span. Other Span developments can be seen in Richmond and Blackheath…

Lecture by Kate Macintosh,  a retired architect, celebrated for her ground-breaking work in the public sector. She worked for the London Borough of Southwark where she won an internal competition to design the acclaimed Dawsons Heights and also for Lambeth where she designed a sheltered housing scheme, 269 Leigham Court Rd, which was listed grade II in 2015. Taking early retirement in 1995, she went into private practice with George Finch. Their most important commission was an adventure playground and play-hall for the…

Work has been gathering momentum with over 70 volunteers working over recent months on a new website for our historic images based on the James Gray Collection. This evening we shall hear from Chris Horlock, photographer, author, photographic collector, local historian and close collaborator with James Gray about some of the images in the James Gray Collection, and his work alongside James Gray. There will also be a short presentation about the progress of the project to create the new…

The Antony Dale lecture will be presented by Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of the newly reconstituted Historic England. He will give a brief illustrated talk on how England’s heritage has been protected and the challenges we face in keeping it. Following this he will be joined by Gavin Henderson for a general discussion and Q&A session. Duncan Wilson OBE became Chief Executive of the newly formed Historic England in May 2015. Prior to that Duncan was Chief Executive of the Alexandra Park…

The John Small lecture this year treats us to a light-hearted glimpse of some buildings of Regency Square and the people that lived in them.  Suzanne Hinton, our Regency Society membership secretary,  has been a translator of literary fiction and historical documents for some 10 years and writes and gives talks on local history. This anticipated lecture relates to her recent publication 'Regency Square: its history and its stories'. Copies of the book will be available for sale at the…

Our tour of Merseyside in June 2019 is now fully booked.  It is being organised by a small team led by trustee, Richard Robinson with support from a company called Tailored Travel. We will travel by luxury coach to and from Liverpool and the 4 nights’ accommodation will be in the **** Mercure Hotel on Liverpool’s waterfront.  The cost is £460 for a shared room and £555 for a single. If you would like to be notified should any places…

  This year's summer garden party will take place in our traditional location, the Secret Garden in Kemptown. We can promise drinks, canapes, very good conversation with RS friends and, just this year, the secret tunnel will be accessible during the garden party and there will be the opportunity to enjoy William Pye's amazing water sculptures, presently being exhibited there. "The Secret Garden originally belonged to no 32 Sussex Square which was bought by its first owner, Lawrence Peel, younger brother of the…

The first event will be a somewhat different and more light hearted event than usual.  The work of four important local pioneers covering medicine, art, architecture and entertainment will be presented by Sue Berry, Alexandra Loske, David Fisher, and Maurice Howard. Who most deserved support? You decide!

Peter Clegg of FCB Architects will discuss the recent restoration and adaptation by his firm of the historic former royal stables to provide a new creative space, a new café and bars and a refurbished Studio Theatre.  Sadly, work on the restoration has come to a halt because the main contractor, R Durtnell and Sons Ltd has ceased trading.  This company is said to have been Britain’s oldest construction firm, having been founded in 1591. We had hoped to hold this…

  Allan Brodie of Historic England is the author of The Seaside.  He will talk about the grandiose schemes in classically inspired architectural styles, aimed to draw wealthier visitors to new and enlarged seaside resorts in the days before the railways. By the early 19th century confidence in the idea of the seaside holiday was allowing investors to create new resorts and larger extensions to existing resorts. Along the south coast of England a series of grandiose schemes in classically-inspired…

  Begun in 1868, the Grade I listed chapel at Lancing College is the largest school chapel in the world. Jeremy Tomlinson will describe the Gothic Revival architecture and the work being done to complete it. Jeremy Tomlinson worked at Lancing College for 41 years as a teacher of English, Head of Drama, Housemaster, Senior Master and Registrar. He is now Steward of the Chapel. A tour of the chapel, combined with a walking tour of nearby Steyning, will take…