Southampton Guildhall


Southampton Guildhall is a multipurpose venue which forms the East Wing of the Civic Centre in Southampton, England. There are three venues in the Guildhall catering for various event formats: the Guildhall itself, the Solent Suite and a lecture theatre.

History

The Guildhall, which was designed to complement the rest of the Civic Suite, was opened by the Earl of Derby on 13 February 1937. It houses a large pipe organ which was built into it from its open. The organ has two distinct consoles: a classical concert organ and a theatre organ. The consoles share the same body of approximately 4,000 pipes which are housed in chambers above the proscenium arch. It was the largest organ made by its builder, John Compton.
On 7 October 2013, the venue was renamed to the O2 Guildhall Southampton, reflecting a partnership between Live Nation UK and O2 Telefónica.