28.11.2017, 19:00 P.M.
The pre-Christmas Club dinner has become a firm fixture in the London Chapter's annual calendar and this year promises to be no exception. Previous dinners have been held at Clubs such as the Reform, Cavalry & Guards, Garrick, Boodles, Brooks's, Oriental, Travellers, Carlton, the In & Out and the Turf - each one has been a sell-out. This year we will be dining at the RAC Club at 89 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5HS, the heart of Clubland.
The RAC Club
The choice of this year’s Club is particularly appropriate in view of the long-standing links that the London Chapter has had with the 20 Ghost Club and as 2018 will represent the 40th year of the annual collaboration between the two societies – a truly remarkable achievement. The Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland (now the RAC) was founded in 1897 “as a Society of Encouragement for the motoring movement and the motor and allied industries in the British Empire”, moving into its newly completed premises in 1911. After Rome and Venice had provided the architectural prototypes for the great mid-19th century clubhouses in Pall Mall, it seems only natural that the early 20th century — the period of the 'Entente Cordiale' and the hôtels de-luxe of M. César Ritz — should have turned to Paris for inspiration. The RAC certainly enriched the stylistic galaxy of Pall Mall by adding their substantial clubhouse, a polished essay in the late French Renaissance manner. Their building, moreover, marked an important stage in the development of clubhouses, for it contains not only the usual and traditional accommodation, but offers its members a large restaurant and recreational facilities, such as the swimming-bath, Turkish baths, a gymnasium and squash courts. Planned in the Beaux-Arts tradition, with a front to Pall Mall that owes something to Jules Hardouin Mansart (Place Vendôme) and Jacques-Ange Gabriel (Place de la Concorde), and a front to Carlton Gardens that recalls a château by le Vau or François Mansart, the clubhouse was designed by the internationally famous firm of Mewès and Davis (in conjunction with E. Keynes Purchase). French carvers and blacksmiths were employed to give the exterior its authentically Parisian quality.
Angela Brady (Guest Speaker)
Each year we have a distinguished speaker and this year will be no exception. Angela Brady OBE is a Dublin born and educated architect who graduated from Dublin DIT school of architecture. Soon after graduating, she came to London and set up the award-winning private practice Brady Mallalieu Architects Ltd, with Robin Mallalieu. Their design studio specialises in contemporary sustainable architecture. Angela was elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) (20112013). She reaches a wide public audience as a professional TV broadcaster, promoting architecture on TV and Radio, along with published articles in books, magazines and blogs, as well as running design workshops in schools and galleries as a STEMnet ambassador. She is also a Design Council CABE ‘Built Environment Expert’ and is currently President of the Architects Benevolent Society. Angela co-wrote and co-presented with Dr Sandra O’Connell a four-part one-hour documentary TV series ‘Designing Ireland’, a critical review of Architecture, Place and Craft, broadcast on RTÉ One in November 2015.
Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies
Dr. Finola O'Kane Crimmins MRIA will also be attending the Dinner. Finola is Associate Professor in Architecture at University College Dublin and Editor of Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies, The Journal of the Irish Georgian Society. She will be bringing over some complimentary copies of the latest IGS Journal for those attending the dinner.
Dinner (black tie) will be at 7.00pm for 7.30pm with carriages from 10.30pm. Tickets for the evening cost £96, which includes a three-course dinner with coffee, wine and port afterwards.
Please send the application form with payment to Tim Bacon. Guests are welcome but priority will be given to members. If you would like to sit near another member then please complete the space on the application form and we will try to arrange the seating plan accordingly, but cannot guarantee being able to meet everyone's requirements.
As usual numbers are limited - and so places may well be at a premium. It is therefore recommended that you apply early.