Freemasons' Hall

Behind a monumental Portland stone frontage on Great Queen Street stands one of London's great Art Deco interiors. Completed in 1933 to the designs of H.V. Ashley and F. Winton Newman, Freemasons' Hall was built as a memorial to the members who died in the First World War, and it remains the home of the United Grand Lodge of England. The building trades for private events as 60 Great Queen Street, and its scale is unusual for the centre of London: ten hireable spaces run from a boardroom for a few dozen up to the Grand Temple, which seats 450 and holds well over a thousand standing.

The Grand Temple is the flagship. A vast hall lined in marble and mosaic beneath a coffered ceiling of astrological symbols, it takes a full production: staging, a flexible dance floor, gala dinners across the floor, or a reception under coloured light. Around it sit spaces with their own character. The barrel-vaulted Vestibules carry mosaic domes and chequerboard marble; the panelled Grand Officers and Old Boardroom are quieter and warmer; the Gallery runs daylit along one flank of the building, and the Egyptian Room keeps its own decorative scheme. Grade II* listed inside and out, the interiors hold an event without dressing.

The building sits between Holborn and Covent Garden, a short walk from either station, and its events team handles hire directly. It suits award ceremonies, launches, weddings and corporate evenings, and the Grand Temple's proportions make it one of the few rooms in central London that can take a large party without feeling full.