The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse occupies a Grade II*-listed engine shed built in 1847 for the London and North Western Railway, its cast-iron columns radiating from the centre to hold up a vast conical roof. The turntable is long gone; what remains is one of London's few genuinely circular rooms at this scale, reborn as a performance house in 2006 after a Heritage Lottery-backed restoration by John McAslan & Partners. It runs as a charity, and the same drum that hosts touring artists is released for private hire.

The Main Space is the draw: 1,280 square metres of column-free floor beneath the ironwork, ringed by a balcony on the level above. It seats around a thousand for dinner and holds close to two thousand standing, and it takes staging and rigging on a concert scale, which is why brands, foundations and awards bring their largest London nights here. Below sits the Studio Theatre, a black-box room for screenings and presentations. On the upper floor the Circle Bar looks down Chalk Farm Road through full-height glass, and Torquil's Bar opens onto a roof terrace.

For a DJ-led event the room does the work. The scale and the acoustics suit a late reception that carries through to a dancefloor, the in-house sound and lighting are built for live music, and the venue's own production team knows the building. It is a landmark address rather than a quiet one, and reads that way to a guest arriving.