Members' Room

Chartered Accountants' Hall was designed in the 1880s by architect John Belcher, who used a Baroque Revival style inspired by Baroque architecture he had observed while travelling in Europe.

For the substantial former library (now the Members' Room), Belcher added an imposing gallery and dramatic lantern-lit bridge spanning the room, inspired by the Rialto Bridge in the great trading city of Venice. It was once said to be the only example of an indoor bridge in the UK.

The room was said to be Belcher's favourite room. The critical reaction was not always favourable, with The Times noting in their edition of 24 June 1893 'Perhaps Mr Belcher has not been well advised in allowing himself to imitate the bridge … in the gallery that he has carried across the room; his love for Venice has here led him a little too far'

Belcher intended for the empty pillars in the room to be topped by busts of past ICAEW Presidents. While this was never carried out the pillars were decorated with plaster-casts of classical busts for some time to illustrate the intended effect. There is a bust of the architect, John Belcher, created by Hamo Thornycroft in 1881, atop the remaining stone chimney-piece.

A working library

The challenges of operating a working library in this room created many difficulties as both space for members and storage for books ran out, prompting a number of structural changes. Originally there were two fireplaces in the room at opposite ends, but one was demolished in 1934 to create additional shelving space for books. At the same time bookshelves were added to the galleries and these were extended beyond the bridge.

The expansion of shelving in the library provided only a short-lived benefit before space pressures once again emerged. The rear windows of the room were boarded up so additional shelving could be added and a staircase was cut through the floor into basement storage areas.

It was not long before the need to find further storage space demanded fresh ideas. In 1961 a plan emerged to remove the remaining fireplace, widen the galleries and install a second staircase. The proposals were rejected after the architect commissioned by the Institute, William Whitfield, described this as vandalism.

Restoration

The creation of a modern library space in the late 1960s extension of Chartered Accountants' Hall provided a longer lasting solution and the old library, now re-named the Members' Room, was restored to a look more in keeping with the original design. Many of the changes made for the working library, such as the staircase to the basement, were reversed. The room now took on a new use as a social space for members, apart from a brief return to its former use as a library in June-December 2008 during the construction of the new Business Centre.

The Members' Room was restored during 1988 and again in 2022, with the latter restoration seeing the addition of bespoke fitted joinery to reinstate lost bookshelves in the former library, giving it an appearance closer to how it would have looked in the 1930s.

The windows at the east end of the room were taken out and replaced by a blank wall during work on the 1960s extension, making the room dingy. In the 1988 restoration of the room an attempt to fix this was made by installing a mirror wall.

Stained glass

In August 2022 award-winning British artist Alexander Beleschenko added three new stained glass windows into this room, replacing the mirror wall, featuring an intricate arrangement of predominantly grey, blue, orange, purple, green and yellow geometric shapes and patterns. Beleschenko has written an 'Artist's view' of his creative process for the Architects' Journal (Donald Insall refreshes Grade II*-listed Accountants Hall), describing the artwork as "a combination of realism and abstraction", inspired by details in the decoration seen elsewhere in the building. The stained glass is illuminated from behind using LED lights.

The ICAEW Library & Information Service holds a collection of books and articles on Chartered Accountants' Hall, covering the original building and the later extensions. See our Further reading page for details of these, as well as links to web pages on the sculptors and artists whose work decorates the building.

ICAEW members and students may be able to view these rooms when visiting Chartered Accountants' Hall in person (subject to availability). Everyone, including members of the public, can join our guided tours of the building as part of the annual Open House Festival.