Beit Hall, forming part of Beit Quadrangle, is a

hall of residence A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

and one of

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

's oldest and most historic buildings. Beit Hall is named after

Alfred Beit Alfred Beit (15 February 1853 – 16 July 1906) was a Anglo-German gold and diamond magnate in South Africa, and a major donor and profiteer of infrastructure development on the African continent. He also donated much money to university educ ...

and is located on

Prince Consort Road Prince Consort Road is a street in London, United Kingdom. It is named after Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria. It is located between Queen's Gate to the west and Exhibition Road to the east, running parallel to Kensington Gore. Sever ...

, next to the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. The north side of the quadrangle forms the Union Building, home to

Imperial College Union Imperial College Union is the students' union of Imperial College London. It is host to many and varied societies, and has student bars situated around Albertopolis. The Union is based in the north wing of the Beit Quadrangle on Prince Consort ...

, and is not part of Beit Hall. The Union Building was the site of the first Queen concert, and has hosted events associated with the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

. Beit Hall was built in 1910 on architect

Aston Webb Sir Aston Webb (22 May 1849 – 21 August 1930) was a British architect who designed the principal facade of Buckingham Palace and the main building of the Victoria and Albert Museum, among other major works around England, many of them in pa ...

's designs to accommodate Imperial College students. Parts of the building were originally used for academic purposes. Two floors were added in the late 1950s and the building was entirely refurbished in 2001. It accommodates 300 students. During term-time, Beit Hall functions as student halls, whilst during the remaining 14 weeks Beit becomes a conference centre and hotel. On the front façade is a relief of the coat of arms of Imperial College. Books left by students in Beit were collected into a circulation library of around 400 items for personal reading in the Union Building in the mid-20th century. This later became the Haldane Library and is now part of the Central Library.

References

External links

Beit Hall Accommodation site

Imperial College Union site

Imperial Venus site
Buildings and structures of Imperial College London Cultural and educational buildings in London Halls of residence in the United Kingdom {{ImperialCollege-stub