In Conversation with Katherine Mathieson, Director at the Royal Institution

London’s Royal Institution hosts numerous private events during the year – all catered by the team at Searcys – with the income directly supporting its charitable activities. As the Ri marks 225 years of engaging the public with scientific research and advancement, we caught up with its Director, Katherine Mathieson, to find out a little more about what makes it such a special venue.

So, what does make the Ri special?

Well, I have to start with the science don’t I?! And the history. From the time we were founded in 1799 to around 200 years later, the Ri was a place of some of the most incredible world-shaping scientific discoveries and inventions; and in the 19^th century it was arguably the pre-eminent research establishment in the world. So the litany of scientists who worked and lectured at the Ri – Davy, Faraday, Tesla, Curie – stands comparison with anywhere else in the world. And every time you walk through our building you literally walk in the footsteps of some of the greatest scientific figures of the past two centuries.

Something that makes the Ri really special for me, is that what trumps that amazing contribution to our understanding of the world through scientific research, is a recognition of the importance of telling public audiences about it. Our founders built our historic Theatre first, before even the labs where they would do their research. Public engagement with science ‘for the common purposes of life’ has always been the Ri’s core purpose.

Five things we don’t know or expect at the venue?

Ah there’s so many to choose from, but these are some of my favourites…

So many people wanted to listen to Humphry Davy’s lectures in our Theatre in the early 19^th century that the horse and carriage traffic chaos outside led to Albemarle Street being designated as the first one-way street in the UK (and, we think, in Europe).

We’ve been hosting special Ri Discourses since 1825 and in a tradition that continues to this day, we lock each speaker in a room for 10 minutes before the discourse in a nod towards a 19^th century scientist who ran away with stage fright.

The Ri Theatre was the location of the first known technology ‘hack’ – Marconi’s supposedly secure wireless was being demonstrated in 1903 when the message that should have been received was intercepted and replaced with another. The speaker knew they’d been ‘hacked’ when all they received was “Rats! Rats! Rats!”.

The vacuum flask (AKA the thermos) was invented at the Ri, but to keep things cold rather than hot – gases that had been liquified in our basement laboratory by James Dewar. No hot coffee nor Chilli bottles today without this by-product of scientific research from 100 years ago.

The Ri is still home to research scientists today – Nano technologists from UCL working on revolutionary cancer treatments; Mathematicians and Physicists from LIMS exploring some of the great unexplained mathematical problems; and clean-tech innovators at Undaunted, our tackling climate change partnership with Imperial.

What is special about the event spaces in the building?

Setting aside the history I’ve mentioned – the people who’ve inhabited the very same rooms over the past two-plus centuries – clients often talk about the combination of Georgian splendour and modern-day functionality.

Nowhere is that better demonstrated than in our Theatre where we’ve got 21^st century AV tech working in harmony with a little-known example of Georgian ingenuity. There’s a ‘sweet spot’ roughly in the centre of the stage area, where a speaker can speak at normal volume, without a mic, and be heard perfectly by everyone in the audience. You can’t see it, but as a speaker, you’ll know when you step into it. And it’s deliberate – our founders thought about how to achieve it when building the theatre. As a venue, the Ri is so much more than other conference suites.

Are corporate events and weddings important to the institution?

Yes, enormously. Each and every client who holds a private event at the Ri is supporting our charitable activities, such as our national network of free Ri Masterclasses, our grants to benefit school students in the most disadvantaged parts of the UK, or our free museum. As an independent charity, we don’t receive any core funding from the Government and we’re reliant on the income we can raise ourselves, so whenever an event is hosted at the Ri the income goes to a charity not a shareholder.

What can an event booker expect when placing an event at The Ri?

A first-class service – clients routinely feedback on just how friendly and supportive our team has been – in a genuinely unique venue. A dedicated event manager supports clients every step of the way to help to deliver their perfect event. We have flexible spaces, where the team can recommend the most suitable rooms for any number from 4 people to 400. We also have great food from our catering partner Searcys, in-house AV support and of course this wonderful old Theatre which seats 400 but feels so intimate that you could be sitting in your lounge.

And because of our ‘day job’ at the Ri, we can build in add-ons that other venues can’t. We’re renowned as the home of the science demonstration, so if you want some ‘canape science’ with your nibbles served in the midst of a heavy dose of liquid nitrogen, or a surprise flash cotton ‘explosion’ we can do that. We also have an ‘internationally significant’ collection of scientific artefacts, so if you want a private tour to see the world’s first electric motor in Faraday’s original basement laboratory or the equipment that John Tyndall used to establish the existence of greenhouse gases as a root cause of climate change (in the 1860s believe it nor not) then we can do that too.

Future plans for the venue

We hope to continue hosting a variety of events for a range of industries. Naturally, we tend to attract Science-based companies however over the years we are found increased interest from other sectors which helps us with our aim of connecting everyone with science.

All of our clients will benefit from an environmental retrofit being funded by the GLA, which is designed to turn the Ri into an environmental exemplar of what can be achieved with older building stock. Existing building stock is one of the biggest contributors of CO2 in the UK and the world and the theory goes if you can make a Grade-I listed Georgian townhouse carbon neutral, then you can do it with pretty much anything else!

Katherine Mathieson is Director of the Royal Institution

Find out more here.