Editing Royal Albert Hall (section)

==Design==
{{see also|Royal Albert Hall Organ}}
[[File:RoyalAlbertHalldetail.jpg|thumb|''The Triumph of Arts and Sciences'']]
The Hall, a Grade I [[listed building]],<ref name="charities">{{cite web |title=Royal Albert Hall |date=December 2009| url=http://www.charitiesdirect.com/charities/royal-albert-hall-the-254543.html| publisher=CharitiesDirect |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826221237/http://www.charitiesdirect.com/charities/royal-albert-hall-the-254543.html |archive-date=26 August 2011}}</ref> is an [[ellipse]] in plan, with its external major and minor axes of 272 and 236 feet (83 and 72 meters), and its internal minor and major axis of {{convert|185|and|219|ft}}.<ref name=FG>{{cite thesis |last=Gibbs |first=Fiona |date=January 2018 |title=The Royal Albert Hall: A Case Study of an Evolving Cultural Venue |type=PhD |publisher=Royal College of Music |url=http://researchonline.rcm.ac.uk/380/1/Gibbs%202018%20PhD.pdf |access-date=11 December 2019 |archive-date=22 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222180049/http://researchonline.rcm.ac.uk/380/1/Gibbs%202018%20PhD.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The British Foreign Mechanic and Scientific Instructor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qIfhW-sNCI0C&pg=PA30|date=23 July 1870|publisher=J. Sydal|page=30}}</ref> The great glass and wrought-iron [[dome]] roofing the Hall is {{convert|135|ft|m|abbr=on}} high. The Hall was originally designed with a capacity for 8,000 people and has accommodated as many as 12,000 (although present-day safety restrictions mean the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,272<ref name="BI"/> including standing in the Gallery).

Around the outside of the building is 800-foot–long terracotta [[mosaic]] frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication.<ref name=FG /> Proceeding counter-clockwise from the north side the sixteen subjects of the frieze are:
# Various Countries of the World bringing in their Offerings to the Exhibition of 1851
# Music
# Sculpture
# Painting
# Princes, Art Patrons and Artists
# Workers in Stone
# Workers in Wood and Brick
# Architecture
# The Infancy of the Arts and Sciences
# Agriculture
# Horticulture and Land Surveying
# Astronomy and Navigation
# A Group of Philosophers, Sages and Students
# Engineering
# The Mechanical Powers
# Pottery and Glassmaking

Above the frieze is an inscription in {{convert|12|in|cm|adj=mid|-high}} [[terracotta]] letters that combine historical fact and Biblical quotations: {{blockquote|text=This hall was erected for the advancement of the arts and sciences and works of industry of all nations in fulfilment of the intention of Albert Prince Consort. The site was purchased with the proceeds of the Great Exhibition of the year <abbr title="1851">MDCCCLI</abbr>. The first stone of the Hall was laid by Her Majesty Queen Victoria on the twentieth day of May <abbr title="1867">MDCCCLXVII</abbr> and it was opened by Her Majesty the Twenty Ninth of March in the year <abbr title="1871">MDCCCLXXI</abbr>. Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. The wise and their works are in the hand of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth peace.}}

Below the Arena floor there is room for two 4,000 gallon water tanks, which are used for shows that flood the arena like ''[[Madame Butterfly]]''.<ref name="Water tanks">{{cite web| title=3 places to look out for at the Behind the Scenes Day at the Royal Albert Hall| url=http://www.royalalberthall.com/about-the-hall/news/2015/november/3-places-to-look-out-for-at-the-behind-the-scenes-day-at-the-royal-albert-hall/| publisher=Royal Albert Hall| access-date=17 November 2015| archive-date=9 April 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409054746/https://www.royalalberthall.com/about-the-hall/news/2015/november/3-places-to-look-out-for-at-the-behind-the-scenes-day-at-the-royal-albert-hall/| url-status=live}}</ref>
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<gallery mode="packed">
File:Amphi Corridor Royal Albert Hall.jpg|Amphi corridor on the ground floor, facing West from Door 6
File:Door 9 Porch Royal Albert Hall.jpg|The Door 9 porch at night
File:Second Tier Corridor Royal Albert Hall.jpg|Second Tier corridor, facing West from Door 6
File:Royal Albert Hall Roof.JPG|Fluted aluminium roof and diffuser discs seen from the Gallery
File:Royal Albert Hall Glass Roof.JPG|The glazed roof and vertical struts supporting the fluted aluminium ceiling, beneath the wooden floor
</gallery>