The Business Design Centre is an exhibition centre on Upper Street in the district of Islington

Islington

Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Origins

The foundation stone was laid in 1861 - although a large part of the building had already been completed. It occupies a Grade II listed building formerly known as the Royal Agricultural Hall, which opened in c.1861 (but the date on the clock is 1862). According to the official Islington Libraries compilation The Royal Agricultural Hall had its origins when in 1798 the Duke of Bedford, Sir Joseph Banks and other nobles and gentlemen decided to form the Smithfield Club which would hold annual exhibitions of livestock, agricultural produce and agricultural implements.

Expansion

Following some forty years of exhibiting, first in Smithfield at Wooton’s Livery Stables near Smithfield Meat Market then at a site in the Barbican, it moved in 1839 to premises in Baker Street. However it outgrew these and it was then proposed that the Club erect a hall large enough to accommodate their annual display and also to be available for other shows. It was then one of the largest exhibition halls in the world. It was this building that was the original basis of the present hall, which has expanded on this site since the foundation stone was laid (though most of the building had already been completed) in 1861. The main exhibition hall covers 65000 square feet (6,038.7 m²). It hosted the Royal Tournament

Royal Tournament

The Royal Tournament was the World's largest military tattoo and pageant, held by the British Armed Forces annually between 1880 and 1999. The venue was originally the Royal Agricultural Hall and latterly the Earls Court Exhibition Centre...

 from its inauguration in 1880 until the event became too large for the venue and moved to Olympia

Olympia, London

Olympia is an exhibition centre and conference centre in West Kensington, on the boundary between The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham, London, W14 8UX, England. It opened in the 19th century and was originally known as the National Agricultural Hall.Opened in 1886,...

 in the early years of the 20th century. It also hosted the first Crufts

Crufts

Crufts is an annual international Championship conformation show for dogs organised and hosted by the Kennel Club, currently held every March at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England. It is the largest annual dog show in the world, as declared by Guinness World Records, and lasts...

 dog show in 1891. The Smithfield Show,later the Royal Smithfield Show ran here from the opening of the building in 1861 until it moved to Earls Court in 1949 needing extra space to allow the showing of agricultural machinery.

World War II

During the Second World War the hall was commandeered by the Government, and from 1943, following the destruction of Mount Pleasant sorting office in an air raid, the Parcels Depot was moved to the hall.

Recently

The hall then remained unused and empty until it was converted to its present use in 1986, as an exhibition hall, conference centre, showrooms and offices. It is home to over 100 businesses, including clothing retailer, Barbour, electronic's manufacturer, Samsung, web design agency, Base Creative, coffee maker, Illy, and home furnishings manufacturer Oficina Inglesa.

It is currently the venue for Made in Brunel, a yearly design exhibition hosted by the engineering and design department at Brunel University

Brunel University

Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....

Archival records

Islington Local History Centre

Islington Local History Centre

Islington Local History Centre is a local studies centre and archive which holds material documenting the history of the London Borough of Islington.-History:Islington Local History Centre, which is located in Finsbury Library, was opened in 2003...

holds the archive of the Royal Agricultural Hall Company Limited, which contains deeds and maintenance records, correspondence, ledgers, cash books, letting agreements and exhibition programmes.

External links

• Official site
• Images of England page - architectural description