Central Hall Westminster – the iconic Grade II* listed Methodist venue opposite Westminster Abbey – has unveiled The Susanna Wesley, a 919sqm blank canvas space, purposefully transformed to meet the demands of the modern events landscape.

Once home to the venue’s in-house café Wesley’s, the lower-ground level has now been comprehensively reimagined as a flexible, high-capacity environment for conferences, exhibitions, brand activations, and full-venue takeovers. The conversion signals a strategic shift for Central Hall Westminster, repurposing underused space into a much-needed asset for London’s event scene.

“As demand for large conferences and events continues to grow, we’ve taken a strategic look at how to optimise our existing assets,” explains Rhiannon Thomas, Head of Sales and Marketing at Central Hall Westminster. “Repurposing the basement space and Wesley’s Café area into a dedicated flexible event space presents a commercially sound opportunity to enhance our offering and better serve our clients.”

A Versatile Venue Within a Venue

The Wesley Suite is now the only true blank canvas within Central Hall Westminster, offering event organisers a rare degree of creative freedom inside a listed building. While the rest of the venue maintains its historic Edwardian architecture and grand decor, this new space is modern, minimalist, and adaptable — ideal for clients who want to transform a space completely to suit their brand or theme.

Natural light floods the area from above through unique skylights, lending the space a bright, airy feel despite its lower-ground location. And at 919sqm with a standing capacity of up to 800 people, it rivals, and in some areas exceeds — the venue’s other flagship spaces like the Lecture Hall and Library.

The new area can be hired as one large room with the interconnecting Westminster Foyer – The Wesley Suite – or divided into three interconnecting rooms: the Susanna Wesley, Aldersgate Room, Epworth Room, allowing flexible setups for anything from exhibitions to breakout and networking spaces.

“This isn’t just additional space, it’s a substantial enhancement to our venue’s capabilities,” says Rhiannon. “For clients booking the entire building, it introduces a purpose-built area for exhibitions, sponsor activations, and networking, all seamlessly integrated alongside the main conference activity upstairs.”

Smart Tech, Modern Fit-Out

Despite being housed in a historic venue, The Wesley Suite is fully future-ready. Each room features high-spec AV and onsite technical support.

Lighting packages offer everything from elegant white uplighting to brand-themed colour washes and full dynamic programming with gobos and projections. The space is also kitted out with modular power options and an online exhibitor ordering system to streamline logistics for large builds. As well as an 84 inch LCD screen and PA sound system throughout.

A Strategic Step Toward the Future

The decision to rework the lower-ground floor space was a collective one by the venue’s board, made with an eye on both legacy and long-term commercial sustainability.

Meanwhile, a new, more compact café has been introduced at ground level positioned within the old Broadbent Room and foyer area. This high-visibility location offers improved accessibility for both delegates and passing footfall, enhancing the overall guest experience.

The new café seats around 40 and focuses on grab-and-go service, better aligned with the pace of the modern central London consumer.

Central Hall Westminster’s heritage remains deeply embedded in every part of its offering. The venue, built in 1912 as a purpose-built meeting and conference space, famously hosted the first meeting of the United Nations, as well as speeches from global icons like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and more recently, a growing number of cultural events and live performances.

With The Wesley Suite, the venue adds a new chapter to its story: one that caters to today’s agile, creative, and brand-led events sector without compromising its historical roots.

“We’re already seeing strong interest, with bookings confirmed for September,” adds Rhiannon.

“There’s real excitement across the industry, and rightly so. In a competitive market like London, it’s rare to see a venue of this scale and versatility come to market, especially one housed within a building of such historical significance.”

Link to CHW here: www.c-h-w.com/