William Pye's Zemran
A Grade II listed sculpture that has called our Riverside Terrace home for over 50 years
Installed outside our Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1972, Zemran is a beautiful stainless steel sculpture made by the English artist William Pye.
The work was first shown in public at the Royal Academy exhibition British Sculptors ’72. Its owners, the ballerina Nadia Nerina and her husband Charles Gordon, then donated it to the Greater London Council to put on public display. In 2016, Historic England gave Zemran Grade II listed status, along with the Bust of Nelson Mandela, also on our site.
Pye created the work by combining metal from a decommissioned factory in north London and stainless steel tubing from Sweden.
He took its name from a Moroccan town in the Atlas Mountains, and said Zemran was inspired by the idea of wooden poles reflected in rippling water. However New York Times journalist Bernard Weintraub, writing in 1972, saw it differently describing the sculpture as ‘a mammoth, stainless‐steel, science‐fiction object’.
Opening times
A public space open all day, every day.
Location
Riverside Terrace, Queen Elizabeth Hall
About the artist
William Pye was born in London and studied at Wimbledon School of Art (1958-61) and the Royal College of Art (1961-65).
For your visit
Riverside Terrace Southbank Centre
The Riverside Terrace is open all day, every day*.
*If you’re attending an event on our Riverside Terrace, check the event listing for start and finish times.
Plan your visit
The Riverside Terrace is an outdoor space overlooking the River Thames, on Royal Festival Hall, Level 2.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
Through the glass from Riverside Terrace on Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.