Approximately 70% of the theatre, including the 200-capacity Council Chamber, the Scratch Bar and the Members Library, was saved from the fire and remains open.

It is built from Suffolk red brick and Bath stone,[1] on the site of Jane Senior's Elm House, a villa with a small wooded estate.

[2][3] Bertrand Russell's essay Why I Am Not a Christian was originally given as a talk in the hall, on 6 March 1927, under the auspices of the South London Branch of the National Secular Society.

In the 2015 fire, although much of the organ was destroyed, including the console, bellows, wiring and architectural cases, the soundboards and much of the pipework survived as they were off site undergoing restoration.

[21] In a coordinated attack via microphone headsets, about 40 members of the Hells Angels from various chapters all over England arrived uninvited at the reunion armed with baseball bats, knives, iron bars and machetes.

Ronald "Gut" Wait, the vice president of the Angels Essex chapter, was convicted of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.

[22] On 13 March 2015, during a major renovation programme, a fire broke out in the roof, and engulfed the building, causing severe structural damage, including the collapse of the tower.

Two shows went ahead as planned one day after the fire,[26] and BAC has maintained much of its artistic programme, despite losing the ability to hire out the larger venues (a significant source of income).

[27] In 2018, the rebuilding of the Grand Hall was completed, overseen by architects Haworth Tompkins, who had been working with BAC on a phased transformation of the centre for over a decade.