It was Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert, who conceived the complex of museums in South Kensinton and when he died in 1861 plans were quickly put in train to build not only the famous Albert Memorial in Kenington Gardens but also a public concert hall nearly.The original designer was not an architect but an engineer Captain Francis Fowke produced plans for a vast elliptical building rather like a roofed version of g reat Roman amphitheater.