The design for Methodist Central Hall, which Central Hall Westminster occupies today, was selected in an open architectural competition in 1904.

There was a comprehensive list of rules for entry that dictated how many conference rooms and offices were available to hire or let and specified that the design was not to be Gothic (i.e. so as not to be like Westminster Abbey or the Houses of Parliament). A total of 132 designs were received from different architects and from these, nine were chosen to be resubmitted with more detail for a fee of 100 guineas. 

The judging of the competition was in the hands of Sir Aston Webb, the architect responsible for Admiralty Arch, the surround of the Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace and the front façade of the Palace itself. So the competition could not have been in safer hands. 

The winning design was submitted by the architects Lanchester and Rickards. Rickards, noted for his Baroque designs, was a designer while his partner Lanchester was an engineer who used the new building material of reinforced concrete to create some of the structures in Central Hall. In designing Methodist Central Hall they described its style as Viennese Baroque with Romanesque decoration, having been influenced by the designs of the opera houses in Paris and Vienna. 

Today, Central Hall Westminster continues to thrive as a landmark venue for events, shaped by its design.