Stratford-upon-Avon is to get a new tower offering visitors panoramic views of the town and surrounding countryside as part of #100 million plans to redevelop the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
The 33-metre tapering tower - with an open-air viewing platform - will also provide lift access to the theatre's upper floors.
It has been inspired by an observation tower which was part of the original 1879 Stratford Memorial Theatre, which still survives in a truncated form.
It will also mark the location of a new public square spanning Waterside and connecting the theatre to the workshop and educational facilities planned by the RSC for its Chapel Lane site.
Outline designs by architects Bennetts Associates were revealed yesterday at the London headquarters of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
They mark the end of a protracted gestation period for the project, which at an earlier phase provoked considerable hostility with the suggestion that the Grade 2*-listed 1932 theatre might be demolished.
Click on the link for more, including artist's impressions of the new theatre:
