RSC redevelopment scheme on English Heritage top conservation list

Published Thursday 9 October 2008 at 16:00 by Alistair Smith

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s redevelopment of its £100 million Stratford-upon-Avon home has been included on English Heritage’s list of the country’s 20 best conservation projects.

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is undergoing a massive transformation, which will see the auditorium converted into a 1,000-seat Elizabethan-style theatre with a thrust stage. Work is expected to be complete at some point during 2010.

English Heritage has chosen to highlight the project as “an exemplar of a new way to rescue heritage called ‘constructive conservation’”.

Steve Bee, director of planning and development for English Heritage, said: “In some cases, historic buildings would have been lost if it were not for progressive and imaginative developers and conservation experts working together in this new way. Five years ago, there was no way to achieve this confidence and these sites would have seemed too risky to developers and would have rotted away.

“Heritage is not renewable - once it’s gone, you can’t get it back. That is why decisions about what must be kept and what can be changed and adapted need to be as accurate and as well-informed as possible. These heritage-led development schemes are not just attractive and commercially successful, they have enhanced important heritage sites and so added distinctiveness and meaning to the places in which we live.”

Originally, the RSC had planned to demolish the RST and create a new-build venue in Stratford. However, following widespread resistance to the scheme - including from high-profile RSC performers such as Judi Dench - the plans were dropped and the current scheme was introduced.