Skyscraper Planned For Site Of Shakespeare’s Theatre

Such stuff as trust fund dreams are made on

A proposal for a 38-storey residential tower on the site of a Shakespearean theatre in Shoreditch is to be submitted to Hackney council later this month.

The Stage Shoreditch, as it has been clumsily named, sits beside the recently uncovered remains of the Curtain Theatre, a venue that held the first performances of Romeo and Juliet and Henry V, among other plays.

Plus points: the new scheme incorporates the remains of the Bard’s old theatre into a subterranean display, which will be managed by the Museum of London. Also, the project seeks to convert a disused part of the old Broad Street – Dalston railway (the same spur now used by the East London line extension) into an urban park. On the downside, we’re not overly sold on the design, and the project would mark another step by the ‘scraper-thronged City into Shoreditch territory.

Further details can be found at Building Design (free registration required).

  • Anonymous

    I reckon this is quite handsome as residential towers go…at least in this one visualisation. I like the way the east face mirrors the blue glass of the City while the rest of the building is brick-coloured like much of the surrounding area. And the varied surfaces make it much more interesting than your average tower block. That said, renders often differ significantly from the end result, and I do share the uneasiness about building tall in this part of town.

  • Anonymous

    Little Britain Andy voice: “Don’t like it”.  That tower on the left is a bit too local authority slabby for me.
    What’s with the orangutan?

  • Steve O

    Those are some f**king grim looking towers.
    No excuse for building depressing tower blocks in this day and age.

  • Steve O2

    Ghastly

  • Clairus99

    agreed.  grim-looking and unnecessarily depressing

  • Harryhhh

    terrible design. imagine what they will look like in 20 years. urban scars. I am all for tall but it has to be the best in design.