数百年来，伦敦最负盛名的表演场地和展示公众形象的公共广场相邻的地标性建筑实际上彼此背对着对方，这是伦敦众多奇怪之处之一。在大多数欧洲大陆城市，皇家歌剧院可能会有一个面向伊尼戈·琼斯(Inigo Jones)开创性的科文特花园广场(Covent Garden Piazza)的宏伟入口。

But when the first iteration of the present opera house opened in 1732, London’s voracious private property market all but demanded that the established residential structure (and commercial revenue) of the piazza be preserved, thereby roundly trumping public entertainment. Consequently, like the British Museum and the original environs of Westminster Cathedral, in the Royal Opera House we see the main entrance to yet another major London public building relegated to a side street.

It is this social and historic anomaly that the Royal Opera House’s latest revamp seeks to address. The institution’s £37m Open Up expansion and refurbishment programme was completed earlier this month.

While Edward Barry’s original historic facade, foyer and 2,200-capacity auditorium of 1858 have been left virtually untouched, architect Stanton Williams has provided new entrances and new foyer spaces and radically reworked attendant restaurant and recital spaces. Additionally, circulation space has been extensively reorganised, and the number of toilets doubled. Crucially, the revamp also seeks to improve the opera house’s rear entrance onto the piazza.

…