Curtain up: first look inside the £50m renovation of the Royal Opera House

One of London’s most prestigious buildings, the Royal Opera House, raises the curtain on a three-year £50.7 million transformation on Friday.

The building, in Covent Garden, will for the first time be both a great arts complex and part of the local community, revelling in the West End bustle and offering a welcoming face.

A svelte new glass entrance, framed in slender stainless steel, pushes forwards on to Bow Street’s wide pavement beneath the wrought-iron tracery of the famous Floral Hall soaring above.

Belying a 15-ton steel beam invisibly holding everything up, the airy new entrance replaces a dreary, windowless wall. Now passers-by will see straight into an 11,000sq ft foyer — and can stroll in and enjoy it.

The glamorous marble-floored foyer-cum-café-cum-meeting hall is decked out with leather-upholstered mid-century-modern chairs, bespoke tables and leather sofas, where anyone can relax perhaps over coffee and a pastry, from 10am each day.

This vast public space was previously just ticketing and the ladies’ loos, completely invisible from the street.

Two glass display cases will show off ballet and opera costumes, including Maria Callas’s sexy wine-red velvet evening dress for Tosca.

A big, stylish shop flows seamlessly between the foyer and the redone piazza entrance, which now boasts more glass plus an immense LED wall outside, making a vivid splash at night.

The shop has bespoke wares from the likes of Timorous Beasties and Miller Harris perfumes.

LET THE LIGHT IN

You can also now see right through the huge building, from front to back.

At the foyer’s front, to harness natural light, a curved glass balcony frames a view down into the renovated Linbury Theatre’s new foyer bar below.

Another elegant space, this has parquet flooring, a swish bar, and a Steinway grand piano. Lean on the balcony — there’s a glass shelf for your drink — and listen, all in view of the street.

Then sashay up the dramatic, lit staircase to the soaring Floral Hall, properly called the Paul Hamlyn Hall.

Here, a terrace, perfect for watching the world go by, now runs across the intricate wrought iron. From here, it’s an escalator ride to the redesigned top-floor restaurant, bars, and vast loggia terraces, some open, some glazed, for coffee or brunch or dinner.

Dutch designer Paul Linse, who revamped the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, has used subtle pale leathers and wools, and real-gold ceilings above the restaurant and one bar, for an elegantly cosy feel.

Here, a glass case holds Margot Fonteyn’s Fifties black swan tutu.

From the open loggia, through a glass wall you can see tailors make costumes. And all without going to a performance — though you can do that, too.

PRIVATELY FUNDED

Unusually, every penny for this project came from 15 philanthropists, whether individuals, organisations or trusts.

One trust was that of John and Anya Sainsbury — she’s a former ballerina who danced here.

Like all the other patrons, they were passionate to encourage others to experience their love of opera and ballet, and to enjoy the opera house itself.

And during the daring engineering at the front, to support the Floral Hall’s frontage with its 1,663 glittering glass panes, not one pane broke.

AWARD-WINNING ARCHITECTS

The architects responsible for this masterful piece of regeneration are Islington-based Stirling Prize-winning practice Stanton Williams, founded by Alan Stanton and Paul Williams.

Both have been awarded the OBE and are passionate tutors of their profession. Last year they put a soaring glass double “ski slope” over Tottenham Court Road’s new entrance.

Now the architects have used the technique, and their sensitive approach, to open up the ROH both visually and actually, after winning a 2012 international competition to throw open this famous old institution to the general public and to new audiences.

It’s a great idea and a complete transformation. But for those who love the glittering red amphitheatre, the jewel in the crown, don’t worry. It’s there in all its velvety glory.

If you’ve ever gone into the old crimson vestibule to the ROH, which used to be shut all day (it will now sell tickets); or ever used the old back stairs in Floral Street to the high-up cheap seats, then from today you are in for a surprise — but an exciting and welcoming one.

GETTING THE LOOS RIGHT

The Open Up programme chose Stanton Williams, known for listening to their clients and for attention to detail, for this prestigious job.

They’re modest about the outcome: “If you don’t get the women’s toilets right in a theatre, you’re in trouble,” smiles Alan Stanton. As every woman knows who has queued in a short interval, or had to rest their favourite handbag on a wet basin, he’s spot on.

The female architects all scrutinised these crucial designs — as did Stanton’s wife and two grown-up daughters, one a choreographer.

The 31 women’s loos, in the basement vaults, are finished in walnut and patinated brass, the same rich palette used throughout, but here with Italian porcelain floor tiles.

These loos were the first thing completed in this complex project, which shows common sense, because 1,000 people work at the ROH.

Yet performances never stopped, except in the Linbury Theatre, which was gutted and rebuilt.

The whole job involved 300,000 work hours. Stanton says: “There were 996 performances during the renovation, with the likes of Plácido Domingo rehearsing up there and a jack hammer going down there — and both things had to work together.”

A standout feature is the renovation of the Linbury Theatre, below ground.

What began life as a gloomy rehearsal space is now a curvaceous wooden auditorium equipped with state-of-the-art digital sound and light, the seats upholstered in purple.

Cupped around the stage, this is a modern take on a Renaissance theatre. A team of joiners worked on it and the handcraft is palpable. As before, the Linbury will showcase experimental work.