The Panorama Room comes down in February 2027 and is rebuilt for £3.5m on a Haringey Council loan. Planning and listed building plans go in by 30 September.
Alexandra Palace is asking Haringey Council for a loan to knock down and rebuild the Panorama Room, the tented hall at the western end of the building that was put up in 2003 with planning permission for five years.
The project is costed at around £3.5m. Planning and listed building consent applications go to the council by 30 September, according to a report published for the Palace’s Statutory Advisory and Consultative Committees, which met on 17 September.
The report is blunt about why. The structure “has been failing in various areas over the past few years and is now no longer fit for purpose, and it has reached the end of its serviceable life”.
What the Panorama Room is, and why it matters commercially
It is 1,000 square metres of pillar-free event space behind the colonnade, and the report says it “is fundamental to our commercial operation”.
It is sold as part of several of the events the Palace is known for, including the World Darts Championship and the Knitting and Stitching Show. The report says those clients have already raised concerns:
These high-profile clients have raised their concern regarding the Panorama Room remaining fit for purpose and the ability for them to continue to host their events at the Palace.
Losing them, it adds, “would have a significant impact on Alexandra Palace’s ability to generate revenue and profit”, which is what pays for the charity’s day-to-day running.
The dates
The published timetable is:
- 30 September 2026: target date for the planning and listed building consent applications
- December 2026: loan paper goes to Haringey Council’s Cabinet
- January 2027: decision from the council expected
- End of February 2027: the existing Panorama Room is dismantled
- March 2027: construction begins
- October 2027: the project completes
That leaves roughly eight months with no Panorama Room. The report does not list which events fall inside that gap. For scale, this year’s Knit + Stitch show runs from 8 to 11 October and uses the Panorama Room alongside the Great Hall and West Hall. The report says only that the room “will be ready for Darts 2027”, and that construction is expected to take about six months.
The December 2026 championship is unaffected by the works. It moves into the Great Hall for the first time, running from 11 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 across 36 sessions.
Who pays
Haringey Council is the sole corporate trustee of Alexandra Park and Palace, and the Palace is asking it for the capital as a loan rather than a grant. The report says the loan “will be supported through increased revenue generated by the improved facilities and enhanced delivery of events”, and that “the additional contribution provided by the darts and other events provides more than sufficient headroom to service the loan repayments and interest”.
Payment terms are still being agreed. The Cabinet paper is due in December, after the planning application but before any decision on it.
The council’s Chief Financial Officer was consulted on the report and, it records, “has no comments”. The same is recorded for the Director of Legal and Governance.
What is actually being built
A single-storey building on a footprint similar to the existing one, again sitting behind the colonnade, with integrated toilets, a bar, cloakroom, kitchen, storage, plant room, a tech and AV office and dressing rooms.
Fixings into the Palace itself will be minimal. The design intention, the report says, “is for the new building to blend in and complement the historic setting rather than compete with it”.
The job also covers conservation repairs and stabilisation works in the historic basements underneath, removal of the current structure, and repairs to the slab and the colonnade.
StarLive was appointed main contractor after a competitive tender in autumn 2025. AMION Consulting wrote the business case in June 2025. The Palace has a Planning Performance Agreement with the council, a formal way of agreeing how an application will be handled: the first meeting was in July and a second on 2 September, on views, materials and general approach.
The risks the Palace has written down
The report lists five, with mitigations:
- consent is refused
- the charity cannot service the loan once interest is added
- works disrupt the South Terrace and the pub
- the historic basements turn up more work than expected
- construction costs keep rising
The basement risk carries the frankest line: “a healthy contingency for the basement works is being discussed”.
Three more applications are coming
A second report to the same meeting sets out the rest of the pipeline, all of it needing listed building consent:
| Project | What it covers | Target submission |
|---|---|---|
| West Yard shutter upgrade | One shutter replaced with two smaller ones | October 2026 |
| Creative Campus and Heritage Hub, phase 1 | North East Office Building, Theatre Courtyard, Transmitter Hall | November 2026 |
| Visitor toilets | Ice Rink corridor and BBC Wing ground floor | November 2026 |
The Creative Campus phase would bring the North East Office Building back into use for the Palace’s creative learning team, with studio space, a home for volunteers and a publicly accessible archive studio. It builds on 2024 Historic England funding that stabilised the building and gave it a new roof and floors. Work on the Transmitter Hall, used weekly by Haringey Music Service and community groups, may include moving the bar to increase capacity.
Funding is not settled. A development phase application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund is in progress, with construction estimated to start in 2028. The toilets project comes from visitor survey feedback that, the report says, “consistently cites negative comments about toilet provision”; six options were tested.
What it means for you
- If you go to events at the Palace: expect the Panorama Room to be gone from the end of February 2027 until around October 2027. Check with the individual event before booking anything in that window.
- If you want to object or support: the applications are not lodged yet. They are due with Haringey by 30 September, after which they appear on the council’s public register and on our Crouch End planning news page.
- If you live near the park: construction runs from March 2027 for about six months, with works coordinated around the events programme. The report flags disruption to the South Terrace and the pub as a known risk.
- If you are a council taxpayer: the money is a loan from Haringey, not a grant. The Cabinet decision on it is due in December 2026.
Related
- Alexandra Palace darts: the 2026 championship and how the ballot worked.
- Knit + Stitch at Ally Pally: dates and ticket prices for this year’s show.
- Crouch End planning news: what else is in front of Haringey.
Sources
- Panorama Room Replacement Project Update, Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust, 17 September 2026, for the £3.5m cost, the loan request, the 30 September target, the full timetable, the 1,000sqm figure, the 2003 date and five-year permission, the StarLive and AMION appointments, the Planning Performance Agreement, the description of the new building and the risk register.
- Statutory Approvals Pipeline report, Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust, 17 September 2026, for the West Yard shutter, Creative Campus phase 1 and visitor toilets applications and their target dates, the Historic England funding and the National Lottery Heritage Fund position.
- Charitable Trust Progress Report, 17 September 2026, for the December 2026 darts dates and the 36 sessions.
- Meeting papers, Alexandra Park and Palace Consultative Committee, 17 September 2026, Haringey Council, checked 22 September 2026.
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