As part of the launch of the first built and dressed homes on site, Galliard Homes, has unveiled Shakespeare and City-exec themed show apartments at The Stage in Shoreditch, the £750 million transformation of the 2.3 acre site of William Shakespeare’s Tudor Curtain Theatre, where Romeo & Juliet and Henry V were performed, into a new residential address for City of London region.

Located on the doorstep of the City of London, The Stage, situated off Curtain Road in Shoreditch, provides the area’s finest new residential address. With a masterplan by award winning architects Perkins + Will the centrepiece of the new development is a 37 storey landmark residential tower providing 412 market sale apartments and penthouses, from 416 sq ft to 2,434 sq ft in size, overlooking a central 1.28 acre public square that will include a new Shakespeare Heritage Centre showcasing the sunken remains of Shakespeare’s Tudor theatre which existed on site between 1577 to 1624.

To enable buyers to view for the first time finished and dressed apartments at The Stage, Galliard Homes has created four dressed show apartments on the second floor of the building, sitting above the double-height ground floor lobby.

The four show apartments consist of two studio apartments, 493 sq ft (46 sqm) and 421 sq ft (39 sqm) in size, a one bedroom 546 sq ft (51 sqm) and a two bedroom 973 sq ft (90 sqm) apartment. The show homes represent the different types of apartments available for sale in the building.

Galliard Homes has chosen Shakespeare and City of London executives as the inspiration for the interior design and dressing of the show homes. Between 1597 to 1599 the Tudor playhouse which once stood on the site became the main venue where William Shakespeare’s theatre company worked and performed and the Bard actually lived close to the site in a house on Great St Helen’s between 1597 to 1598.

2022 also marks the 430 year anniversary of when William Shakespeare started his career as a playwright back in 1592. Inspired by the site history, a studio and one bedroom apartment have been interior designed as if they were the contemporary Shoreditch home of the William Shakespeare himself, the perfect pad for a Bard.

The dressed studio apartment has timber flooring with a bronzed-brown colour scheme for the furniture, recalling the bronze-brown bricks of the historic Shakespeare playhouse. There is a grand portrait of an actress blowing bubble gum, imagined to be one of the players from William Shakespeare’s Theatre Company. An open plan kitchen is located off the main living area. Sliding ribbed glass doors give access to the bedroom which has green wallpaper lined with feather writing quills of the kind which William Shakespeare used to write his various plays.

In the Shakespeare inspired one bedroom apartment the bedroom has dramatic lush red curtains which recall the curtains of Shakespeare’s playhouse. In the living room and open plan kitchen the leather sofa, studded leather high chairs to the breakfast bar and the leather ottoman create a batchelor pad ambience where William Shakespeare might have felt very at home.

The other two show apartments have interiors inspired by City of London executives. The studio apartment has been designed as a City pad for a high flying female executive and has a bedroom suite with a blush pink colour scheme and a living room with an emerald green and blue-grey colour scheme and a feature brick wall that recalls the historic Victorian and Edwardian warehouse buildings in the local Shoreditch area. The two bedroom show apartment has been designed with a couple working in the City of London in mind with a spacious reception room with elegant contemporary furniture and an adjoining four-six seater dining area where friends and family can be intertained. There is also a spacious study area for home working.

Residents at The Stage will have direct lift access to two floors of leisure, work-from-home and health club amenities which are located on the lower ground and mezzanine levels of the tower. On the 32nd floor of the tower there is also a Sky lounge with a juice bar and lounge area, opening onto a spacious landscaped terrace, the perfect venue for entertaining family and friends.

The tower is complete with an opulent double height reception foyer, interior designed by international designer Nicola Fontanella of Argent Design, with 24 hour concierge and bespoke hotel-like services operated by Rhodium Residence Management.

The historic remains of the Elizabethan Curtain Theatre were discovered some three metres below the surface of The Stage development site. It was in this Tudor theatre that William Shakespeare’s Theatre Company performed ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Henry V’ and where Ben Jonson’s ‘Every Man in His Humour’ was performed in 1598 with Shakespeare himself in the cast.

Under current plans the new 15,715 sq ft Shakespeare Heritage Centre will take the form of a modern aluminium, glass and stone pavilion sitting above the ruins of the Tudor theatre. Visitors will be able to go below ground and tour an exhibition centre where they can walk on a glass platform just above the theatre remains, view historic artifacts discovered on site during a dig and review information panels and interactive videos to learn about Shakespeare’s plays.

Across the central square from the new residential tower there is the commercial and retail quarter of The Stage which will provide almost 290,000 sq ft of mixed use space including cafes, restaurants, shops and office/workspace including a flagship WeWork co-working facility. There is also a 19th century Victorian-era railway viaduct on one side of the square, now restored to provide 9,000 sqft of new premises with the top of the viaduct landscaped into a park with a tea/coffee cafe.

David Galman, Sales Director of Galliard Homes says: “Located on the doorstep of the City of London The Stage is a trophy project and the finest new residential address in Shoreditch. This highly anticipated launch marks the unveiling of the first built and dressed homes on site at The Stage. Given the history and location the new show apartments have interiors inspired by Shakespeare and City of London executives. The apartments on the tower’s uppers floors offer spectacular views over Shoreditch towards the City of London and Canary Wharf.”

The Stage is being delivered by Galliard Homes working alongside four partners. Galliard Homes is leading on the residential part of the development and handling UK apartment sales. Partner Cain International is leading on the heritage aspects of the project and the commercial quarter. Vanke is international sales partner. McCourt is an investor. The Estate Office Shoreditch is the historic landowner of the site.

The Stage is just a short walk from nearby Liverpool Street Railway and Underground Station, providing access to the City of London, West London and Canary Wharf. The development is also on the doorstep of the wide range of bars, hotels, restaurants and shops in Shoreditch which is becoming a highly sought after urban village for workers and residents in the City of London.