London’s Alexandra Palace restoration has been granted planning consent by Haringey Council, bringing the project one step closer to fruition.

The approved proposal to restore the Palace’s significant historic spaces hinges on a £28m ($43m, €38m) Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant, which is expected to be given in March.

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBS) are the lead architects for the project. If the plans go ahead, parts of Alexandra Palace will be restored and revealed to the public for the first time in living memory.

The listed landmark will undergo a comprehensive renovation and a hidden theatre on site, dating back to 1875, will be fully restored, allowing for community and commercial use hosting cinema screenings, performances and accommodating up to 1,300 people. There are also proposals to add a hotel as part of a strategy to make the building financially and environmentally sustainable.

Plans for a hotel were first mooted in the 80s, so this is a revival of a long held dream.

Plans by FCBS also include an interactive visitor centre/museum, which will tell the story of the birth of broadcast television, as the BBC’s original studios once occupied the site and the first public televisions transmissions was made from there.

Duncan Wilson newly appointed head of Historic England and chief executive of Alexandra Palace said: “We are delighted with the planning committee’s decision, which allows us to move forward with the project and to realise its full potential as the 'People’s Palace' once again.”