Our major project to save the Palace’s North East Office Building (NEOB) – our last truly inaccessible area in the seven acre building – has been completed.

Work began over a year ago to stabilise the building, including installing a new roof, flooring and repairing decayed brickwork. With the NEOB vacated since 1981, as this work was carried out, a few interesting items were uncovered.

The next phase of the project will be to explore how we can bring the secured building back into use.

The project has been made possible thanks to £760,000 of funding from Historic England, which was unlocked by match funding from our corporate trustee, Haringey Council.

At a special celebration event, held on Wednesday 30 April, partners and funders enjoyed a special tour of the NEOB, curated by the Ally Pally Creative Learning team and volunteers from our Community Curatorial team. The tour explored our work in the community, as well as the history of the NEOB, which was first used in 1875 to house the ‘offices of the administrators’. It was subsequently used as a ticket office, porters facilities, costume room and, from 1970, as the office space for the Open University.

Speaking at the celebration event, Emma Dagnes OBE, Alexandra Park and Palace CEO, said: “We are delighted to complete this project and save our North East Office Building. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Historic England, with their vital funding – and support from Haringey Council – they’ve helped us make the extraordinary possible.

“Our next step is to explore how we bring the NEOB back into use. Fully restoring heritage spaces like this takes time, patience and, for us as a charity, support.

“What we do know, is that when we are able to reopen parts of the Palace, something magical happens. Lives are changed. Communities grow. New stories begin. In 2018, we restored and reopened our stunning East Wing – and brought our Theatre back to life after 80 years of silence. The North East Office Building is the next step on Ally Pally’s restoration journey.

“And, as ever, it’s not just about bricks and mortar, it’s a chance to ask big questions: how can we make this project matter to our community? How can we design it to serve future generations? What stories will it tell?

“This Palace is buzzing with life. It’s not heritage that’s locked in a glass cabinet – but something you can walk through, dance in, sing in, and be part of. It’s living heritage, for all.”

Duncan Wilson CBE, Historic England CEO, said: “Protecting the nation’s heritage is a truly collaborative process. Saving this part of the historic Alexandra Palace is a great example of what can be achieved when organisations come together. I’m pleased that Historic England has been a crucial part of this, both through funding support and by providing expertise and advice.

“It’s not just about restoration, but how the spaces are then brought to life. This is something that Ally Pally does so well, it’s in its DNA.

“It’s an extraordinary place, and extraordinarily resilient. There is so much potential too, and there’s that feeling of so much more to come.”

In recent years the proportion of the Palace that remains out of use has been reduced from 40% to 29%. Restoration – and its associated benefits for visitors, local community, local economy and the Palace’s environmental footprint – is at the heart of the charity’s vision for the future.