English National Opera plans to open its doors to a wider audience by replacing its historic wooden entrance after visitors complained it was too ‘excluding’

• Plans are being drawn up to prop old doors open and fit a modern glass entrance
• It would hide the Edwardian entrance’s historic, decorative woodwork design  
• It comes after audience members complained that they were too heavy 

The English National Opera is planning to transform its grand entrance after a backlash from audience members who complained that the Grade I listed front doors were too heavy and imposing. 

Plans are reportedly being drawn up to fit a modest glass door to the front of the iconic Coliseum building and permanently fling open the historic doors to make the venue less ‘excluding’.

While the doors’ historic status protects them from being scrapped entirely, the opera house plans to keep them constantly flung open which would hide their detailed engravings and instead give passers-by a view of the foyer and gift shop.

Negotiations are reportedly underway to fit a modest glass door to the front of the iconic London Coliseum building and permanently fling open the historic doors

Stuart Murphy, chief executive of the of ENO, said visitors ‘told us they don’t like our doors because they’re heavy and they’re excluding’, according to the Sunday Telegraph. 

And an ENO spokesperson added: ‘We are starting conversations with the relevant planning authorities to explore options that will make the Coliseum as open as possible throughout the day. 

‘This might include the doors being opened outwards with glass doors behind or a new heating system in the foyer.’  

Sir Oswald Stall designed the entrance which was later built and opened in 1904 by the time’s leading theatre architect Frank Matcham

The decision to shun the Edwardian doors which Historic England describe as ‘finely executed decorative woodwork’ was taken after the opera house quizzed audience members in a feedback survey.

Sir Oswald Stall designed the entrance which was later built and opened in 1904 by the time’s leading theatre architect Frank Matcham.

It claims to be the largest theatre in London’s West End, boasting some 2,359 seats in its auditorium.

And it is currently showing Jack the Ripper: The Women of Whitechapel, which tells the story of the notorious Victorian serial killer’s victims. 

Natalya Romaniw, as Mary Kelly performs on stage in a production of Iain Bell’s Jack The Ripper by the English National Opera at London Coliseum in March

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