Overview
- Historic Royal Palaces, which announced the programme on Thursday, July 16, 2026, unveiled Tomorrow’s Tower as a multi-year, £70m plan to renovate the Waterloo Block and add new visitor, learning and community facilities.
- A new Archive Study Centre will open more than 25,000 architectural drawings, plans and surveys to students, researchers and the public for the first time, documenting over 200 years of conservation work.
- Designs by Jamie Fobert Architects with landscape input from Grant Associates include two learning centres, a Julia Rausing Learning Centre in the Waterloo Block and an outdoor 'green classroom' in the Tower moat for biodiversity and heritage teaching.
- Historic Royal Palaces says it has raised about £20m of the £70m target but key questions remain over completing fundraising and the construction timetable, with some reports saying work starts later this year and others saying late next year.
- The programme aims to expand learning capacity by 250% and lift annual school visits from 125,000 to 200,000 while keeping main attractions open during works and navigating the conservation rules that protect this UNESCO World Heritage Site.