Shakespeare's Globe has chosen architects Allies and Morrison to lead the design of a new indoor Jacobean Theatre, which is to be developed alongside the iconic London venue.

According to Shakespeare's Globe chief executive Neil Constable, the development is set to fulfil Sam Wanamaker's bid for the venue to stage both indoor and outdoor performances. Allies and Morrison will work with reconstruction architect Jon Greenfield and the Globe's Architecture Research Group to design the scheme, with work due to commence in 2012.

It is anticipated that the first winter season at the indoor Jacobean Theatre will take place in early 2013, with the new building hosting 320 people across two tiers of galleried seating. The indoor theatre was left to be used for education workshops and rehearsals following the launch of Shakespeare's Globe in 1997, but is now poised to take on a new lease of life.

Constable said: "We are confident that their experience, enthusiasm and skill will enable us to deliver this project to the standards of original detail and period reference that it requires." Paul Appleton from Allies and Morrison added: "For us, the prospect of recreating, in the heart of Southwark, a theatre for which Shakespeare might have written his last plays, represents an extraordinary privilege."

Fundraising for the project is now underway, with the design team also to be supported by Globe project co-ordinator Paul Russell and Flip Tanner of Fisher Dachs Associates. Phil Elliot of Gardiner and Theobald; FHP Engineering; Richard Heath from Momentum; Andy Nicolson at WSP Group; and David Bonnet Associates are also involved.

Details: www.shakespearesglobe.com Image: (c) Nick Robins