Albert Hall unveils new look

The new porch was unveiled on Tuesday morning

London's prestigious Royal Albert Hall unveiled its new South Porch on Tuesday, as part of a £70m development scheme.

The porch is an entirely new structure, which contains a 60,000-piece mosaic, and is the highlight of eight years of work to bring the 132-year-old venue up to the latest standards.

The seating, stage, roof, bars and restaurants have all been refurbished, and excavation works underneath the building now mean trucks can easily take scenery and other equipment in and out of the hall.

The porch will be open to the public for the first time on Friday, for the first night of the Proms.

The mosaic is comprised of 60,000 pieces

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"The building has been totally modernised inside and out to bring it up to the standards a 21st Century audience expects," said the Royal Albert Hall's chief executive, David Elliot.

"English Heritage, and indeed ourselves, have been insistent that the materials for the project exactly matched those used in the original construction," he added.

The mosaic is by designer Shelagh Wakely, who told BBC London News her aim was to "make something very contemporary".

"It looks very lovely as the sun moves around," she added.

The hall, opposite the Albert Memorial, has long been one of London's most distinguished venues.

It opened in 1871 after being partially funded by the profits from the Great Exhibition in nearby Hyde Park 20 years earlier.

As well as concerts, the hall has played host to sporting events, dances, trade fairs, political rallies and stage shows.

Earlier this year it even staged a film première for the latest James Bond movie, Die Another Day.

But it is best known as the venue for the Proms, which moved there in 1941 after its original venue, the Queen's Hall, was destroyed by an air-raid.

The porch's completion marks the end of the major work on the hall, although the restoration project will not finish until next year.