Next year the Cottesloe Theatre is to close for a year-long refurbishment as part of a £70m overhaul at the National Theatre.

The NT's studio space was an add on to the Olivier and Lyttleton Theatres after they were completed and while it is the most flexible of the three performance spaces and, as a consequence, often has the more bold and experimental work, it suffers from 'make do' public spaces, facilities and access. As such an overhaul is certainly needed. Indeed, if the dire loo situation - number and location - isn't addressed then whoever has briefed the designers is either a) a man b) has never been to a performance at the Cottesloe and, therefore, needs a sharp slap to the back of the hand.

But while the Cottesloe is being cocooned in building works ready to emerge butterfly-like as the Dorfman Theatre in 2014, a new excitingly bijou, temporary performance space is being built facing the river in front of the National (pictured above).

It will be 250-seats compared to the Cottesloe's 400ish and you can get an idea of what it will look like inside on the designer's website. I'm already imagining it as the Donmar of the South Bank attracting the best and biggest names in acting, directing and writing and therefore the accompanying scramble for tickets.