Image: Haworth Tompkins

An Exeter theatre is looking to open a new creative space in a Grade II listed warehouse in the Quayside, in a multi-million pound move.

The Bike Shed Theatre want to convert the former Exeter Maritime Museum into an open space with a 250-seat theatre, an arts market, and a large creative space open to the wider public, amongst other things.

They estimate it will cost around £4,000,000, which they hope to raise through grants, funds, and donations.

David Lockwood, the director of the Bike Shed Theatre, said: “It is exciting. We want to have the most creative space in the world.

“The idea is to attract people from all across the globe, and this space will help that.”

The theatre are looking for ideas on how to use the space, and are appealing for members of the arts community and wider public to come forward.

The proposal comes after the Exeter Canal and Quay Trust granted the theatre £15,000 to undertake a feasibility study last year.

The planned Quayside venue would also include a café and bar that would serve locally sourced food.

The main sources of funding for the multi-million pound move would be the Heritage Lottery Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and Arts Council England.

Ben Bradshaw, MP for Exeter and former Secretary of State for Culture, said: “Who’d have thought, when I stepped into the quirky Bike Shed Theatre in its opening week 5 years ago, that it would now be forging ahead with such big ambitions for the cultural identity of the city?

“A higher capacity theatre combined with a world-class artist development offer with international partnerships would position Exeter as one of the country’s most important cultural destinations.”

The theatre want to start using the warehouse by early 2016, and have no plans to close their current site in Fore Street, which opened in 2010.

The plans have been drawn up by the Haworth Tompkins architects.

The Bike Shed Theatre is planning to move into the Maclaines Warehouse in Exeter Quayside. For more information, click here.