A "floating" glass pavilion will be created as part of plans to revamp London's Southbank Centre.
The glass box will become a new venue and rehearsal space after the overhaul of the Festival Wing.
A new building alongside Waterloo Bridge on the River Thames will house a poetry library, with restaurants and public spaces created in unused areas.
The Southbank Centre hopes it will become a "world-class cultural centre". The project could cost more than £100m.
Existing 1960s buildings in the Festival Wing, including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery will be refurbished, and the space between them will become a new atrium encased in glass.
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said: "This ambitious regeneration project will be the final step in the triumphant transformation of London's South Bank."
