YORK Conservation Trust is contributing more than £2 million to the redevelopment of York Theatre Royal, taking the ongoing project's cost from the previously stated £4.1million to £6 million.

England's longest-standing theatre outside London will reopen on April 22 with a world-premiere new adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited after a transformation of the 270-year-old building funded by City of York Council, the trust, further grants and donations and £2.9 million from Arts Council England.

York Conservation Trust's priority, after acquiring the Grade II-listed Theatre Royal for £1 from City of York Council, was the restoration of the "functionality and appearance of the complicated roof structures".

The project was not straightforward, given the history of a theatre built and re-built over the centuries. The site spans roughly half an acre, and in the words of Conservation Trust architect Guy Bowyer, is more of a landscape than a roof, on account of being composed of more than 30 different roof slopes with unusual details and geometries.

Some roofs slope at 60 degrees, others are flat, and the diversity of roofing materials needed or one project is unprecedented, not only slate and lead, but also copper, zinc, felt, asphalt, glass reinforced plastic and Sika liquid plastic.

The key features funded by the conservation trust include the installation of 31 round roof lights to the 1967 atrium (the former foyer), based on the original Patrick Gwynne design with LED perimeter lighting, and the renewal of the entrance canopy, with digital poster boards, plus improvements to thermal efficiency, smoke ventilation and roof drainage.

The trust also has overseen extensive masonry repairs to the north, south and west elevations and the refurbishment of the inside face of the gothic colonnade.

Another part of the conservation trust's funding is a "substantial contribution to ensure that the internal contract could be finished on time and to a high specification". In a nutshell, this has helped to pay for a larger workforce and more man hours.

Philip Thake, chief executive of York Conservation Trust, said: "Our charter is to protect York’s most historic properties and it was clear to us that substantial investment was required to secure this important building’s future and preserve it for the benefit of the people of York and the nation at large.

"We will now guarantee its future and have long-term plans for even more improvements to other parts of the property which will further enhance the theatre’s offering to the local community."

Liz Wilson, the Theatre Royal's chief executive, said: "We are eternally grateful to York Conservation Trust, and it's great for the city to have a not-for-profit organisation whose remit is the upkeep of its historic buildings and also public accessibility to those buildings.