Welcome to the earliest-ever Dock blog: it’s 6:59am and I’m in the Green Room at the BBC. I am your live “thought for the day” today on Radio Ulster, which means waiting for an hour between the first broadcast at 6:55 and the second at the luxurious hour of 7:55.

The first time I did this gig, the excitement of watching the BBC behind the scenes kept me amused for the whole hour – so it’s probably a sign that I’m becoming a cynical old hack that I’m now looking for ways to multi-task and use the hour profitably…

Anyway, enough of my glittering showbiz life.  I’m here today to show you some fantastic pictures of the plans for Titanic Belfast, the shiny new star-shaped building towering over the TQ.  This week I met with Cliodnha, CEO of the project, and she was kind enough to give me some artists-impression projections of the interior of the building to share with y’all.  So you’re very privileged – not many people have seen these yet!

So the idea is that as you come up the escalator (biggest escalator in Ireland, I’ve learnt!) you pass through different themed areas.  The experience starts off looking at boomtown Belfast and the reasons why Titanic was built here…

…before taking you on a multimedia ride on a time-car through a recreation of the working shipyard…

…before looking at the fit-out and launch of the Titanic, with full-size replicas of some of its rooms and cabins…

…leading to a section telling the story of Titanic’s voyage, the disaster and its aftermath…

…followed by a huge theatre showing specially-filmed footage of the wreck on the ocean floor, with information about ocean exploration worldwide…

…before finally the top two floors are taken up with a massive banqueting suite, again modeled on parts of the Titanic’s design (that looks like a replica of the grand staircase in one of the pictures – yes, you recognise it as the place where Kate and Leo kiss at the end of the movie, it’s OK to admit it…)

Doesn’t that all look awesome!