diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Booze/ContentRouteEnhancer.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Booze/ContentRouteEnhancer.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cebd222
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Booze/ContentRouteEnhancer.php
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * @file
+ * Contains Drupal\Core\Booze\ContentPassthroughSubscriber.
+ */
+
+namespace Drupal\Core\Booze;
+
+use Symfony\Cmf\Component\Routing\Enhancer\RouteEnhancerInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
+use Drupal\Core\ControllerResolver;
+
+/**
+ * Class for upcasting _content into a workable callback.
+ *
+ * We use the _content property on routes to simulate the 'page callback'
+ * experience in previous versions of Drupal: it is the callback responsible
+ * for populating the main content area of an HTML page. Because all such
+ * top-level content must be encapsulated by blocks, this route enhancer
+ * creates a closure with logic for calling it to be used later on.
+ */
+class ContentRouteEnhancer implements RouteEnhancerInterface {
+
+  protected $resolver;
+
+  public function __construct(ControllerResolver $resolver) {
+    $this->resolver = $resolver;
+  }
+
+  public function enhance(array $defaults, Request $request) {
+    if (isset($defaults['_content']) && !isset($defaults['_content_closure'])) {
+      // Clone the request and pretend like _content is the _controller
+      $request = clone $request;
+      $request->attributes->set('_controller', $defaults['_content']);
+
+      $controller = $this->resolver->getController($request);
+      $arguments = $this->resolver->getArguments($request, $controller);
+
+      $defaults['_content_closure'] = function() use ($controller, $arguments) {
+        return call_user_func_array($controller, $arguments);
+      };
+    }
+
+    return $defaults;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Booze/DisplayRouteEnhancer.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Booze/DisplayRouteEnhancer.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d4c5f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Booze/DisplayRouteEnhancer.php
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * @file
+ * Contains Drupal\Core\Booze\DisplayRouteEnhancer.
+ */
+
+namespace Drupal\Core\Booze;
+
+use Drupal\layout\Config\BoundDisplayInterface;
+use Symfony\Cmf\Component\Routing\Enhancer\RouteEnhancerInterface;
+use Symfony\Cmf\Component\Routing\RouteObjectInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\NotFoundHttpException;
+use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
+
+class DisplayRouteEnhancer implements RouteEnhancerInterface {
+  /**
+   * Implements \Symfony\Cmf\Component\Routing\Enhancer\ŖouteEnhancerInterface.
+   *
+   * Upcasts _display identifiers on routes into their full Display objects.
+   *
+   * @param array $defaults
+   * @param \Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request $request
+   *
+   * @return array
+   *   The modified defaults. This enhancer will only operate on keys called
+   *   "_display", and only if their value is a string.
+   */
+  public function enhance(array $defaults, Request $request) {
+    if (isset($defaults['_display']) && is_string($defaults['_display'])) {
+
+      $entity = entity_load('display', str_replace('display.bound.', '', $defaults['_display']));
+      if (!$entity instanceof BoundDisplayInterface) {
+        $route = $defaults[RouteObjectInterface::ROUTE_OBJECT];
+        throw new NotFoundHttpException(sprintf("Display %s could not be found for route on path %s.", $defaults['_display'], $route->getPath()));
+      }
+      $defaults['_display'] = $entity;
+    }
+
+    return $defaults;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Booze/DrunkController.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Booze/DrunkController.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad07fdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Booze/DrunkController.php
@@ -0,0 +1,240 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * @file
+ * Definition of Drupal\Core\Booze\DrunkController.
+ */
+
+namespace Drupal\Core\Booze;
+
+use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
+use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;
+use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerAwareInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface;
+use Drupal\layout\Config\BoundDisplayInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\Extension\ModuleHandlerInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManager;
+use Drupal\block\Plugin\Core\Entity\Block;
+use Drupal\system\Plugin\block\block\SystemMainBlock;
+
+/**
+ * Default controller for handling text/html responses.
+ *
+ * It's called DrunkController in order to absolutely ensure we rename it later.
+ *
+ * ...right?
+ */
+class DrunkController implements ContainerAwareInterface {
+
+  /**
+   * An array containing rendered block output, keyed by the block instance that
+   * produced it.
+   *
+   * @var array
+   */
+  public $renderedBlocks = array();
+
+  /**
+   * An associative array of rendered regions.
+   * @var array
+   */
+  public $renderedRegions;
+
+  /**
+   * The injection container for this object.
+   *
+   * @var \Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface
+   */
+  protected $container;
+
+  /**
+   * The Response object that is built up over the course of the request and
+   * eventually returned from this controller.
+   *
+   * @var \Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response
+   */
+  protected $response;
+
+  /**
+   * The display configuration object containing layout and block information,
+   * used by this controller to assemble all page elements.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\layout\Config\BoundDisplayInterface
+   */
+  protected $display;
+
+  /**
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\Extension\ModuleHandlerInterface
+   */
+  protected $moduleHandler;
+
+  /**
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManager
+   */
+  protected $entityManager;
+
+  public function __construct(ModuleHandlerInterface $moduleHandler, EntityManager $entityManager) {
+    $this->moduleHandler = $moduleHandler;
+    $this->entityManager = $entityManager;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Injects the service container used by this object.
+   *
+   * @param \Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface $container
+   *   The service container this object should use.
+   */
+  public function setContainer(ContainerInterface $container = NULL) {
+    $this->container = $container;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Controller method for normal rendering of blocks and layouts-driven HTML
+   * page.
+   *
+   * @todo the output may need more or less assembling, depending on how
+   * 'compiled' of a template we have in the display. We either can handle it
+   * below here via a delegator pattern, or with sibling classes.
+   *
+   * @param \Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request         $request
+   *   The request object.
+   * @param \Drupal\layout\Config\BoundDisplayInterface       $_display
+   *   A configuration object containing the layout instance and set of
+   *   block instances that have been configured to be used for the current
+   *   route.
+   *
+   * @return \Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response
+   */
+  public function respond(Request $request, BoundDisplayInterface $_display) {
+    $this->display = $_display;
+
+    // Create a Response object right away that we can easily decorate as we go.
+    $this->response = new Response();
+
+    $this->renderBlocks($request);
+    $this->renderRegions($request);
+    // @todo handle out-of-band stuff, e.g. css/js
+
+    $content = $this->display->getLayoutInstance()->renderLayout(FALSE, $this->renderedRegions);
+
+    $this->response->setContent($this->wrapHtml($content));
+
+    return $this->response;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Renders all blocks contained in the current display object.
+   *
+   * @param \Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request $request
+   */
+  protected function renderBlocks(Request $request) {
+    foreach ($this->display->getAllBlockInfo() as $name => $info) {
+      $instance = entity_load('block', $name);
+      $plugin = $instance->getPlugin();
+
+      // @todo this should be rolled into the more general pattern of context prep
+      if ($plugin instanceof SystemMainBlock) {
+        $instance->set('_content_closure', $request->attributes->get('_content_closure'));
+      }
+
+      // @todo block/pane styles - we're keeping them, right?
+      // @todo still need very much to handle context injection. yikes.
+      // @todo handle out-of-band attached stuff from blocks, e.g. css/js
+      if (empty($info['method']) || $info['method'] === 'direct') {
+        // this is the direct rendering approach.
+        // Should probably not be called like this and not keyed by name but instance - dysrama
+        $this->renderedBlocks[$name] = $this->entityManager
+          ->getRenderController($instance->entityType())
+          ->render($instance);
+      }
+      elseif ($info['method'] === 'subrequest') {
+        // this routes rendering through a subrequest.
+        // @todo When we have a Generator, we can replace the forward() call with
+        // a render() call, which would handle ESI and hInclude as well.  That will
+        // require an _internal route.  For examples, see:
+        // https://github.com/symfony/symfony/blob/master/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Resources/config/routing/internal.xml
+        // https://github.com/symfony/symfony/blob/master/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Controller/InternalController.php
+        $response = $this->container->get('http_kernel')->forward(array($instance, 'render'), $attributes, $request->query->all());
+        $this->renderedBlocks[$name] = $response->getContent();
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Renders all rendered blocks into their respective layout regions, using
+   * the layout attached to the current display object.
+   *
+   * @param \Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request $request
+   */
+  protected function renderRegions(Request $request) {
+    $layout = $this->display->getLayoutInstance();
+    // @todo need to add this method to the layout plugin interface.
+    foreach ($layout->getRegions() as $region => $info) {
+      // @todo region styles, if we do them, would go in around here
+      $to_render = array();
+      // This sorting call will trigger automatic block remapping if the display
+      // has had a different layout plugin instance injected than the one
+      // indicated in storage.
+      foreach ($this->display->getSortedBlocksByRegion($region) as $block) {
+        $to_render[] = $this->renderedBlocks[$block];
+      }
+      /*
+       * @todo giant fat utter hack to just get it working.
+       * the responsibility for this in Panels is in styles - we haven't
+       * implemented those yet, and they create a potentially awkward additional
+       * separation for frontenders that we may not want to have.
+       *
+       * so, needs a little discussion, but it's (sorta) ok to just force this
+       * to work while we figure it out.
+       */
+      $this->renderedRegions[$region] = implode("\n", $to_render);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Wraps page output in the html template.
+   *
+   * @todo This is ENTIRELY a shim until https://drupal.org/node/1871596 gets in.
+   *
+   * @param $content
+   */
+  protected function wrapHtml($content) {
+    $page = element_info('page');
+    foreach ($this->moduleHandler->getImplementations('page_build') as $module) {
+      $function = $module . '_page_build';
+      $function($page);
+    }
+    $this->moduleHandler->alter('page', $page);
+
+    // ensure the #attached assets get picked up
+    drupal_process_attached($page);
+
+    $vars = array(
+      'page' => array(
+        '#type' => 'markup',
+        '#markup' => $content,
+        '#children' => $content, // @todo some preprocessors demand this be here
+        'page_top' => empty($page['page_top']) ? array(): $page['page_top'],
+        'page_bottom' => empty($page['page_bottom']) ? array(): $page['page_bottom'],
+      ),
+    );
+
+    // extra-ugly hack for sidebar-number-correctness. ugh, template_preprocess_html.
+    $layout = $this->display->getLayoutInstance();
+    $i = 0;
+    foreach ($layout->getRegions() as $name => $info) {
+      if (strpos($name, 'sidebar') === 0) {
+        $i++;
+      }
+    }
+
+    if ($i >= 1) {
+      $vars['page']['sidebar_first'] = TRUE;
+    }
+    if ($i >= 2) {
+      $vars['page']['sidebar_second'] = TRUE;
+    }
+
+    return theme('html', $vars);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/CoreBundle.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/CoreBundle.php
index 035f282..f060450 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/CoreBundle.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/CoreBundle.php
@@ -212,6 +212,11 @@ public function build(ContainerBuilder $container) {
     $container->register('paramconverter.entity', 'Drupal\Core\ParamConverter\EntityConverter')
       ->addArgument(new Reference('plugin.manager.entity'))
       ->addTag('paramconverter');
+    $container->register('display_route_enhancer', 'Drupal\Core\Booze\DisplayRouteEnhancer')
+      ->addTag('route_enhancer');
+    $container->register('content_route_enhancer', 'Drupal\Core\Booze\ContentRouteEnhancer')
+      ->addArgument(new Reference('controller_resolver'))
+      ->addTag('route_enhancer');
 
     $container->register('router_processor_subscriber', 'Drupal\Core\EventSubscriber\RouteProcessorSubscriber')
       ->addArgument(new Reference('content_negotiation'))
@@ -270,6 +275,14 @@ public function build(ContainerBuilder $container) {
     $container->register('flood', 'Drupal\Core\Flood\DatabaseBackend')
       ->addArgument(new Reference('database'));
 
+    $container->register('drunk_controller_subscriber', 'Drupal\Core\EventSubscriber\DrunkControllerSubscriber')
+      ->addArgument(new Reference('content_negotiation'))
+      ->addTag('event_subscriber');
+
+    $container->register('drunk_controller', 'Drupal\Core\Booze\DrunkController')
+      ->addArgument(new Reference('module_handler'))
+      ->addArgument(new Reference('plugin.manager.entity'));
+
     $container->addCompilerPass(new RegisterMatchersPass());
     $container->addCompilerPass(new RegisterRouteFiltersPass());
     // Add a compiler pass for registering event subscribers.
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/EventSubscriber/DrunkControllerSubscriber.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/EventSubscriber/DrunkControllerSubscriber.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d44015d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/EventSubscriber/DrunkControllerSubscriber.php
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * @file
+ * Definition of Drupal\Core\EventSubscriber\DrunkControllerSubscriber.
+ */
+
+namespace Drupal\Core\EventSubscriber;
+
+use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\KernelEvents;
+use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Event\FilterControllerEvent;
+use Symfony\Component\EventDispatcher\EventSubscriberInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\NotFoundHttpException;
+
+use Drupal\layout\Config\BoundDisplayInterface;
+
+/**
+ * Controller injector for text/html responses.
+ */
+class DrunkControllerSubscriber implements EventSubscriberInterface {
+
+  /**
+   * Attaches a controller for blocks-driven HTML rendering, if appropriate.
+   *
+   * This determines if the Request and Route are appropriate candidates for
+   * passing through block-driven rendering, and if so, attaches a controller
+   * to do so.
+   *
+   * This is more or less the default case; we only don't take over if Drupal
+   * is doing things like form processing, returning JSON or other things that
+   * (generally) do not involve composing HTML.
+   *
+   */
+  public function onDrunkenKernelController(FilterControllerEvent $event) {
+    $request = $event->getRequest();
+
+    // @todo implement a separate flag and remove this hardmapping
+    if ('drunk_controller:respond' !== $request->attributes->get('_controller')
+        || $request->attributes->get('_display') instanceof BoundDisplayInterface) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    $route = $request->attributes->get('_route');
+
+    if (!empty($route)) {
+      $display = entity_load('display', $route);
+    }
+
+    if (empty($display)) {
+       throw new NotFoundHttpException(sprintf('No display could be located for the route %s.', $route));
+       return;
+    }
+
+    $display->setMainContent($request->attributes->get('_content'));
+
+    $request->attributes->set('_display', $display);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Registers the methods in this class that should be listeners.
+   *
+   * @return array
+   *   An array of event listener definitions.
+   */
+  public static function getSubscribedEvents() {
+    $events[KernelEvents::CONTROLLER][] = array('onDrunkenKernelController', 100);
+
+    return $events;
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/EventSubscriber/RouteProcessorSubscriber.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/EventSubscriber/RouteProcessorSubscriber.php
index 0061530..cb1862a 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/EventSubscriber/RouteProcessorSubscriber.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/EventSubscriber/RouteProcessorSubscriber.php
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public function onRequestSetController(GetResponseEvent $event) {
     $request = $event->getRequest();
 
     if (!$request->attributes->has('_controller') && $this->negotiation->getContentType($request) === 'html') {
-      $request->attributes->set('_controller', '\Drupal\Core\HtmlPageController::content');
+      $request->attributes->set('_controller', 'drunk_controller:respond');
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/core/modules/block/lib/Drupal/block/BlockRenderController.php b/core/modules/block/lib/Drupal/block/BlockRenderController.php
index e705310..cc751f2 100644
--- a/core/modules/block/lib/Drupal/block/BlockRenderController.php
+++ b/core/modules/block/lib/Drupal/block/BlockRenderController.php
@@ -87,4 +87,15 @@ public function viewMultiple(array $entities = array(), $view_mode = 'full', $la
     return $build;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Use render instead of view
+   * @param EntityInterface $entity
+   * @param type $view_mode
+   * @param type $langcode
+   * @return type
+   */
+  public function render(EntityInterface $entity, $langcode = NULL) {
+    $render = $this->view($entity, 'block', $langcode);
+    return drupal_render($render);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/layout/layout.info b/core/modules/layout/layout.info
index 187bfea..4d5d23a 100644
--- a/core/modules/layout/layout.info
+++ b/core/modules/layout/layout.info
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ description = Makes it possible to swap different page layouts.
 package = Core
 version = VERSION
 core = 8.x
+required = TRUE
diff --git a/core/modules/layout/layout.module b/core/modules/layout/layout.module
index c6ed7ae..12b0b9f 100644
--- a/core/modules/layout/layout.module
+++ b/core/modules/layout/layout.module
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ function layout_theme($existing, $type, $theme, $path) {
       'variables' => array('content' => NULL),
       'path' => $layout['path'],
       'template' => $layout['template'],
+      'base hook' => 'page',
     );
   }
   return $items;
diff --git a/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Config/DisplayBase.php b/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Config/DisplayBase.php
index afe3229..02f6f3b 100644
--- a/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Config/DisplayBase.php
+++ b/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Config/DisplayBase.php
@@ -135,4 +135,15 @@ public function getAllRegionTypes() {
     }
     return array_unique($types);
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Overrides \Drupal\Core\Config\Entity\ConfigEntityBase::getExportProperties();
+   *
+   * @return array
+   */
+  public function getExportProperties() {
+    $properties = parent::getExportProperties();
+    $properties['blockInfo'] = $this->blockInfo;
+    return $properties;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Config/DisplayStorageController.php b/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Config/DisplayStorageController.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6a9567
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Config/DisplayStorageController.php
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * @file
+ * Contains Drupal\layout\Config\UnboundDisplayStorageController.
+ */
+
+namespace Drupal\layout\Config;
+
+use Drupal\Core\Config\Entity\ConfigStorageController;
+use Drupal\layout\Plugin\Core\Entity\Display;
+
+/**
+ * Storage controller for Displays.
+ *
+ * @see \Drupal\layout\Config\BoundDisplayInterface
+ */
+class UnboundDisplayStorageController extends ConfigStorageController {
+  // @todo nothing yet...but soon.
+}
diff --git a/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Config/UnboundDisplayStorageController.php b/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Config/UnboundDisplayStorageController.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c139a71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Config/UnboundDisplayStorageController.php
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * @file
+ * Contains Drupal\layout\Config\UnboundDisplayStorageController.
+ */
+
+namespace Drupal\layout\Config;
+
+use Drupal\Core\Config\Entity\ConfigStorageController;
+use Drupal\layout\Plugin\Core\Entity\Display;
+use Drupal\Core\Config\Config;
+
+/**
+ * Storage controller for Unbound Displays.
+ *
+ * @see \Drupal\layout\Config\UnboundDisplayInterface
+ */
+class UnboundDisplayStorageController extends ConfigStorageController {
+  public function importCreate($name, Config $new_config, Config $old_config) {
+    // First, import the unbound display into active config
+    $unbound_display = $this->create($new_config->get());
+    $unbound_display->save();
+
+    // Now, create a corresponding bound display - if one doesn't exist already.
+    if (!entity_load('display', $name)) {
+      // @todo need finer-grained control than a single global default
+      // @todo how do we figure out whether we're doing frontend, admin, or...other?
+      $layout = drupal_container()->get('plugin.manager.layout')
+        ->createInstance(config('system.site')->get('default_layout'));
+      $bound_display = $unbound_display->generateDisplay($layout, $name);
+      $bound_display->save();
+    }
+
+    // @todo consider adding flexibility around which display type to create
+//    $controller = drupal_container()
+//      ->get('plugin.manager.entity')
+//      ->getStorageController('display');
+
+    // $controller->create();
+    return TRUE;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Plugin/Core/Entity/UnboundDisplay.php b/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Plugin/Core/Entity/UnboundDisplay.php
index 5450e2c..c4bf8c2 100644
--- a/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Plugin/Core/Entity/UnboundDisplay.php
+++ b/core/modules/layout/lib/Drupal/layout/Plugin/Core/Entity/UnboundDisplay.php
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
  *   id = "unbound_display",
  *   label = @Translation("Unbound Display"),
  *   module = "layout",
- *   controller_class = "Drupal\Core\Config\Entity\ConfigStorageController",
+ *   controller_class = "Drupal\layout\Config\UnboundDisplayStorageController",
  *   config_prefix = "display.unbound",
  *   entity_keys = {
  *     "id" = "id",
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ class UnboundDisplay extends DisplayBase implements UnboundDisplayInterface {
    * @throws \Exception
    */
   public function generateDisplay(LayoutInterface $layout, $id, $entity_type = 'display') {
+    // @todo might be better to decouple this from the UnboundDisplay class
     $values = array(
       'layout' => $layout->getPluginId(),
       'blockInfo' => $this->mapBlocksToLayout($layout),
diff --git a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Plugin/block/block/SystemMainBlock.php b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Plugin/block/block/SystemMainBlock.php
index 2f10f57..4121628 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Plugin/block/block/SystemMainBlock.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Plugin/block/block/SystemMainBlock.php
@@ -26,9 +26,13 @@ class SystemMainBlock extends BlockBase {
    * Implements \Drupal\block\BlockBase::build().
    */
   public function build() {
-    return array(
-      drupal_set_page_content()
-    );
+    // @todo this lets the old way work transparently while we do new stuff.
+    if ($ret = drupal_set_page_content()) {
+      return array($ret);
+    }
+
+    $callback = $this->entity->get('_content_closure');
+    return is_callable($callback) ? call_user_func($callback) : '';
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/core/profiles/standard/config/display.bound.frontend.yml b/core/profiles/standard/config/display.bound.frontend.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2c629cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/profiles/standard/config/display.bound.frontend.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+id: frontend
+label: Frontend master display
+layout: static_layout:bartik__frontend
+layoutSettings: { }
+blockInfo:
+# these have bartik in their namespace, but that's irrelevant to our use here -
+# we're just reusing them while we get everything together.
+  bartik.help:
+    region: help
+    region-type: content
+    weight: 0 # should float in unbound/master
+  bartik.content:
+    region: content
+    region-type: content
+    weight: 0 # should float in unbound/master
+  bartik.footer:
+    region: footer
+    region-type: footer
+    weight: 0 # stick-top in unbound/master
+  bartik.powered:
+    region: footer
+    region-type: footer
+    weight: 10 # float in unbound/master
+  bartik.search:
+    region: sidebar_first
+    region-type: aside
+    weight: 0 # stick-top in unbound/master
+  bartik.login:
+    region: sidebar_first
+    region-type: aside
+    weight: 10 # stick-top in unbound/master
+  bartik.tools:
+    region: sidebar_first
+    region-type: aside
+    weight: 20 # stick-top in unbound/master
diff --git a/core/profiles/standard/standard.install b/core/profiles/standard/standard.install
index 85c818c..10f67cb 100644
--- a/core/profiles/standard/standard.install
+++ b/core/profiles/standard/standard.install
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ function standard_install() {
 
   // Set front page to "node".
   config('system.site')->set('page.front', 'node')->save();
+  // Set default layout to Bartik's frontend layout.
+  config('system.site')->set('default_layout', 'static_layout:bartik__frontend');
 
   // Insert default pre-defined node types into the database. For a complete
   // list of available node type attributes, refer to the node type API
diff --git a/core/themes/bartik/layouts/static/frontend/frontend.html.twig b/core/themes/bartik/layouts/static/frontend/frontend.html.twig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..857a1d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/themes/bartik/layouts/static/frontend/frontend.html.twig
@@ -0,0 +1,250 @@
+{#
+
+@file
+Bartik's primary frontend layout implementation.
+
+
+The doctype, html, head, and body tags are not in this template. Instead
+they can be found in the html.tpl.php template normally located in the
+core/modules/system directory.
+
+Available variables:
+
+General utility variables:
+- base_path: The base URL path of the Drupal installation. At the very
+  least, this will always default to /.
+- directory: The directory the template is located in, e.g. modules/system
+  or themes/bartik.
+- is_front: TRUE if the current page is the front page.
+- logged_in: TRUE if the user is registered and signed in.
+- is_admin: TRUE if the user has permission to access administration pages.
+
+Site identity:
+- front_page: The URL of the front page. Use this instead of base_path,
+  when linking to the front page. This includes the language domain or
+  prefix.
+- logo: The path to the logo image, as defined in theme configuration.
+- site_name: The name of the site, empty when display has been disabled
+  in theme settings.
+- site_slogan: The slogan of the site, empty when display has been disabled
+  in theme settings.
+- hide_site_name: TRUE if the site name has been toggled off on the theme
+  settings page. If hidden, the "element-invisible" class is added to make
+  the site name visually hidden, but still accessible.
+- hide_site_slogan: TRUE if the site slogan has been toggled off on the
+  theme settings page. If hidden, the "element-invisible" class is added to
+  make the site slogan visually hidden, but still accessible.
+
+Navigation:
+- main_menu (array): An array containing the Main menu links for the
+  site, if they have been configured.
+- secondary_menu (array): An array containing the Secondary menu links for
+  the site, if they have been configured.
+- breadcrumb: The breadcrumb trail for the current page.
+
+Page content (in order of occurrence in the default page.tpl.php):
+- title_prefix (array): An array containing additional output populated by
+  modules, intended to be displayed in front of the main title tag that
+  appears in the template.
+- title: The page title, for use in the actual HTML content.
+- title_suffix (array): An array containing additional output populated by
+  modules, intended to be displayed after the main title tag that appears in
+  the template.
+- messages: HTML for status and error messages. Should be displayed
+  prominently.
+- tabs (array): Tabs linking to any sub-pages beneath the current page
+  (e.g., the view and edit tabs when displaying a node).
+- action_links (array): Actions local to the page, such as 'Add menu' on
+  the menu administration interface.
+- feed_icons: A string of all feed icons for the current page.
+- node: The node entity, if there is an automatically-loaded node
+  associated with the page, and the node ID is the second argument
+  in the page's path (e.g. node/12345 and node/12345/revisions, but not
+  comment/reply/12345).
+
+Regions:
+- content.header: Items for the header region.
+- content.featured: Items for the featured region.
+- content.highlighted: Items for the highlighted content region.
+- content.help: Dynamic help text, mostly for admin pages.
+- content.content: The main content of the current page.
+- content.sidebar_first: Items for the first sidebar.
+- content.sidebar_second: Items for the second sidebar.
+- content.triptych_first: Items for the first triptych.
+- content.triptych_middle: Items for the middle triptych.
+- content.triptych_last: Items for the last triptych.
+- content.footer_firstcolumn: Items for the first footer column.
+- content.footer_secondcolumn: Items for the second footer column.
+- content.footer_thirdcolumn: Items for the third footer column.
+- content.footer_fourthcolumn: Items for the fourth footer column.
+- content.footer: Items for the footer region.
+
+@see template_preprocess()
+@see template_preprocess_content()
+@see template_process()
+@see bartik_process_page()
+@see html.tpl.php
+
+@ingroup themeable
+
+#}
+
+{# system is emitted before & above everything else #}
+{% if content.system %}{{ content.system }}{% endif %}
+
+<div id="page">
+  <header id="header" role="banner"><div class="section clearfix">
+    {# @todo remove/replace this hardcoding. #}
+    {% if secondary_nav %}
+      <nav id="secondary-menu" class="navigation" role="navigation">
+        {{ secondary_nav }}
+      </nav>
+    {% endif %}
+
+    {# @todo remove/replace this hardcoding. #}
+    {% if logo %}
+      <a href="{{ front_page }}" title="{{ 'Home'|t }}" rel="home" id="logo">
+        <img src="{{ logo }}" alt="{{ 'Home'|t }}" />
+      </a>
+    {% endif %}
+
+    {# @todo remove/replace aaaaall this hardcoding. #}
+    {% if site_name or site_slogan %}
+      <div id="name-and-slogan" {% if hide_site_name and hide_site_slogan %}class="element-invisible"{% endif %}>
+        {% if site_name %}
+          {% if title %}
+            <div id="site-name" {% if hide_site_name %}class="element-invisible"{% endif %}>
+              <strong>
+                <a href="{{ front_page }}" title="{{ 'Home'|t }}" rel="home"><span><{{ site_name }}></span></a>
+              </strong>
+            </div>
+          {% else %}
+            <h1 id="site-name" {% if hide_site_name %}class="element-invisible"{% endif %}>
+              <a href="{{ front_page }}" title="{{ 'Home'|t }}" rel="home"><span><{{ site_name }}></span></a>
+            </h1>
+          {% endif %}
+        {% endif %}
+
+        {% if site_slogan %}
+          <div id="site-slogan" {% if hide_site_slogan %}class="element-invisible"{% endif %}>
+            {{ site_slogan }}
+          </div>
+        {% endif %}
+
+      </div>
+    {% endif %}
+
+    {{ content.header }}
+
+    {# @todo remove/replace this hardcoding. #}
+    {% if primary_nav %}
+      <nav id="main-menu" class="navigation" role="navigation">
+        {{ primary_nav }}
+      </nav>
+    {% endif %}
+
+  </div></header>
+
+
+  {# @todo remove/replace this hardcoding. #}
+  {% if messages %}
+    <div id="messages"><div class="section clearfix">
+      {{ messages }}
+    </div></div>
+  {% endif %}
+
+
+  {% if content.featured %}
+    <aside id="featured"><div class="section clearfix">
+      {{ content.featured }}
+    </div></aside>
+  {% endif %}
+
+
+  <div id="main-wrapper" class="clearfix"><div id="main" class="clearfix">
+    {{ breadcrumb }} {# @todo remove/replace this hardcoding. #}
+    <main id="content" class="column" role="main"><section class="section">
+      {% if content.highlighted %}
+        <div id="highlighted">
+          {{ content.highlighted }}
+        </div>
+      {% endif %}
+
+      <a id="main-content"></a>
+
+      {# @todo remove/replace this hardcoding. #}
+      {{ title_prefix }}
+      {% if title %}
+        <h1 class="title" id="page-title">
+          {{ title }}
+        </h1>
+      {% endif %}
+      {{ title_suffix }}
+
+      {# @todo remove/replace this hardcoding. #}
+      {% if tabs %}
+        <nav class="tabs" role="navigation">
+          {{ tabs }}
+        </nav>
+      {% endif %}
+
+      {# @todo content.help should probably be a block, not a region #}
+      {{ content.help }}
+
+      {# @todo remove/replace this hardcoding. #}
+      {% if action_links %}
+        <ul class="action-links">
+          {{ action_links }}
+        </ul>
+      {% endif %}
+
+      {{ content.content }}
+
+      {# @todo remove/replace this hardcoding. #}
+      {{ feed_icons }}
+
+    </section></main>
+
+    {% if content.sidebar_first %}
+      <div id="sidebar-first" class="column sidebar"><aside class="section">
+        {{ content.sidebar_first }}
+      </aside></div>
+    {% endif %}
+
+    {% if content.sidebar_second %}
+      <div id="sidebar-first" class="column sidebar"><aside class="section">
+        {{ content.sidebar_first }}
+      </aside></div>
+    {% endif %}
+
+  </div></div>
+
+
+  {% if content.triptych_first or content.triptych_middle or content.triptych_last %}
+    <div id="triptych-wrapper"><aside id="triptych" class="clearfix">
+      {{ content.triptych_first }}
+      {{ content.triptych_middle }}
+      {{ content.triptych_last }}
+    </aside></div>
+  {% endif %}
+
+
+  <div id="footer-wrapper"><footer class="section" role="contentinfo">
+    {% if content.footer_firstcolumn or content.footer_secondcolumn
+       or content.footer_thirdcolumn or content.footer_fourthcolumn %}
+      <div id="footer-columns" class="clearfix">
+        {{ content.footer_firstcolumn }}
+        {{ content.footer_secondcolumn }}
+        {{ content.footer_thirdcolumn }}
+        {{ content.footer_fourthcolumn }}
+      </div>
+    {% endif %}
+
+    {% if content.footer %}
+      <div id="footer" role="contentinfo" class="clearfix">
+        {{ content.footer }}
+      </div>
+    {% endif %}
+  </footer></div>
+
+</div>
diff --git a/core/themes/bartik/layouts/static/frontend/frontend.yml b/core/themes/bartik/layouts/static/frontend/frontend.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5fbacf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/themes/bartik/layouts/static/frontend/frontend.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+title: Bartik Frontend
+category: Frontend
+template: frontend
+regions:
+  system:
+    label: System
+    type: system
+  header:
+    label: Header
+    type: header
+  content:
+    label: Main Content
+    type: content
+  highlighted:
+    label: Highlighted
+    type: content
+  help:
+    label: Help
+    type: content
+  sidebar_first:
+    label: Sidebar first
+    type: aside
+  sidebar_second:
+    label: Sidebar second
+    type: aside
+  featured:
+    label: Featured
+    type: aside
+  triptych_first:
+    label: Triptych first
+    type: aside
+  triptych_second:
+    label: Triptych second
+    type: aside
+  triptych_last:
+    label: Triptych last
+    type: aside
+  footer:
+    label: Footer
+    type: footer
+  footer_firstcolumn:
+    label: Footer first column
+    type: footer
+  footer_secondcolumn:
+    label: Footer first column
+    type: footer
+  footer_thirdcolumn:
+    label: Footer first column
+    type: footer
+  footer_fourthcolumn:
+    label: Footer first column
+    type: footer
\ No newline at end of file