Plaza Bingo Club

PLAZA BINGO CLUB

Bingo club, originally built as the Plaza cinema in 1928 for Cheshire County Cinemas Ltd. The architects were William and Segar Owen of Warrington, with Geoffrey Owen (1887-1965) serving as job architect. The building is constructed in brick with a steel frame, rendered to the front, and has a pitched roof. The frame may have been specially devised to withstand subsidence, a characteristic problem in Northwich due to its salt-working industry. The structure features a double-height auditorium with a rear balcony.

The exterior presents a symmetrical neo-Classical facade standing on a plinth. The central section breaks forward as a serliana with a portico in antis, approached by five steps so that the entrance at the inner wall aligns with the top of the plinth. Two sets of glazed entrance doors are surmounted by further glazing with diagonal cross-frame glazing bars, flanked by similar glazed areas of the same style. A canopy extends over the entrance to the full width of the projecting area. Above this sits a frieze, cornice, and the upper portion of the portico containing a plaster sculptural group representing a film camera supported by putti, set against a half-moon device of scrolling plaster, rosettes and honeysuckle. The outer face of the portico displays arabesque-type plaster decoration with a scrolling keystone. The serliana is topped by a further cornice and parapet, its spandrels enlivened with square panels and roundels. The flanking wings are simply treated, with cornices extending from the projecting section and wall areas broken by fielded panels. An attic storey containing three windows and a stepped cornice sits recessed behind the facade. The pitched roof of the auditorium rises visibly above the wings. The facade rendering extends a short distance along the return walls, which contain an emergency exit door and two upper-storey windows on the right-hand side. The infilled steel framing of the auditorium is visible further back.

The small entrance foyer contains stairs leading to the balcony, whose metal balustrades are of neo-Classical inspiration, incorporating circles and ellipses. An original panelled timber and glass pay-box is also preserved. The side walls of the long double-height auditorium are broken at regular intervals by pilasters with composite capitals combining volutes with the anthemion motif. Between these, low-relief plaster simulates fabric drapes. At the entrance end stands a shallow, straight-fronted balcony with low steppings, while at the far end is a segmental-topped proscenium bounded by fielded panels and flanked by narrow double doors serving as emergency exits. A simple barrel ceiling is divided by plaster mouldings. The stage is shallow. Narrow double doors in the balcony are moulded with rectangles and circles. The balcony seats retain original material of mottled crushed velvet.

This is a well-preserved example of a late 1920s cinema with an exceptionally scholarly neo-Classical facade. The Owens were among the leading architects of Port Sunlight and a notable local practice. The building survives with unusual completeness, retaining many original features both internally and externally. Films ceased operating in the 1960s.