21, Market Street

No. 21 Market Street is a building that originally served as a cinema and cafe, now functioning as a shop. It was constructed around 1918 and converted around 1985. The structure is steel-framed with a grey terracotta facade, designed in the Baroque Revival style. It has a deep rectangular plan, standing three storeys tall with three bays.

The ground floor features an entrance and shop windows that are deeply recessed behind four Tuscan columns, with the outer two being engaged. Above each column, there is a small cartouche on the architrave. The first and second floors are defined by four rusticated pilasters, adorned with lion masks near their bases, which support a modillion cornice and blocking course.

The windows on the first floor are paired in the central bay and single in the outer bays; they are sashed and include stained glass. The first-floor windows have moulded architraves with tall keystones, while the second-floor windows have plain reveals. The outer second-floor windows feature a tall keystone, while the central window has a triple keystone and is shorter, as its sill is above a tall apron decorated with a swagged cartouche.

On the right-hand side wall, there are traces of a painted sign that reads "PICTURES" and "CAFE". The facade of No. 21 Market Street makes an important contribution to the streetscape. Historically, it was built as the Palladium Cinema and is now recognized as the oldest surviving purpose-built cinema building in the town.