Odeon Cinema and Odeon Buildings

Odeon Cinema and Odeon Buildings, Nos. 1–5 (consecutive), on the north-west side of Blossom Street, York

A cinema and attached shops, designed in 1937 by Robert Bullivant of Harry Weedon and Partners for Oscar Deutsch and the Odeon group of companies. The building was converted to a triple-screen cinema in 1972. It is listed Grade II.

The building is constructed in buff brick in Flemish garden-wall bond with bands and splayed vertical ribs of shaped brick, executed in the Art Deco style.

The exterior comprises a one-storey front range with a three-storey block behind and a tall projecting tower block at the left; two-storey wings occupy each end, with the right wing projecting forward of the main block. A cantilevered canopy extends the full width of the front range from the right wing. The ground floor of all parts is rusticated with horizontal brick bands. The first floor of the wings is set back slightly over a chamfered moulded brick band. The wings and tower block are banded horizontally at parapet level; the tower has a plain parapet. The roof is flat.

Five pairs of glazed doors between round-ended piers are set back beneath the canopy. The main block behind has three vertical strips of single-pane windows set in a stepped brick panel. The tower contains one set of double doors deeply recessed in a plain opening; the upper storeys are relieved by a parapet-height recessed panel divided by full-height vertical ribs. Shopfronts in the wings are framed in timber, with recessed glazed doors with overlights and plate glass windows with transoms and integral blind boxes. On the first floors, windows are grouped and banded between sill bands and soldier brick arches. Windows in the rounded ends of both wings are curved on plan. All upper-floor windows are metal-framed casements or pivoting lights. The left and right returns are articulated in full-height pilaster strips with scattered fenestration.

The entrance foyer is accessed through four sets of glazed doors from a central lobby. A sales area (replacement) is located to the rear and right, with doors to the lower screens (formerly stalls) to the rear and stairs to the upper foyer to the left, all separated by deep rounded pilasters. To the right at the front is a former separate shop area with a semi-circular frontage to the street. The stairs divide and lead to the upper foyer, which has doors to the main screen (formerly circle) and the manager's office above the former shop. The ceiling is suspended and the walls are wallpapered, covering a reported mural.

In the auditorium, the main proscenium arch remains and the circle seating area has been extended forwards with imported seats to form a single screen. The original projection box and ancillary rooms, including rectifier, ventilation equipment and battery rooms, survive with original doors. Some ventilation grilles and parts of the decorative scheme at the sides of the auditorium remain. Two small screens have been inserted in the orchestra pit, using the former stalls area for seating.