Joseph Rowntree Theatre

The Joseph Rowntree Theatre is a theatre and lecture hall opened in November 1935, with a small late-20th century addition. It was designed by Barry Parker for the Joseph Rowntree Village Trust. The building is constructed of brown brick with concrete dressings and pantile roofs. It has a chamfered brick plinth.

The main entrance, facing west, features a recessed three-storey centre with a triple doorway accessed by six concrete steps, sheltered by a wooden canopy. Above the entrance are three small windows, followed by two tall casement windows on either side of a blank central section, and then three two-light casement windows. Projecting wings flank the central section, each having two square uPVC casement windows to the left and three similar windows to the right. These wings are topped by a brick parapet with a concrete coping.

The side elevations have five full-height buttresses with concrete set-offs, and a slightly projecting lower floor with concrete coping. A small, single-storey, flat-roofed addition from the late 20th century is located on the north side.

The rear of the building features a tall, four-storey fly tower with broad, plain buttresses, a flat roof, and concrete coped parapets.

The entrance foyer has an original composite floor, with a staircase on the left. The staircase on the right has been altered to create a small box office. Shallow steps with metal rails lead to the auditorium doors, flanked by original light fittings. The auditorium has a raked stalls area and a narrow balcony with a plain, curved front, both with panelling to dado height incorporating louvred ventilators. The proscenium opening has a segmental arch flanked by convex quadrant walls. Both the balcony front and the orchestra pit front are curved in plan. The ceiling is spanned by shallow arched ribs which transition into pilaster strips along the walls. Original wooden seating is present throughout, although it has been re-upholstered. Original stage machinery remains.

Originally, the theatre was fitted with a ventilation system said to be one of the most advanced in the country, as well as a film projection room and a modern loudspeaker system for playing recorded music.

The theatre is a rare surviving example from the mid-1930s outside London, and demonstrates the progressive social policies of the Rowntree family towards their workforce.