Top Rank Club

The Top Rank Club, formerly the Odeon Cinema, was built in 1935 by architects J Cecil Clavering and Robert Bullivant of Harry Weedon and Partners for Oscar Deutsch and the Odeon group of companies. It stands freestanding on a prominent corner site and serves as the focal point of a contemporary housing development. The cinema showcases the distinctive style established by Weedon for the Odeon chain, with each design being unique.

The main structure is made of brick and features buff and polished black faience dressing on the nearly full-width front elevation. The design is symmetrical, dominated by an axial tower with three faience fins that rise above the stepped brick parapet. Horizontal banding is a prominent theme, continued in faience stops around the subtly curved double returns at the front and corners, with the frontpiece flanked by strip window panels. The otherwise plain side elevations are slightly stepped back. A bowed flight of steps leads to the shallow bow of the foyer entries, which are supported by faience-clad columns, although the central columns have unfortunately been reclad in mosaic. Above, a cantilevered canopy extends to a broad, similarly bowed sign board.