Former Imperial Cinema

This building began as an agricultural hall in 1868–1869, designed by GB Nichols. It was remodelled as a theatre in 1880, then in 1914 largely rebuilt and converted to a cinema by JH Hickton and HE Farmer.

The structure is built of brick in English Bond with stucco detailing under a slate roof. It is rectangular in plan, oriented north-west to south-east, with the front elevation facing Darwall Street to the north-west. The main roof is pitched with gables at both ends and a hipped lantern roof above. A smaller pitched roof with a lower ridge than the main building covers the new front added in 1914. At the rear of the south-west side elevation, a single-storey flat-roofed outshot has a projecting lean-to slate roof forming a covered walkway. Two small additions at the rear south-west and north-east corners are linked by a wall enclosing a yard accessed from the south-east end.

Exterior

Windows throughout are casements with margin lights and glazing bars dividing the top third, decorated with a cross in the centre.

The principal elevation has three bays. The central bay is the widest, rising three stages in height. At ground and first floor levels it is recessed, with four steps leading up to an entrance of timber-framed double doorways flanking a single door-width fixed full-height glazed panel. Two Tuscan columns frame the entrance and support a balcony dividing the ground and first floors. Above the balcony rail, a rusticated arch springs from the sides of the recess, revealing three windows: a central three-casement window and two two-casement windows to either side. Large vents have been inserted at the base of the side windows.

The flanking bays are brick, with projecting pilasters at the sides of the entrance and set just back from the corners. The pilasters have stucco panels at their tops with thin plaster leaf-carved corbels below the cornice. Each side bay contains a two-casement window at ground and first floors. Between these windows is a square plate with a cross decoration from which a large lantern is fixed. Above the first floor, a frieze runs across all three bays—blank and slightly recessed over the central bay, with two slightly raised panels aligned with the brick pilasters over the side bays. Above the frieze is a parapet over the side bays, while the central bay has two windows (now lacking their original glazing bars) either side of a sign reading 'IMPERIAL'. The front is crowned by a triangular pediment on the central bay with a rosette in its centre.

The south-west side elevation continues the Darwall Street front to the north-west end, with the same brick pilasters, frieze, and parapet. A doorway at first floor level has a fire escape ladder, and the frame of a two-casement window remains at ground floor level. Beyond this, the elevation is largely solid. At the rear, south-east end, a single-storey narrow outshot under a flat roof has a lean-to slate roof projecting out to cover a walkway beneath. A ramp runs alongside the front part of the elevation up to a doorway in the north-west elevation of the outshot. Four circular windows are positioned at the top of the first floor level. Behind the outshot is a further two-storey extension projecting out from the main building to the same extent as the outshot. This extension is asymmetrical: the north-west end has two small ground floor windows with two larger windows above; centrally, a pair of double fire escape doors with a large sash above; and at the south-east end, two tall ground floor windows with a single sash above. A tall chimney stack stands at the southern corner.

The rear, south-east elevation of the main building has a single large glazed opening to a small yard. The yard contains a small building housing staircases to the north and a fire exit from the extension to the south-west elevation to the south. It is enclosed by a brick wall, solid except for a ground floor window at the south end and single and double doorways to the staircases at the northern end.

The north-east side elevation is obscured at the Darwall Street end by Caxton Chambers (numbers 2 and 2a Darwall Street). The remainder is a solid brick wall, the south end of which has a mono-pitch roof covering the small building housing staircases on the north side of the rear yard.

Interior

The building is a high open hall with a front section divided into three storeys and ancillary rooms to the rear. A cantilevered balcony extends out into the hall, sloping downwards from second floor level. The front of the balcony presented to the auditorium is curved and decorated with plaster swags and garlands.

The front doors open to a foyer with two flights of concrete quarter-turn stairs immediately either side of the entrance, leading up to the first and second floors. The foyer ceiling has a deep moulded cornice and rounded depressions for light fittings. The foyer has been opened up to lead directly into the auditorium. The near part of the auditorium has been partitioned to provide toilets and then a kitchen to the left, and seating booths to the right. Beyond the kitchen, late 20th-century steps descend to the bar at what was formerly the stage and screen end of the hall. To the right are side entrances and exits through the single-storey outshot. A new balcony has been added over the bar with stairs up on the left-hand side. Behind and above the bar, a large panelled glass screen has replaced the cinema screen, with glass doors within it providing access to the small rear yard. The screen is flanked by two pilasters brought in to form a proscenium arch with one of the roof trusses.

The auditorium ceiling is divided horizontally by plaster-covered trusses which continue down the walls to meet the tops of pilasters, dividing the hall into bays. Squared plaster-covered beams running the length of the hall at right angles to the trusses separate the sides of the ceiling into coffers, which are flat as opposed to the curved central parts. The side coffers are decorated with an egg and dart moulded cornice. Light fittings in the curved parts of the ceiling are surrounded by circular plaster frames. At the crossing of the roof trusses and long beams, the square spaces are decorated with moulded plaster panels. The faces of the trusses where they rise to the curved ceiling are decorated with circular plaster wreaths, as are the spandrels of the trusses where they arch down to the pilasters. The tops of the pilasters are decorated with deep relief moulded square floral garlands. Every bay of the walls between the pilasters is decorated with a moulded frame around its edges, and every other bay has a circular window at its top.

The first floor above the foyer has the continuation of the stairs to the front corners of the building, with the rooms here used for routing services. The stairs continue to the second floor, where what were the projection and operation rooms have been opened up and used for plant and service ducting. There is access to the balcony, which has been partitioned to route further ducting. The rooms behind the bar are various toilet and service rooms and alternative exit routes with stairs from various levels. At first floor level behind the screen are toilets and exit stairs in small extensions either side of the yard.