Rex Cinema is a Grade II listed building in the Dacorum local planning authority area, England. First listed on 26 February 1988. Cinema. 4 related planning applications.

Rex Cinema

WRENN ID
empty-floor-birch
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Dacorum
Constituency
Harpenden and Berkhamsted MP: Victoria Collins (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
26 February 1988
Type
Cinema
Address
Rex Cinema, High Street, Berkhamsted, HP4 2DG
OS grid reference
SP 994 076
Coordinates
51.75868, -0.56049
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: sale history · EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Rex Cinema, built in 1938, was designed by David E Nye. It is constructed of brick with faience and painted reconstructed stone to the front facade. The building is two storeys high, with a bowed front facade featuring a seven-light window between vertical piers, and a projecting canopy above the entrance, which is now enclosed within a late 20th-century fascia. Replacement doors were installed in the late 20th century. To the left return is a cantilevered projection room on the first floor.

The interior remains largely intact. The main auditorium has been partitioned, but decorative features survive, including a rich Art Deco proscenium arch ornamented with fibrous plaster. Horizontal wave motifs and plaster shell decorations are featured on the walls, with circular light fittings in the circle roof. A former restaurant area behind the stalls retains four fluted columns, originally topped with fluted light fittings. The space also features fibrous plaster floral decoration. The double-height entrance hall contains a grand staircase and original mirrors.

Local climate

Rex Cinema sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 730 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 77% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 79% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 38 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 72% of listed buildings. Of these, 18 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
  • Sale history — 6 transactions since 1995
  • Related listed building consents — 4 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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