23, Macklin Street

23 Macklin Street is a former painting room for theatrical scenery, built between 1851 and 1852. This large stucco-fronted building has a rectangular plan and stands three storeys tall with three bays. The openings are in full height round arched recesses, featuring central loading doors on the upper floors, flanked by sash windows with glazing bars. The ground floor openings have been altered at the centre and left, with a half-glazed door and a small window on the right.

Although the interior was not inspected, it is noted that the large interior space contains a paint frame, which is a large cast-iron frame designed to be winched up and down through a slot in the floor. This allows artists painting a scenic backcloth to work comfortably at first-floor level. This feature is significant as it is the earliest known survival of a separate scene-painting premises outside a theatre.

Historically, this building is of considerable interest as it was the workshop of Thomas Grieve and Son, scenic artists, from 1851 to 1879. They were pioneers in establishing a system of freelance painters working in their own premises rather than within theatres.