Regal Cinema

SOUTHWARK

TQ3276 CAMBERWELL ROAD 636-1/11/181 (West side) 12/03/96 No.262 Regal Cinema

II

ABC cinema, now bingo hall. 1938-39. By Major Glen. Brick in Flemish bond. Roof parapeted. Moderne style. EXTERIOR: entrance lobby block projects from front wall of cinema, the canopy intact, but its fascia replaced. All openings are flat-arched. To the south of the lobby block a taller stair tower. Theatre offices and hallways treated as a nearly blank brick screen, pierced by a strip of windows with metal casements. Right half of ground-floor obscured by used car dealership. Return to the south relieved only by a strip of windows and by the wall projecting by one brick's thickness, giving a thin and planar effect. Rear elevation with similar treatments. INTERIOR: main entrance hall, double height, now divided by a floor; the original decor, however, survives more or less intact. Features of note: a bas relief of the Muses to south wall; visible from bar room above is the original entablature. Stair leading to cinema and its mezzanine have coved and fluted cornices and original railings. Corridor to upper circle, rectangular in plan with original decorative features. Main cinema in pink, green and light blue with gold trim and railings; retains many original features including: proscenium arch with keyed lintels set in wall on pink and green diamonds with fleur-de-lys in gold; to either side of stage are metal filigree screens set in full-height fluted surrounds with stylised urns. Over the circle ceiling inset with scrolled corners; scroll filigree rosettes from which the original light fixtures are suspended; seating to upper circle of an original design, the plan of the balcony a flattened "U". Side walls set back in series of moulded panels, separated by pilasters with shields.

Listing NGR: TQ3244677010