Criterion Theatre And Restaurant

The Criterion Theatre and Restaurant occupies a prestigious position on the south side of Piccadilly Circus in Westminster. This Grade II* listed building represents a unique survival of a Victorian entertainment complex combining restaurant, theatre and former hotel accommodation.

The main building was constructed between 1870 and 1874 by architect Thomas Verity, with an annexe added in 1878-79 and an extension to Jermyn Street completed in 1885. All sections are by Verity. The structure is finished in painted stone with slate roofs.

The architectural style is rich eclectic classicism, drawing considerable influence from Charles Garnier. The building rises 3 storeys with a notably lofty second floor, topped by a dormered mansard and pavilion roof. The original block comprises a 3-window-wide slightly recessed centre flanked by single-window-wide pedimented pavilion wings.

The ground floor features channelled and panelled piers with ornamental canopies marking the restaurant and theatre entrances in the wings. The theatre entrance displays ornamental iron brackets and enrichments with white glass lettering to the valence. The first floor contains square-headed windows between pilastered piers rising from a dentil-corniced entablature. In the wings, windows are tripartite with flanking piers displaying aediculed segmental pedimented niches containing statues.

The second floor is particularly enriched. The central three windows are set on an enriched panelled pseudo-pedestal and arcade with Ionic half-columns flanking the piers, with carved spandrels depicting draped female figures, festoons and foliage. The wing sections feature Ionic columned Venetian windows with fan-patterned lunettes, flanked by pairs of Corinthian pilasters. A deep entablature with pediments over the wings rises against a high pedestalled parapet.

The annexe (Nos. 222-23) continues the storey heights. Above a mid-20th century shop front, the three window bays broadly follow the original design, with the second floor repeating the central Venetian window motif seen on the pavilion wings. Ornamental iron window guards protect the first floor, and stone colonette balustrading extends to second floor windows, which are bowed out as balconettes at the centre window of the original block.

Of the original interior, the tunnel-vaulted Long Bar with its distinctive glistening gold mosaic decoration survives, as does the first floor banqueting room. These retain their richly decorated character. The restaurant features richly polychromed tiles and painted tile panels alternating with large plate mirrors in the foyer corridors and staircase approach.

The Criterion Theatre itself is exceptional in its location within the basement, accessed via these decorated foyer corridors and staircases. The auditorium remains substantially original from 1874, with modifications made in 1884. It features two tiers of balconies—a lyre-shaped upper balcony above a horseshoe lower balcony—both supported on slender wreathed columns with open work cast iron fronts. Two more substantial columns with superimposed octagonal shafts support the flat circular main ceiling, which is decorated with shallow Rococo relief panels radiating around a central laylight. The proscenium frame is enriched.

The basement location of the theatre created unique practical challenges. Scenery cannot be raised above the auditorium and must therefore be moved through it, resulting in an openable prompt-side box. The theatre lacks fly space, and the safety curtain is designed to slide up in two parts rather than descend vertically. These constraints are reflected in the surviving theatre infrastructure and represent a rare documented example of Victorian theatrical practice and problem-solving.