Paramount and Universal Cinemas is a Grade II listed building in the Westminster local planning authority area, England. First listed on 22 November 1973. Cinema. 2 related planning applications.
Paramount and Universal Cinemas
- WRENN ID
- half-timber-curlew
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Westminster
- Constituency
- Cities of London and Westminster MP: Rachel Blake (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 22 November 1973
- Type
- Cinema
- Address
- Paramount and Universal Cinemas, 17-25, Lower Regent Street Sw1, City of Westminster
- OS grid reference
- TQ 295 805
- Coordinates
- 51.50889, -0.1347
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Paramount and Universal Cinemas, built around 1923 by Verity and Beverley, is a Grade II listed building located on Lower Regent Street in the City of Westminster. Designed as a Super Cinema, it features Portland stone ashlar on a steel frame and a pantiled roof, showcasing a free interpretation of Beaux Arts French neo-classicism, highlighted by a domed corner.
The building has four main storeys and is five bays wide, with a rounded corner and a seven-bay return to Jermyn Street. In the 1970s, the ground floor was remodeled to include an entrance to the cinemas on the corner, along with a deep canopy-fascia. The first floor has tripartite recessed casements, while the second floor features a three-window center with archivolt arched windows and carved reveals, flanked by outer bays with segmental pedimented windows.
At the third floor level, there is a bracketed cornice with a balustraded parapet topped by urns, and this floor is set back from the facade. An enriched frieze displays plaques inscribed with "Music" and "Drama." The rounded corner is topped with a colored mosaic dome, which is further crowned by a stone arched, octagonal lantern with a pantile cupola roof. The treatment along Jermyn Street is plainer but maintains a similar style.
Local climate
Paramount and Universal Cinemas sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 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
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 2 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
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings
Nearby listed buildings
- 111 and 112, Jermyn Street SW1
- 15, Lower Regent Street SW1
- 25, Jermyn Street SW1
- Carlton House
- 215 and 216, Piccadilly W1
- 22, LOWER REGENT STREET SW1 (See details for further address information)
- 106, Jermyn Street SW1
- Dorland House
- Piccadilly Circus Underground Station Booking Hall Concourse and Bronzework to Pavement Subway Entrances
- Simpsons