Prince of Wales Theatre

The Prince of Wales Theatre is a theatre built in 1937 by Robert Cromie, located on the site of a previous theatre of the same name that was constructed in 1884 and demolished in 1937. The building underwent alterations in the 1950s and 1963, and features a steel frame with concrete and artificial stone cladding. It has a corner tower with an entrance below and was reclad in the 1980s. The first stage windows were blocked in the 1950s when new windows were inserted to the right. A ventilation shaft above is topped by an open drum that once held a flagstaff and was originally edged in neon.

The elevation facing Oxenden Street is divided into two sections. The first section is arranged vertically over five floors, featuring metal-framed windows set between tall, slender pilaster-like strips. The second section has a line of five portholes above a horizontal strip window.

Inside, the auditorium has stalls and a circle positioned well forward, providing excellent sight lines throughout. The underside of the circle is swept with inset lighting. The square proscenium arch is gilded, with a gilded ventilation inlet above it. The proscenium is flanked by almost two-dimensional swagged brocades in plaster, with gilded figures over the left-hand doorway. There are blind windows that are illuminated from behind and feature gilded glazing bars. The walls have slender linear applied decoration and motifs at the front of the circle. The original seating remains intact.

Some modifications were made to the stage and orchestra in the 1960s. The circle bar has a swept ceiling and sinuous coving that protrudes above it, with concealed lighting behind. Gilded ventilation grilles are present. The stalls bar includes a former dance floor, and the ceiling is largely concealed under an inserted ceiling. There are three octagonal piers with wide flat brims, and sweeping coving with a scalloped inner edge, also featuring concealed bar lighting. The bar, approximately 46 feet long, is made of polished copper with steel trim and has inset glass blocks that are lit from behind. The former cocktail bar has a curved recessed ceiling panel with concealed lighting. The former American bar, now a lobby, features a glazed ceiling panel and a ribbed arch, along with a gilded niche containing a bowl below a marble basin.