The Coliseum Theatre (English National Opera)

The Coliseum Theatre, now home to the English National Opera, occupies numbers 32 to 36 on St Martin's Lane, WC2. It is a grand theatre built between 1902 and 1904 by the architect Frank Matcham, originally commissioned by Sir Oswald Stoll. Number 36 has been converted to a shop with offices above.

The building is faced in channelled terracotta, now painted over, with slate roofs. It exemplifies the exuberant Free Baroque style of the Edwardian era and was marketed as the "Theatre de Luxe of London", distinguished by its richly decorated interiors and vast, grandiose auditorium. The structure comprises three main storeys arranged in an asymmetrical facade with a lofty tower to the right, a shorter pavilion-tower to the left, and a further south wing containing a shop.

The principal entrances are arranged in a triple arcaded composition at approximately the centre, featuring polished red granite columns and voussoirs with finely executed decorative woodwork to the doors and frames. Adjoining to the right at the foot of the main tower is a two-storeyed voussoired archivolt arched entrance. The first floor is distinguished by elaborately architraved windows, above which sits an Ionic colonnaded shallow loggia storey, featuring massively bracketed balconies and three pedimented aedicules—two to the left and one to the right of the tower. An entablature and crowning balustrade complete this section.

The left pavilion-tower features a two-storey arch framing the shop front, above which quoin pilasters with richly embellished caps flank a two-storey bow surmounted by a tiled dome with lantern, set behind a parapet. The main tower rises from a balconied Venetian window at loggia level to an elaborate cornice enriched with cartouches, continuing as an Ionic peristyle with figure sculpture at the corners supporting advanced coupled columns. An entablature and balustrade are surmounted by pedestalled ball finials at the corners. Above rises a drum with oculi and a stepped dome crowned by a large metal and glass globe, formerly revolving.

The interior features a lavish foyer and circulation areas with marble facings, leading to the vast three-tier auditorium. This space displays a wealth of eclectic classical detail of Byzantine opulence, with some motifs—such as the squat columns dividing the lowest tier of slip boxes backing the stalls—almost Sullivanesque in character. At gallery level are pairs of two-tiered bow-fronted boxes with domed canopies, flanked by semi-domed, Ionic-columned pairs of two-tiered orchestra boxes contained in arched and pedimented frames surmounted by sculptural groups depicting lion-drawn chariots. The proscenium arch is a great semicircular blocked architrave with a cartouche-trophy keystone. The auditorium walls are articulated in elaborated bays by decorated piers finished as coupled pilasters and columns below a classical relief frieze, with massive coupled brackets carrying decorated ceiling beams and a large ribbed dome.

When built, the Coliseum was London's largest theatre and was equipped with the latest theatrical machinery, including a triple-revolve (now disused), a counterweight system, and a cyclorama track still in use. It was uniquely equipped with lifts to the upper floors. The building remains one of Matcham's finest achievements and is very little altered apart from the painting of the exterior.