The Albery

The Albery, formerly known as The New Theatre, is a theatre built in 1903 by W.G. Sprague, who was a pupil and collaborator of Frank Matcham, with Claude Ponsonby as the consultant for interior decoration. The building features a Portland stone front with a short return to a brick side and has a slate roof. It showcases Free Classical eclecticism and stands three to four storeys tall, with nine windows across its façade. The five central bays are slightly advanced, and there are arcaded entrances beneath an iron and glass canopy on the ground floor, with the central part being ornamented and likely original.

The first and second floors are articulated by a giant Ionic order, featuring central first-floor windows in a five-bay arcaded loggia, with architraved windows above. The design includes a bold crowning entablature and a balustraded parapet with ball finials on the dies. The parapet is interrupted by a broad pediment over the advanced central bays, which includes a carved tympanum. The south return has three windows in the same style, contained by a plain flank of the auditorium.

Inside, the auditorium is designed in a restrained French neo-classical style, featuring coupled Doric half-columns and pilasters. It has three bombé fronted tiers of balconies and three tier stage boxes within the reveal of the proscenium arch. The main ceiling includes a shallow dome, with delicate painted decoration and graceful "Louis XVI" stucco reliefs and mouldings. Ormulu tripod lamps are present on the first balcony wall, and ormulu and stucco sconces are found on the balcony fronts and the second balcony wall.