The Fortune Theatre

The Fortune Theatre, built in 1922-4 by Ernest Schaufelberg for Laurence Cowen, is a theatre designed using reinforced concrete on a concrete frame, with bush-hammered finishes and panels of different aggregates visible at ground-floor level. Brick facings are present on the uppermost floor, with brick stacks, a complex pantiled roof over attic offices behind a parapet, and a flat roof with a lantern over the stage. The auditorium accommodates 400 people, arranged across stalls, a circle, four boxes, and a balcony, with foyers on each floor accessible via a small vestibule. The theatre includes dressing rooms and offices extending over four floors on the street elevations and features a proscenium-arched stage.

The asymmetrical facade to Russell Street is centered around an arched opening above the entrance, topped with a statue of Terpsichore by M H Crichton. Metal lozenge-pattern windows are arranged in a regular pattern; those on the attic floor are positioned between brick piers. A staircase tower is located to the left of the entrance, adjoining the Church of Scotland building. A canopy covers the ground-floor entrance, which features elaborate bronze-glazed double doors and marbled panels. A side elevation showcases metal windows within canted bays, interspersed with square metal lozenge-pattern openings and tall staircase towers, with five pairs of double exit doors to the ground floor placed between bush-hammered panels.

Inside, the foyer is lined with grey and red marble, and contains an elaborate ticket booth crafted from beaten copper. Bronze double doors, plaques, uplighters on the stairs, and a copper handrail leading to the stalls add to the interior design. The stalls are situated below ground level, with upper levels accessed through a series of pass doors. Auditorium walls are simply panelled, with saw-tooth mouldings on the balcony and box fronts, and vertical ribs ending in complex set-backs between boxes and balconies. Handsome bronze rails accentuate box and balcony fronts. The ceiling consists of interconnecting circles within a moulded surround, with square metal panels set back over the upper balcony. Fitted bench seats are located at the side of the rear stalls, an unusual feature.

The theatre is notable as the first one constructed in Britain following the First World War, utilizing new materials and a Germanic style not commonly adopted until the 1930s. It was, at the time, only preceded by Wembley Stadium as a public building designed using concrete as an exposed and textured decorative facade, a design feature contrasted with the marble and fine metalwork incorporated into the interior.