The Plaza

The Plaza

Cinema, now bingo hall, built in 1928. Located at Bradford Junction, Southsea, Portsmouth.

The building is constructed in red brick laid in Flemish bond, with painted brick and faience detailing. The roof is composite on slates.

The exterior is one storey with a balcony, arranged in seven bays, of which bays three and six are narrower than the others. The north-facing frontage features a curved projecting centre, four bays wide, approached by six terrazzo steps leading to two wide recessed entrances. Each entrance has a pair of glazed doors set within panelled fronts, flanked by detached paired Doric columns at the curved centre. On either side is a projecting bay with a recessed entrance, horizontally rusticated at ground floor level, with moulded jambs, a flat arch and keystone. Each contains a two-leaf panelled door with glazed top panels. The centre two bays have an entablature with cornice that runs through the flanking bays. The first floor features a detached Ionic column set above each ground floor column. Between these columns are recessed panels, each containing two tripartite mullioned windows with leaded lights, moulded sill and apron. The flanking side bays have similar single-light windows with flanking Doric pilasters. At the centre two bays an entablature with corbels sits above a parapet and coping. Each flanking bay has a higher parapet with a projecting cap, die and base set over lower pilasters. The outer left and right brick bays each have a recessed centre containing two two-light casements set under a flat stone arch with brick jambs and banded stone sill. The first floor of these bays has paired two-light timber mullioned and transomed casements with leaded lights and a stone cornice, topped by a stone coped parapet. At the far left, a brick bay has a flat stone arched entrance with two-leaf late twentieth century doors. Above this are two tiers of two-light casements with flanking single-light casements, all with leaded lights set under brick segmental arches, with a parapet and stone coping.

The elevation facing Bradford Road has, on the left, four tiers of two-light casements with leaded lights, each set under a brick segmental arch. To the right are shop fronts with flanking pilasters and late twentieth century infills. At high level are seven boarded openings with rod opening gear to each top ventilation panel. Bracketed eaves run along the roofline.

The interior auditorium is panelled at dado level, with five paired engaged fluted Ionic columns on each side above the dado, featuring an entablature with dentilled cornice. The ceiling is curved plaster with curved beams. The proscenium at the west end has moulded jambs and a segmental arch, with ornate patterned plasterwork and a vase ornament at each end. A balcony at the opposite (east) end has a timber front with slim balusters and raised panels, retaining original seating with ornate scrolled metal end panels to each row. The main entrance vestibule features two Tudor-type recesses on the rear wall face with moulded jambs and head, each with four uprights over a shelf adorned with grotesque carved figures, a cornice and splayed top. The ceiling is flat plasterwork with carved exposed beams and a plaster cornice at the junction between ceiling and walls. The first floor has decorated ceiling roses and moulded plaster cornices at ceiling-wall junctions, with patterned plaster wall panels depicting garlands and figures. Art Deco stained glass "Sunburst" windows feature in the leaded lights, with graduating shades of yellow surmounted by blue sky. A queuing lobby on the left of the main entrance originally contained seventeen Italian Renaissance panels and four heraldic coat of arms panels, now painted over except for two Renaissance panels remaining near the entrance.