Former Embassy Cinema

The Former Embassy Cinema, located at 20-22 High Street in Esher, is a cinema built between 1936 and 1937 by John Evelyn Nye for the Shipman and King circuit. It is part of a parade of shops that are not of special interest. The building features a Neo-Georgian exterior made of brown brick in English bond with artificial stone dressings and has a hipped roof covered in asbestos sheeting. A coved stone cornice and a panel below display the word "EMBASSY".

The facade includes three tall round-headed windows with keystones, casements with metal bars, and central opening lights. There is a late 20th-century fascia and five double doors made of late 20th-century aluminium. The original terrazzo steps are decorated in black, white, red, and buff. Inside, the foyer retains its original fibrous plaster domed lighting.

The auditorium is notable for its undivided circle and stalls, featuring slates with an unusual double rake designed to reduce excavation costs. The decoration of the auditorium was done by Mollo & Egan. The ante-proscenium walls are divided into squares with patterned grilles that are illuminated from behind, serving as both ventilation and organ chamber openings.

The main ceiling is also divided into squares, with a fluted bay illuminated by indirect lighting troughs. The circle walls originally displayed modernistic designs of trees and plants, which are now covered. Surviving features include original domed lighting beneath the balcony and cylindrical lighting in the circle, as well as two decorative iron grilles in front of the proscenium arch.