Odeon Cinema, 7 Clerk Street, Edinburgh

The Odeon Cinema, located at 7 Clerk Street in Edinburgh, was designed by W E Trent of London with John Jerdan as the executing architect in 1930. This Art Deco cinema features a two-storey, five-bay entrance front clad in faience, which includes a deeply recessed doorway beneath a projecting canopy and an Art Deco tetrastyle Doric portico in antis at the first floor. At the rear, there is a large gabled brick auditorium.

The front elevation includes two shallow steps leading to an outer lobby that is recessed between the outer bays. There are four pairs of late 20th century glazed doors, and the canopy overhangs the pavement. The tetrastyle Doric portico at the first floor is adorned with Art Deco railings between the columns, a projecting modillioned cornice, and a stepped Art Deco pediment. The outer bays feature single windows with Art Deco glazing, while the rear of the portico has three arched openings with Art Deco French doors.

The interior, as observed in 2012, has undergone some alterations, but the majority of the original Art Deco decorative scheme remains intact. The entrance foyer has been largely modernised, though some ceiling plasterwork is still visible above the false ceiling, and original tartan pattern terrazzo floor tiles are preserved beneath modern carpet. The inner stalls lounge retains its original decorative scheme, complete with Ionic half-columns flanking the doors, Art Deco over-door panels, radiator covers, and plaster cornices. The first floor tea room also largely maintains its original decorative scheme, featuring a coffered ceiling, plasterwork, and shallow arched recesses. The auditorium is divided into four sections but retains most of its original features, including aedicules with one surviving statue by the sculptor Beattie, which represents the Arts and is set between Ionic pilasters. Additional original features include decorative plasterwork, parts of the proscenium, two former private boxes, Art Deco glazed doors, and various light fittings.