Cinema, 24 Titchfield Street, Kilmarnock

Cinema, 24 Titchfield Street, Kilmarnock

Designed by Alexander Cullen and opened in 1904, this is a three-storey, symmetrical seven-bay former theatre building of Edwardian Baroque character. The principal elevation is constructed in polished red Ballochmyle sandstone ashlar, while the sides and rear are built in red brick, harled in places, with later red brick to the rear elevation.

West (Principal) Elevation

The former cinema entrance occupies bays three to five, with a fascia for displaying film names above. To the right of the entrance are a door flanked by two smaller display windows, above which is a later ribbed fascia. A display window with paired doors sits to the right. A string course runs across, with paired square windows above in the outer bays, topped by a moulded cornice. Below this is a long panelled apron panel with architraved sills. The outer bays of the first floor contain long narrow windows with projecting sills and shaped voussoirs that terminate in pilastered cornices. Carved corbels with Prince of Wales feather detail support the plinths to the flanks, from which rise one-storey-tall paired pilasters with masked capitals. A Diocletian window occupies the second floor, flanked by the aforementioned pilasters. Bays two and seven have narrow windows on the first floor with projecting sills; on the second floor these become blind round windows with ornately carved sill stones and four further carved stones resembling a tail.

The central three bays feature three arched windows of piano nobile proportions on the first floor. Paired pilasters with angled corbels starting from the springing-line flank the central window, with single similar pilasters at the outer angles. A moulded cornice runs the full length of these windows, supporting three slightly advanced apron panels. Paired pilasters flank the central window, with a single pilaster at the outer angles. A projecting sill course to the second floor is matched by columns supported by lower pilasters; three former windows at this level are now blind brick, above which is a later three-bay lintel. The outer two bays at the third storey feature canted three-sided towers resting on architraved cornices, with large stone vases flanking and metal finials at the roofline. A later flat-roofed three-bay infill adjoins the outer bays.

North Elevation

The ground floor adjoins a much later two-storey extension to the adjacent building. The elevation above is blind stepped brick with four stepped blind windows to the upper storeys.

East (Rear) Elevation

To the left is a three-storey, four-bay block with a door to the ground floor in the second bay from the right. Paired windows occupy the first bay; the first floor contains three regularly placed windows in bays one to three with the fourth bay blind; the second floor follows the same pattern but with a longer window and metal roller shutter to the fourth bay. To the right is a very high, wide blind stepped end with a window and small window to the extreme ground floor right.

South Elevation

This end is concealed by a newly built retail and office building.

Roof and Fenestration

The roof is covered in piended green or grey slate, with piended roofs to the towers featuring three-sided canted tiled fronts. Metal ridging, flashing and valleys are present, with painted cast-iron rainwater goods and concealed gutters to the front; downpipes are located on the rear elevation. A small harled stack rises from the rear gable, without cans.

Windows comprise narrow twelve-pane timber fixed lights to the outer bays of the first floor, with twelve-pane windows adjacent featuring hinged four-pane top hoppers. Multi-paned Diocletian windows occupy the second floor; the former round, timber, multi-paned windows are now blind. Fixed six-pane timber windows flank the entrance.

Interior and Later Use

The theatre interior was altered in the later twentieth century to form a three-screen cinema. As of 2001, the building was not in use.