Former Riddrie Picture House Including Sweet Shop And Power House, Nb Leisure Bingo, 722 Cumbernauld Road

The former Riddrie Picture House, including a sweet shop and power house, was opened in 1938 by James McKissack of John McKissack & Son. This building is a rare example of an iconic streamline Art Deco style super-cinema complex, situated on an island site that also includes a separate sweet shop, power house, and a former car park. It retains much of its original interior detail and was designed as part of a 1920s housing development centered on Cumbernauld Road, which also included a church, library, and school.

The principal elevation features white faience tiles with darker horizontal banding (which has been painted white as of 2007) and a contrasting black base course and parapet cornices. The screen wall and outer rounded bays are pebble dashed in 'Dorset pea', while the side elevations are roughcast with stepped faience tiles at the ground level (painted) and a deep eaves course. A cantilevered canopy extends over the broad central door, which is flanked by metal-framed horizontally-astragalled windows. The roof is piended and covered with Trafford tiles.

The entrance is massive and symmetrical, with round-angled bays stepping up to a four-stage center that features a replacement sign and a stepped gable forming a screen wall behind. The canopied entrance has four two-leaf part-glazed timber doors on either side of a former revolving door, beneath four tall narrow windows. To the outer right, there is a link wall adjoining the lower sweet shop, and a small L-plan power house range at the rear.

Inside, all spaces retain coherent linking elements of a largely intact Art Deco decorative scheme, characterized by elegant banding and rounded cloud-like motifs. The foyer and staircase are floored with terrazzo, while the auditorium boasts a vaulted ceiling and a large circular light fitting. It features a bowed balcony front, prominent bowed side exits with a triple-columned full-height doorpiece, a center clock above two-leaf swing doors with bullet-shaped viewing panes, and a crisp proscenium arch with understated broad concave moulding. The projection room is lined with green and white tiles and has openings for projectors to the balcony. The seating has been altered to accommodate bingo tables.