Fulham Road Picturehouse

Heritage listing

Details Former combined cinema and variety theatre, opened in 1930. It was built to the designs of J Stanley Beard as part of J Stanley Beard and Clare, for Herbert A Yapp’s Wyanbee Theatres. It was taken over by ABC in 1935 and went on to be used exclusively as a cinema. Between 1970 and 1996 the auditoriums, stage area and fly tower were subdivided into six cinema screens. The building underwent refurbishment in the 1980s, led by Tessa Kennedy. In 2019, it came under the management of Picturehouse Cinemas and was refurbished. MATERIALS: steel-framed structure with red Dorking facing bricks, embellished by cream and blue-faience tile and bronze panelling (later painted). There is also a painted black plinth, replacing the previous polished stone cladding. The large hipped steel-truss roof has been recovered in modern corrugated metal. PLAN: a rectangular footprint with a round corner entrance to the east (at the junction of Drayton Gardens and Fulham Road) and a stair tower at the south-west corner with four levels of lobbies and bars between. Extending to the north is the former auditorium space which has canted walls at the upper levels at the north end where the former backstage area was located. EXTERIOR: the building is in Classical style, influenced by Italian-Renaissance and Roman architecture with Art-Deco detailing, and consists of four floors, with an additional basement level, topped by a large hipped roof. At the east corner is a tile-clad, curved four-storey entrance bay. The ground floor consists of several setback 1980s double doors with brass handles, separated by piers that support the first-floor balcony. Near the base of two of the piers are tiles which include raised lettering reading 'ARCHITECTS / J STANLEY BEARD & CLARE/ F F R I B A' and 'CONTRACT

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.