NEW CINEMA AT BEACONSFIELD
There has here been an evident attempt to give to a cinema, building a domestic character suitable to a
semi-rural environment. The prominent chimneystack and high-pitched roof, the unassuming windows on the first-floor storey, all suggest the private house, and only the dimensions of the large arched entrance declare that the building is open to the public. But even then the idea of a cinema is not suggested, for the entrance might be equally suitable to a club-house or religious meeting-place, and not until we see the side and back elevations does the shape of the hall declare itself and we become aware that the function of the building is to provide a single large chamber for some public purpose. Yet the front elevation is the more attractive of the two, and the association of red brick with white stone facings in such a quiet and agreeable composition compensates for its comparative lack of expressiveness. The pilasters which form the jambs of the doorway, the semi-circular architrave and the stone urns on the parapet are all well detailed. While, however, the external orna
ment is derived from the traditions of the 18th century, the interior strikes a more modern note. The entrance foyer, with box office, shows some interesting decorative motifs. The coloured pilasters in Egyptian style which support a painted entablature, consisting of fluted architrave, a frieze with a repetitive rectilinear pattern and a beaded cornice represent a praiseworthy attempt to introduce novelty and freshness into the design. In the main hall of the cinema, also, Messrs. Leathart & Granger have again utilised Egyptian motifs in the handsome border to the proscenium, which is crowned by a large keystone with sculptured head. The proportions of the hall are very pleasant, the spreading cornice forming a suitable termination to the slightly curved plain ceiling, which, however, is relieved by two circular ventilating apertures surrounded with plaster ornament. We have here a welcome reaction from the over-elaborate decorative treatments which mar the design of many cinema houses recently erected, and there is expressed in obvious architectural terms a
CINEMA AT BEACONSFIELD, BUCKS.
Messrs. Leathart & Granger, FF.R.I.B.A., Architects.
There has here been an evident attempt to give to a cinema, building a domestic character suitable to a
semi-rural environment. The prominent chimneystack and high-pitched roof, the unassuming windows on the first-floor storey, all suggest the private house, and only the dimensions of the large arched entrance declare that the building is open to the public. But even then the idea of a cinema is not suggested, for the entrance might be equally suitable to a club-house or religious meeting-place, and not until we see the side and back elevations does the shape of the hall declare itself and we become aware that the function of the building is to provide a single large chamber for some public purpose. Yet the front elevation is the more attractive of the two, and the association of red brick with white stone facings in such a quiet and agreeable composition compensates for its comparative lack of expressiveness. The pilasters which form the jambs of the doorway, the semi-circular architrave and the stone urns on the parapet are all well detailed. While, however, the external orna
ment is derived from the traditions of the 18th century, the interior strikes a more modern note. The entrance foyer, with box office, shows some interesting decorative motifs. The coloured pilasters in Egyptian style which support a painted entablature, consisting of fluted architrave, a frieze with a repetitive rectilinear pattern and a beaded cornice represent a praiseworthy attempt to introduce novelty and freshness into the design. In the main hall of the cinema, also, Messrs. Leathart & Granger have again utilised Egyptian motifs in the handsome border to the proscenium, which is crowned by a large keystone with sculptured head. The proportions of the hall are very pleasant, the spreading cornice forming a suitable termination to the slightly curved plain ceiling, which, however, is relieved by two circular ventilating apertures surrounded with plaster ornament. We have here a welcome reaction from the over-elaborate decorative treatments which mar the design of many cinema houses recently erected, and there is expressed in obvious architectural terms a
CINEMA AT BEACONSFIELD, BUCKS.
Messrs. Leathart & Granger, FF.R.I.B.A., Architects.