Description

IN THE ENTRY FOR:-

STOCKWELL ROAD, SW9
TQ 3175

18/931 Nos 211 to 219 (odd)
The Academy
16.1.74 (formerly listed as The
London Astoria)

The grade shall be upgraded to Grade II* (star) and the description shall be
amended to read:-

Cinema, now Concert Hall. 1929 by Edward Stone and T R Somerford. Steel frame
clad in cream and green faience. Plan of double-height auditorium with balcony,
reached by 2-storey hall from single-storey entrance foyer on corner site.
Two-storey front, with moulded faience panels and parapet, is dominated by
copper half-dome over entrance foyer with double doors. Interior: very fine
entrance foyer with banded square columns and bold terrazzo flooring to ground
floor, and fluted columns and pilasters to first floor surrounding octagonal
well with Art Deco metal balustrade to balcony and double staircase; channelled
rustication of ground floor walling contrasts with decorative plaster panels
framed by fluted pilasters to first floor; fine original light fittings;
coffered ceiling with decorative glazing to square and octagonal skylights.
Auditorium designed as an 'atmospheric' based on an Italian Renaissance garden
with monumental Renaissance-style architecture ground proscenium and along side
walls; towers flank miniature loggia based on the Rialto bridge across the
proscenium arch; towers are fronted by balconies set on Composite half-columns
framing statues and central round-arched niche; series of domes, pilastered
walls, balustrades, pediments and statues to rest of side walls, all surmounted
by artificial trees; decorative plaster decoration to front of circle balcony.
Noted as the best surviving example of an atmospheric in Britain, along with the
Astoria Finsbury Park.

------------------------------------

STOCKWELL ROAD SW9
1. (north-east side)
5023

Nos 211 to 219 (odd)
(The Odeon Astoria
TQ 3175 18/931 Cinema)
16.1.74
II
GV
2.
Originally called the Astoria Cinema. 1929 by Edward Stone. Half-domed entrance
portico. The interior is designed in imitation of a mediterranean scene with
loggia on each side of 4 pairs of Corinthian columns with balustrade above and,
behind this, a street scene of archway, pavilion, statue and small house. Imitation
corridor of round-headed arches over the proscenium arch.

Listing NGR: TQ3104175755

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Brixton Academy at Wikipedia
• Brixton Academy official website
• Wikidata Q2239788

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair