Description

COVENTRY STREET
TQ 2980 NE
71/209 No. 3 (former Rialto
Cinema and Cafe de Paris)
IT GV
the description shall be amended to read as follows:
Cinema with basement restaurant. 1913 by Hippolyte J Blanc with F E B Blanc; interior decorations by Horace Gilbert of Gilbert and Constanduros. Red brick and stone, tile and asphalt roofs. Plan of-oval cinema on two levels over oval restaurant. Edwardian Baroque style. 3-storey, one-bay. Front dominated by full-height glazed semi-circular arch with large keystone, hollow-moulded architrave and carved impost bands and detail including lions' masks and bay-leaf festoons; dentilled cornice to ground floor and to balustraded parapet, which is surmounted by aedicule pediment. Two-storey facade to Rupert Street, of brick over rusticated stone ground floor; oval cinema with enriched stone frieze and tall brick stacks with rusticated stone capping set behind staircase towers with keyed semi-circular arched windows let into slightly-projecting bracketed stone bays each crowned by carved stone panel with Greek helmet and trophy flanked by scrolled brackets; ground floor, with Greek-key frieze, has pilasters and
bracketed cornice framing fielded panel, and square-headed doorways including one to left with bolection-moulded architrave.
Interior: Baroque-style plasterwork, panelling and coffered ceiling to stair hall, which has marble Imperial staircase of three flights with decorative cast-iron balustrade in classical style. Cinema has oval auditorium with balcony: segmental arched proscenium flanked by paired Corinthian columns; Baroque-style plasterwork with cartouches to balcony front; bolection-panelled walls; roundels with festoons alternate with Ionic pilasters surmounted by cartouches forming springers to enriched ribs which frame domed ceiling with central star-pendentive feature. Cafe de Paris is similarly oval, with small stage set in central sunken area reached by Imperial stair and defined by six pairs of Corinthian columns set within cast-iron balustrade.
The Rialto is probably the most sophisticated cinema design produced in Britain before 1914.

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

COVENTRY STREET
TQ 2980 NE
71/209 No 3 (former Rialto
Cinema and Cafe de Paris)
II Gi
Cinema with basement restaurant. 1913 by Hippolyte J Blanc with F E B Blane;
interior decorations by David and Constanduros. Red brick and stone; roof not
visible. Plan of oval cinema above oval restaurant. Edwardian Baroque style.
3-storey, one-bay. Front dominated by full-height glazed semicircular arch with
large keystone, hollow-moulded architrave and carved impost bands and detail
including lions' masks and bay-leaf festoons; dentilled cornice to ground floor
and to balustraded parapet, which is surmounted by aedicule pediment. 2-storey
facade to Rupert Street, of brick over rusticated stone ground floor; oval
cinema with enriched stone frieze and tall brick stacks with rusticated stone
capping set behind staircase towers with keyed semicircular arched windows let
into slightly-projecting bracketed stone bays each crowned by carved stone panel
with Greek helmet and trophy flanked by scrolled brackets; ground floor, with
Greek-key frieze, has pilasters and bracketed cornice framing fielded panel, and
square-headed doorways including one to left with bolection-moulded architrave.
Interior: Baroque-style plasterwork, panelling and coffered ceiling to stair
hall, which has marble Imperial staircase of 3 flights with decorative cast-iron
balustrade. Cinema has oval auditorium with balcony: segemental arched
proscenium flanked by paired Corinthian columns; Baroque-style plasterwork with
cartouches to balcony front; bolection-panelled walls; roundels with festoons
alternate with Ionic pilasters surmounted by cartouches forming springers to
enriched ribs which frame domed ceiling with central star-pendentive feature.
Cafe de Paris, with small stage, is defined by 6 pairs of Corinthian columns.
The Rialto is probably the most sophisticated cinema design produced in Britain
before 1914.

Listing NGR: TQ2972680723

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q27083000

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.

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