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The former Ritz cinema, constructed in 1938 by Reginald William Gaze Cooper of Nottingham, is a brick structure with contrasting glazed faience tile cladding around the main entrance, which features a tower. The roof is concealed from street view. The layout is wedge-shaped, including shop premises on the South Street facade.
The design, modern for its time, was influenced by contemporary ‘Odeon’ cinemas and German designs from the 1920s. A streamlined effect is achieved in the large window above the entrance through exaggerated transoms. A rounded glazed stair tower turns the corner to the left of the entrance, and a tower ‘fin’ feature rises above the adjacent roofs on the right, with a similarly rounded corner that includes streamlined windows at ground and first-floor levels. The upper part of the fin features channelled brickwork. The canopy over the entrance wraps around the right-hand corner, though its profile has been altered. A false screen wall sits above a lock-up shop, featuring an advertising display panel supported by four linear symmetrical concrete mouldings.
The entrance foyer houses three sets of original double doors leading to the auditorium. The long, double-height auditorium tapers towards the stage end and is adorned with fibrous plaster decorations in both streamlined moderne and Art Deco styles. The ante-proscenium splay walls feature three bands of elaborate Art Deco plasterwork, designed to conceal ventilation extract ducts.
The upper walls of the auditorium are decorated with staggered panels featuring Art Deco mouldings, inspired by Chinoiserie designs from Berlin theatres of the 1920s by Oscar Kaufmann. The ceiling above the ante-proscenium splay is embellished with radiating panels of Art Deco fibrous plasterwork, while the rest of the ceiling descends in a sequence of coves with additional fibrous plaster decorations. The balcony soffit includes coved cornices for lighting and more Art Deco-style fibrous plaster panels. The balcony also features an unusually spacious vomitory, complete with streamlined handrails, divided to create separate entrance and exit paths.
The 1913 cinema’s structure is composed of brick, with a painted terracotta facade and a Welsh slate roof. The facade features three bays; the central bay is distinguished by a semicircular arch supported by Ionic columns, topped with an entablature, a prominent keystone, and a dentilled cornice that extends across the outer bays. A gable crowns the top, adorned with a swag and a cartouche showcasing a female figure. The side bays are angled, with rusticated bases and panels embellished with swags. Mullioned windows sit above, and a moulded string course completes the design.
