Description

J D Swanston and William Williamson, 1904, altered 1909 (Swanston & Syme), 1924, 1936 and later 20th century. 4-storey with attic, Wrenaissance tenement and cinema (former King's Theatre) on corner site, 2-storeys with shops at ground and commercial at 1st floor, the latter with mezzanine appearance. Red sandstone with raised and tabbed margins. 2nd floor lintel course and mutuled eaves cornice. Roll-moulded, keystoned doorcases and oculi, pedimented windowheads, channelled and plain pilaster strips, corbels and stone mullions.

N (HIGH STREET) ELEVATION: 8-bay. Roll-moulded and keystoned pend entrance with decorative cast-iron gate in bay to outer right, 4 modern shops to left, similar pend entrance and shop with in-canted door beyond to left, modern cinema entrance in penultimate bay to left; and further modern shop to outer left. 1st floor with glazed and keystoned oculi over pend entrances, full-width tripartite windows over all shops, blocked doorhead (see Notes) to cinema bay.

3rd and 4th floors with blank outer bays, cinema bay with canted tripartite window and open pediment with blind oculus in tympanum breaking eaves; regular bipartite windows to remaining bays each with pedimented dormer window above.

CORNER TOWER: to NE. Roll-moulded and keystoned doorway with panelled timber door at ground, keystoned glazed oculus at 1st floor (both floors canted), corbel to bowed tripartite window at 2nd floor, corbelled to square at 3rd floor with cavetto corniced, canted quadripartite window breaking eaves below finialled ogee roof.

E ELEVATION: variety of openings, mostly blocked to ground and 1st floor; modern shop to outer right at ground with 4-part window above; penultimate and outer right bays of 3rd floor with pedimented windowheads breaking eaves.

4- and 6-pane glazing pattern in upper sashes over plate gloss lower sashes to NE corner: 6-pane upper sashes over plate glass lower sashes also in timber sash and case windows to N elevation 2nd and 3rd floors in bays 2, 3, 6 and 7: 12-pane glazing pattern in timber casement windows to dormers over bays 3, 6 and 7: etched plate glass glazing to 1st floor windows and modern glazing elsewhere. E elevation with variety of glazing patterns. Grey slates. Ashlar coped skews and skewputts; cavetto coped ashlar stacks with full complement of cans. Cast-iron downpipes with decorative rainwater hoppers.

Statement of Interest

Much original theatre wall decoration retained behind later alterations. Architects drawings (dated 30.3.04) show interior with boxes and mural decoration, and exterior with canopy at tall round-arched doorway. Photograph of hall shows double stair with panelled walls and decorative plasterwork. The staircase was removed in 1924, work being carried out for The Scottish Cinema & Variety Theatre Company, and a 1936 Dean of Guild entry is to "Reconstruct Opera House". The Kings Theatre later became The Opera House, the Regal Cinema, the ABC Cinema and currently (1996) the MGM Cinema. The Cinema Theatre Association Scotland website notes that the cinema closed in December 2000. References and Notes updated as part of the Cinemas Thematic Study 2007-08.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q33025379

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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