Odeon Cinema, Redhill
Built by Chris Fry in January 2017 for the Architectural Carbuncles Secretary’s Challenge
This Art Deco architecture cinema was opened in 1938, closing in 1975 until conversion to a succession of night clubs commencing 1976 until final closure in 2011.
The Art Deco facade is a listed structure so now poses a significant problem for the town planners and potential developers. An apartment development had been planned to incorporate the facade which was protected by a substantial scaffold structure whilst the rest of the old building was demolished. I am unsure why the original proposed development halted, but the facade and its supporting scaffold have remained as modelled for several years now.
A new proposal for new apartment block on the site was presented to the public and interested parties in 2016, but this did not include the Art Deco features at all! On enquiring upon this point I was informed that the listed facade would not withstand the piling operations that the new development necessitates.
So, while we await any further news or decision we are living with an interesting heritage design masked on one side by ironwork but exposed on the other as bare and broken brickwork and plaster appearing decidedly derelict — hence my interpretation as an architectural carbuncle.