List entry Summary
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Name: PLAYHOUSE THEATRE
List entry Number: 1218642
Location
PLAYHOUSE THEATRE, WILLIAMSON SQUARE
The building may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
| County |
District |
District Type |
Parish |
| Liverpool | Metropolitan Authority | |
National Park: Not applicable to this List entry.
Grade: II*
Date first listed: 14-Mar-1975
Date of most recent amendment: Not applicable to this List entry.
Legacy System Information
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System: LBS
UID: 359745
Asset Groupings
This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.
List entry Description
Summary of Building
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Reasons for Designation
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History
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Details
5J3490SE WILLIAMSON SQUARE
393/53/1362 Playhouse Theatre
14.03.1975 II*
Theatre 1865, interior remodelled 1912 by Professor Stantey Adshead, extended 1966-68 by Hall, O'Donahue & Wilson. Stucco with slate roof. 3 storey, 7-bay front. 3-bay centre breaks forward under broken pediment. Entablatures to floors. Ground floor central triple entrance with angle pilasters and fanlights in architrave. End bay paired round headed entrances. 3 blind round windows to eachside of centre. lst floor has flat composite pilastrade, centre emphasised by paired pilasters at ends. Windows with panelled aprons, pilasters, cornices; round windows over. Windows to centre bays have balustraded windows with tympana under relieving arches. 2nd floor has oculi between panelled pilasters to central bays, bullseye windows to flanking bays. End bays have cupolas on short Tuscan colonnade.
Addition to left of reinforced concrete with glass cladding provided new foyer and cloakroom on ground floor with box office, restaurant and bar spaces above. To rear large open workshop and studio theatre plus further dressing rooms. Ground floor facade has sets of double entrance doors, above are two cylindrical cantilevered projections largely clad in glass.
Interior: Auditorium has tiers of balconies on cast iron columns; decoration in Neo-Greek style. Additional foyer, restaurant and bars have exposed shuttered concrete walling with suspended steel staircases bolted through the shuttered walling. The Architects'journal described the refreshment areas as a brilliant concept, joyously realised, which exploits asymmetrical volumes and evervarying spaces yet achieves unity and also balance with the adjoining Victorian facade.' The original theatre is significant as an early and rare work by one of the pioneers of the Liverpool School of Architecture, in the Grecian style favoured by the school at that date; it is also historicalty important as one of the first repertory theatres in Britain. The foyers added a vivacious tone making the theatre a place to see and be seen' in the true sprit of 1960's theatre going, a true citizens' theatre.
Source
Architects'journal, 4 December 1968, pp. 1327
Listing NGR: SJ3478290401
Selected Sources
- Article Reference - Title: 4 December - Date: 1968 - Journal Title: Architects Journal - Page References: 1327
National Grid Reference: SJ 34782 90401
Map
© Crown Copyright and database right 2012. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100019088.
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The above map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. For a copy of the full scale map, please see the attached PDF - 1218642.pdf
This copy shows the entry on 19-Jun-2013 at 03:00:32.