Lift-off for Hammersmith Apollo’s Art Deco restoration mission

 
24 July 2013

The comedy and music venue that has hosted David Bowie, Bob Marley, Ella Fitzgerald and The Beatles is being restored to its Grade II* Art Deco glory.

The Hammersmith Apollo, which began life in 1932 as the Gaumont Palace, one of Britain’s biggest cinemas, is undergoing a multi-million-pound transformation that will reveal original features hidden under layers of paint and provide new seating, bars and ventilation.

The work will restore foyer floor mosaic panels currently covered in carpet and remove black paint from the windows so that light will flood the circle bar and the foyer.

Now: the original floor mosaics in the foyer

Two marble staircases concealed beneath the extended stage will be uncovered. And the venue is being repainted in green, mauve and black, the original colour scheme.

There will be new bars and seats in the stalls and those in the circle will be raised and re-upholstered to improve comfort and legroom.

Changes: the new upstairs bar area

The work was ordered by music promoters AEG Live after they bought the venue last year with ticket agents CTS Eventim. Colin Chapple, AEG’s chief operating officer, said it recognised that London deserved more from one of its top venues. Edmund Wilson, the architect in charge, said: “It’s listed because it’s so well preserved. All the features are there, all the original cornices, a lot of original glass.”

The Apollo, which was designed by architect Robert Cromie and became a live venue in 1962 when it was renamed, also still has its original 1932 Compton pipe organ.

John Muir, an architectural adviser who went to the cinema there in 1941, said the venue was remarkable for its width, spanning 170 feet at the rear of the circle, and its huge stage, 20 feet wider than the Royal Opera House. It reopens in September although more work will follow.

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