The Electric Pavilion, 531 Oxford Street, Marble Arch

Later - The Pavilion, Marble Arch

See also in this area - The Regal / Odeon, Marble Arch

Above - The Exterior of the Electric Pavilion, Marble Arch when it first opened in 1914 - From The Builder, 26th of June 1914.

The Electric Pavilion was situated on the South side of Oxford Street by Marble Arch and first opened on the 30th of May 1914. The Theatre was built by Israel Davis primarily as a Picture Theatre but also had a small Stage for Variety Performances which was 12 feet deep with a 36 foot wide Proscenium, with three dressing rooms for artists. The Auditorium of the Theatre, with seating for 1,200 people, was below street level and consisted of one raked floor with six Boxes above the Stalls at the rear of the Auditorium, three on either side of the projection box, which housed two Simplex Projectors.

Right - An Advertisement for Simplex Projectors as Installed at the Pavilion, Marble Arch - From The Bioscope, 25th of June 1914.

The Theatre was designed by Frank T. Verity in the Ancient Egyptian Style and was equipped with a Pipe Organ and a large Tea Room and Cafe, and on its opening had a 20 piece orchestra to accompany the programme.

The Builder reported on the new Marble Arch Pavilion in their 26th of June 1914 edition, along with several images shown here, saying:- 'Our Illustrations show the new hall which has been erected on the site of Camelford House, Marble Arch, from the designs of Mr. Frank T. Verity, F.R.I.B.A.

The exterior has been treated on academic lines, the loggia forming the central feature of the entrance front, the side exit pavilion being the respond to the block of flats to be erected at the corner of Oxford-street and Park-lane. From the loggia one passes into a spacious crush hall, with box office, cloak-room, and staircase to first floor.

Above - Frank T. Verity's Auditorium of the Marble Arch Pavilion, London - From The Architects' Journal, 1st of July 1925.

The hall itself, accommodating 1,200 persons in addition to six private boxes, has been designed in a simple dignified Classic style, the Rose du Barry carpet and seats giving the keynote to the colour scheme. A large tea-room is provided at the south-eat corner of the building adjoining the side exit corridor of the hall.

The operating chamber is placed on the first floor over the north end of the hall, with three private boxes on each side, and is approached through an area which separates it from the suite of offices and lavatories. The hall is ventilated by means of fresh-air inlets discharging into the hall through grilles fixed under the wall panels, the foul air being extracted into a trunk carried along the roof and connected with an extract fan over the south end of the hall. Electric-lighting plant has been installed in the basement, which provides a two-circuit system throughout the building.

Above - Frank T. Verity's Plans of the Electric Pavilion, Marble Arch - From The Builder, 26th of June 1914.

The general contractors were Messrs. Davis Bros., of 234 Bishopsgate, E.C.; the stonework was executed by Mr. C. W. Courtenay; the ventilation by Messrs. Keith & Blackman, of 27, Farringdon-evenue, E.C.; the plaster decoration and decorative painting was the work of Messrs. Davis Bros.; the grilles to entrance doors ere supplied by Messrs. Peyton & Peyton; the seating arrangements were carried out by Messrs. H. Lazarus & Son, of 21, Great Eastern-street, E.C.; the carpets and hangings were supplied by Messr.s Warings, of Oxford-street, W.; and the electric lighting installation was executed by Mr. Basil Davis.'

The above text in quotes was first published in The Builder, 26th of June 1914.

Above - A Google StreetView Image showing the site of the former Electric Pavilion, Marble Arch in August 2024, today a Primark Store - Click to Interact.

The Electric Pavilion, Marble Arch, had first opened on the 30th of May 1914 and ten years later it was the venue for King George V and Queen Mary's first visit to the Cinema when they saw the film 'Zeebrugge'. This was the first visit of any King or Queen to a Cinema in the Country.

Right - A Sketch of the Pavilion, Marble Arch - From a Bullman Screens Advertisement in the Kinematograph Weekly, 7th of May 1925.

The Pavilion was taken over by Gaumont British Theatres in April 1927 along with the rest of the Davis Theatres, and they removed the Pipe Organ and replaced it with a Christie Theatre Organ, although this would be removed in 1948.

In 1952 the Pavilion was taken over by the Archway Company, an Independent operator, who showed Continental Films in the Theatre.

The Pavilion was later acquired by Montague Burtons who presumably planned to convert it into one of their shops but this never transpired and the Theatre continued in operation until it was finally closed on the 24th of March 1956 and was demolished soon afterwards. The Pavilion's site was then used for retail and would later become a Virgin Megastore in the 1980s, today it is a branch of Primark.

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