Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

KILBIRNIE, BRIDGEND, RADIO CITY, INCLUDING GATEPIERS, BOUNDARY WALLS, RAILINGS, GATEPIERS AND ARCHWAYLB47121

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
C
Date Added
19/04/2000
Local Authority
North Ayrshire
Planning Authority
North Ayrshire
Parish
Kilbirnie
NGR
NS 31603 54677
Coordinates
231603, 654677

Description

James Houston, 1939. 2-storey to S, single storey former cinema auditorium to N, 5-bay, rectangular-plan Art Deco former Radio City cinema (currently a community centre, 2008). Steel frame with cement-rendered brick infill. Base course, dividing band courses with decorative circlets at junctions; coped eaves course to front block.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: symmetrical; 5-bay; slightly advanced centrepiece with broadly chamfered recessed doorway centred at ground accessed by 3 semicircularplan terrazzo steps with Saturn motif, entrance screen to doorway comprising 3 sets of glaze timber doors with triangular glazing pattern, doorway flanked by (later) mosaic tiled walls, semicircular-plan steel-framed cantilevered timber canopy oversailing entrance, deep recess centred above (originally containing "radio" transmitter beacon) flanked by 2-storey bays each with pair of windows to outer return at 1st floor, modern signage spanning recess at centre. Full height bays to outer left and right advanced at ground floor with curved outer angles, each with flag-pole clasped by facetted brackets, horizontal band of window openings at ground floor, window on each corner and to each outer return; pair of small openings to right of right return, modern billboard above; irregular openings to left of left return, predominantly louvred below lintel.

E ELEVATION: predominantly blank; doorway near-centre of ground floor, 3 margined billboard panels evenly spaced between horizontal band courses above; irregularly-fenestrated return of principal elevation advanced to outer left (see above).

W ELEVATION: matching E elevation, but with single billboard panel to left of irregularly-fenestrated front block at outer right.

Windows boarded-up (2000). Profiled reinforced asbestos cladding to auditorium roof with substantial cast-iron square-profile downpipes and gutters.

INTERIOR: curved ends and 3 circular light fittings to recessed ceiling feature in entrance hall; 2-leaf timber entrance doors with glazed strips accessing auditorium; some fluted wall decoration surviving; some projection equipment surviving in projection room at upper level of S block.

BOUNDARY WALLS, GATES, GATEPIERS AND ARCHWAY: low curved stugged sandstone wall enclosing S front surmounted by saddleback cope and wrought-iron railings with geometric pattern, circular-plan gatepier to SE, coped with domed cap; wall stepped up to meet bridge parapet at W.

Statement of Special Interest

A well-known landmark prominently sited at the head of Kilbirnie's Main Street, Radio City is an important survival of the 1930s, when Scotland was at the forefront of cinema and indeed modernist design. It is the last surviving cinema building designed by James Houston (1893-1966). Houston came from Kilbirnie, Ayrshire. He trained firstly with the architectural firm of Fryers and Penman, then studied at Glasgow School of Art. He started his own practice in 1920. Houston was an enthusiast of cinemas at the height of their popularity in Scotland. He not only designed the Radio City cinema but also The Viking at Largs of 1939 (now demolished). Radio City is an example of 'theme' architecture, a genre associated with thirties cinemas of which Houston was particularly well known. The recess in the centre of the principal façade originally contained a large 'radio' pylon with a flashing beacon at the top, flanked by flashing neon zigzags and chrome eagle wings (a replica mast has been installed). The cinema could accommodate 1200 people, 880 in the stalls and 320 on the raised area. Houston designed the auditorium on the 'stadium' principle, where rather than having a balcony where the seats 'often had the foulest atmosphere' (NMRS manuscript MS/611/4), the rear seats are set on a platform which slopes up from the back stalls. The cinema interior was originally lavishly furnished and painted with planets, stars and futuristic designs which were described as 'rich colourings without being bizarre' (NMRS manuscript MS611/1).

The building was converted to a community centre 2002-04.

Notes and references updated as part of the Cinema Thematic Study 2007-08.

References

Bibliography

NMRS, PLANS AND MANUSCRIPTS RELATING TO RADIO CITY, 1937; 1938 EDITION OS MAP; C McKean, THE SCOTTISH THIRTIES: AN ARCHITECTURAL INTRODUCTION, (1987), p63-64; Neil Cameron, "Past master of the fantastic thirties", SCOTSMAN, 16 October 1989; R Close, AYRSHIRE & ARRAN: AN ILLUSTRATED ARCHITECTURAL GUIDE, (1992), p93; M Glendinning, R MacInnes, A MacKechnie, A HISTORY OF SCOTTISH ARCHITECTURE, (1996), p402, 573; R Bailey, SCOTTISH ARCHITECTS' PAPERS: A SOURCE BOOK, (1996), p51, 121-122, 212, 230; D MacDonald, "Tuning in to Radio City" and "Phoenix Arising?", ARDROSSAN & SALTCOATS HERALD, 1998; "Radio City aim is a new programme for the community", GLASGOW HERALD, 1999; NMRS Photographs. Other information courtesy of the Cinema Theatre Association Scotland, www.scottishcinemas.org.uk (accessed 13-12-07).

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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