Regent Picture House 189 Church Street, Blackpool

The New Regent Picture House Cinema was designed by Lumb and Walton of 19 Clifton Street Blackpool in 1921 and the building took twelve months to construct from initial foundation through to internal fit-out. The building is completely of reinforced concrete construction, having been cast on site by a local firm J.Fielding and Sons, with the main contractors for the erection of the building being down to Messrs. Chadwick Bros., of Layton.  The internal furnishings were provided by Messrs. Claughton of Leeds. At time of construction a reinforced concrete beam of some 65 feet was the largest cast beam in the country and was used to support the whole of the floor of the grand circle. Having the building completely constructed in reinforced concrete: all walls, floor plates, balcony, roof and upper balcony, the building had the claim of the most fire proofed building built in Blackpool and the architects stated that it would be impossible to burn down, a claim that is substantiated by the excessive number of fire escapes within the design layout.

The front of the Regent is in the Neo-Grecian style of architecture, a development of the renaissance, but considerably simplified by being divested of a great part of the elaborate ornamentation characteristic of that style. It successfully follows the then tendency to emphasise the main lines without elaboration of detail. The whole of the front facades are faced with Middleton fireclay ceramo, a white glazed terracotta tile. There are beautiful tints which tone down the intense glare that would come from pure whiteness. The main entrance was via Regent Road and Church Street, through an octagonal vestibule with a ornate plaster dome ceiling and quarter pillars down to a marble floor. From this vestibule, access was gained to the rear of the Grand Balcony via a sweeping marble staircase or via mahogany doors to the ground floor stalls.

The Regent had seating for 1,092 at opening with 420 seats situated in the Grand Balcony and an additional 42 in a smaller 'private' upper balcony.A unique design point of the Regent was the retractable roof to the centre of the main auditorium ceiling, originally of glass but later replaced with grids. It was opened via large cast pull arms inserted into gaps upon the roof and is still operational today. Once opened a single large reinforced concrete curve is visible from the auditorium.

The ventilation system of the building was one of an untested means and claimed to have been one of the most effective in any cinema ever built at the time. It comprised of a series of outlets to the ceiling of the 'stalls' area connected to an electrical fan. The upper ventilation was by a series of outlet gratings in the large cornice, being in fact, a continual duct which was connected to a larger fan at the top of the building. It proved to be a very efficient system and is still complete today. At the opening of the Regent on Monday January 17th. 1921, the internal wall decorations were only of a temporary nature due to the concrete walls having not dried out sufficiently to allow the designed plaster mouldings to be adhered to and a basic covering was used for 6 months, but the current plastered ceiling was installed for opening as this sits upon thin wooden battens. The chosen colour scheme was that of Wedgwood blue and cream with rich gold and black Wilton carpets throughout. The original screen used, was a then new style rubber based one, which was attached via 166 small springs to allow for any vibration to be minimal, and the operating room was fitted out with the latest of equipment for the time with a large fan installed under the exterior dome to give the ventilation required for the 2 large projectors.  A 'live' orchestra consisting of five were accommodated in a well under the screen and remained like this until the cinema was altered to accommodate sound.  The cinema was slightly altered in 1939 having a new colour scheme introduced and sound facilities added. It was again altered in the early 1950's with new seating and again upgraded sound and projection equipment.