Spurstone Heritage Ltd

Troxy, 490 , E1 0HX Phase 1A: Urgent Works

Heritage Statement For Ashburn Estates Limited

March 2021 , 490 Commercial Road, London E1 0HX Phase 1A: Urgent Works Heritage Statement March 2021

Contents Executive summary 1 1. Introduction 3 2. The Site 5 3. Significance 21 4. The proposals and their impact 27 5. Sources 34 Appendix A. Statutory list entry 35 Appendix B. Relevant planning policy: a summary 37 Appendix C: pre-application consultation 39 Appendix D. Historic plans 44

Executive summary The Site Troxy is a Grade II-listed former cinema in the York Square Conservation Area within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Designed by a leading cinema architect in Art Deco style with glamorous interior decoration, Troxy opened as a ‘super cinema’ in 1933. It later became an opera workshop and a bingo hall before reopening in the early 2000s as a multi-purpose events and live music venue. Troxy has been closed since March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The owner is using the enforced closure as an opportunity to improve the building and incorporate measures to make it Covid-secure for safe re-opening to the public. Under the Cultural Recovery Grant Funding Round One, Arts Council has awarded Troxy a grant towards the cost of the Covid-secure measures. The monies must be spent by the end of March 2021, or the grant will be withdrawn and it will not be possible to carry out these essential works; hence the urgency of this application. Significance The significance of the different aspects of the site affected by the present proposals may be summarised as follows: High significance: front elevation; original Art Deco interior decoration in Lobby, Foyer and Auditorium; communal value Moderate significance: stage machinery and fly system; Wurlitzer organ and organ chamber; Waiting Spaces; exterior elevations of pub (pub interior not inspected) Low significance: side elevations Neutral significance: back-of-house areas; Malthouse Apartments Detracts from significance: alterations to front doors and canopy; floor inserted into Foyer; floor over stalls; stairs from stalls to balcony; loss of the stage; modern partitions; mimic-Art Deco finishes and fittings introduced in the late twentieth century The proposals The present proposals for Urgent Works comprise: Lobby and Foyer: Removal of non-original box office and making good; removal of suspended ceiling in Lobby, revealing and repairing original metal coffers; new internal doors (temporary to match existing); temporary free-standing Box Office in location of existing Security; removal of non-original partitions at Mezzanine Foyer and provision of new temporary free-standing bar. WC and facilities upgrades: refurbishment of WCs generally; removal of non-original partitions in former Waiting Space and installation of new WCs; new cloakroom provision and associated circulation/way-finding improvements. Auditorium and stage: removal of non-original partitions to stage and wings; ventilation improvements; repair/replace MEP; check existing ductwork and reverse flow — clean and repair existing grilles.

Spurstone Heritage Ltd ǀ Troxy | Phase 1A Urgent Works Heritage Statement | March 2021 1

Impact of the proposals The Urgent Works proposed are described and their impact assessed in Section 4 of this Heritage Statement. Of the 25 separate proposals listed in the impact assessment table (pages 30–33), nine would have a positive (beneficial) impact on the significance of the designated heritage asset that is the Grade II-listed Troxy building and 16 would have no impact on its significance. None of the proposals would cause harm to its significance. None of the proposed works would affect the exterior of the listed building, and there would thus be no impact on the character or appearance of the conserv