The Evening Standard reports that campaigners opposed to the conversion of the Kensington Odeon cinema building into luxury flats have called for it to be given an emergency listing after rare Twenties interiors were exposed by demolition men.
Jonathan Prynn writes in the Evening Standard (2 March):
Guy Oliver, of the Friends of the Kensington Odeon group, said previously hidden Art Deco friezes and tea rooms, and sweeping marble staircases were in danger of being lost within days. Mr. Oliver has contacted the chief executive of Historic England Duncan Wilson, to ask that the Government’s heritage body overturn its advice to ministers in 2007 and 2013 to grant the developers immunity from listing.
The vast auditorium shut its doors in August last year. Developer Minerva is turning the former six-screen cinema and land around it into 43 apartments and town houses, and 20 affordable homes, plus a seven-screen subterranean cinema. Only part of the façade is being retained and virtually allinterior detailing will be lost. A spokeswoman for Historic England said there would be no change to its advice on the certificate of immunity from listing before the current one lapses in September 2018.
A spokesperson for Minerva said: ‘extensive measures have been taken to comply with planning and other legal requirements at all stages’ and that ‘we are working with Museum of London Archaeology to record and analyse any additional original features uncovered during the works’ and we are ‘committed to restoring and retaining a number of original internal and external features. The design of the new cinema draws on the heritage of the building and creates a far superior experience.’
