Soho Theatre Walthamstow

Pilbrow & Partners were appointed by the London Borough of Waltham Forest and Soho Theatre to restore the former Granada Walthamstow Cinema – a Grade II* listed building and a landmark of Twentieth-Century Moorish architecture. Originally opened in 1930 and designed by Cecil Aubrey Masey with interiors by famed stage designer Theodore Komisarjevsky, the Granada offered local audiences a rich spectacle of escapism and glamour. The restoration adopts an approach of Arrested Decay, preserving and layering the building’s history rather than erasing it. Its grandeur has been faithfully revived, while its periods of decline and neglect have been retained as powerful expressions of its resilience and identity. The result is a theatre that honours the full sweep of the building’s past, reflecting both its cultural legacy and Walthamstow’s transformation into London’s first ‘Borough of Culture’. The cinema opened with 2,700 seats and was considered a beacon of cinematic opulence. Damaged in 1944 by a flying bomb, the façade’s gable - lost for decades - has now been restored, marking the entrance and reintroducing the building to Hoe Street’s historic topography. Inside, original plasterwork inspired by the Alhambra has been carefully conserved alongside layers of paint from subsequent decades, celebrating its evolving identity. Following its post-war decline as a cinema, the building found new life as a music venue, hosting legendary performers including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Johnny Cash. This era is commemorated in the foyer’s design palette, which subtly echoes the vibrancy of its musical past. Later layers of history - such as the mint greens and blues from the early 2000s Bollywood screenings under EMD ownership - have also been preserved. These tones form a rich visual patina, atop the deeper strata of the original 1930s saturated maroons and forest greens, each hue a testament to the building’s evolving identity. Closed since 2003, the building appeared on several national ‘at risk’ registers. In 2018, Waltham Forest Council acquired the site following a strong community campaign. Their vision, shared with Soho Theatre, was to restore it not as a neutral backdrop but as a theatre that actively celebrates its richly layered story. Pilbrow & Partners worked closely with the Council and Soho Theatre to transform the building. Sensitive interventions were made to adapt it for live performance: the previously divided auditorium has been re-unified into a single 960-seat venue; new dressing rooms, a fly tower, and improved sightlines were introduced to support contemporary theatre needs, while maintaining the building’s architectural integrity. The restored theatre will be the cornerstone of an emerging arts quarter. Alongside the performance space, the building now offers shops, cafés, community foyers, and education facilities. This project represents a unique model of restoration and reuse, balancing heritage with transformation. It reclaims a treasured building not as a monument to the past, but as a living symbol of cultural renewal. Pilbrow & Partners is proud to have played a part in returning this remarkable building to the community as a beacon of creativity, diversity, and pride.