Tooting Granada

The Granada Tooting was built in 1931 by Sidney Bernstein (his third Granada). The architect Cecil Masey designed a square towered street façade in Italianate style, covered in faience, with four slim columns topped by the neon Granada sign. A vertical fin sign repeated the name, and the whole frontage could be floodlit from the long, wide canopy.

The interior design was entrusted to Komisarjevsky, who created an interior in Venetian Gothic style that has been described as his masterpiece. The outer foyer contains two pay boxes set into richly decorated mirrored walls. Through a further set of doors the grand foyer is designed as a huge Medieval Baronial hall with carved panelling and a heavily beamed ceiling. A stone staircase leads to a minstrels’ gallery which formed the entrance to the tea room above the outer foyer. The inner stalls foyer, set with large mirrors framed by marble columns in Italian Renaissance style, has a wide curved twin staircase leading to the balcony lobby. There is a great hall of mirrors, 150 ft long, lined with 70 cusped arches backed with mirrors and decorative light fittings. Oak and gilded stone tables and chairs by Komisarjevsky, some of which can still be seen, adorned all the waiting areas.

The auditorium is a brilliant essay in eclectic style, based on Venetian Gothic but drawing architectural inspiration and detailed treatment from all parts of Europe. The beautifully coffered ceiling above the balcony is lit by chandeliers. Side walls, rich in detail with painted figure murals by Vladimir Polunin and Leslie Le Bond are crowned by an open Gothic framework of arches lit from behind (some of this lighting needs restoration). The ceiling above the front stalls is part coffered, part painted sky and the proscenium arch is a series of cusped Gothic pendants. The front stalls exits are surmounted by giant Gothic arches and the side proscenium walls are filled with Gothic stained glass windows, which, like the proscenium, are back-lit. The under-balcony ceiling is richly detailed and lit by small ornate chandeliers. The original colour scheme was polychromatic with a deep tone of gold.

The stage was fully equipped for variety shows which continued to be part of the programme for many years. The large orchestra pit also housed a Wurlizter organ. Dressing room accommodation remains, on two levels.

The building survives under sympathetic ownership, with minor modifications for bingo. These include the covering of the orchestra pit, though the organ is played regularly.