Orient
| Opened in 1932. Bingo since 1983,
then a nightclub, then derelict for a number of years. Designed by Albert V Gardner, the interior design lived up to its name, and was originally atmospheric, with painted details and fake plaster buildings adorning the side walls. Sadly this was mostly removed when the interior was modernised to allow a larger cinemascope screen to be installed, forward of the original proscenium. Fragments of the original 1930s decorative scheme do survive in voids behind the later prosc - look for the painted palm tree detail, and up in the roof, painted detail reminiscent of that intended to represent a tented ceiling at Gardner's other atmospheric, the Kelvin in Glasgow.
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Some shots of the interior when on bingo can be seen here, here and here, courtesy of Robert Kelly.
Exterior photos below from June 1985, courtesy of Paul Francis.
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Interior image c.1981 courtesy of the Scottish Screen Archive at the National Library of Scotland.
