The Odeon
A landmark worth saving
The former Odeon on Kings Road is one of Britain’s finest surviving 1930s cinemas — a Grade II listed Art Deco landmark (NHLE 1076275) that has watched over Kingstanding Circle for ninety years.
Built in 1935
Designed by J. Cecil Clavering and Robert Bullivant of Harry Weedon and Partners — the practice that shaped the Odeon chain’s architectural identity — the cinema opened in July 1935 with a reported capacity of about 1,300 seats. Its symmetrical frontage carries a striking axial three-fin tower, curved double returns, buff and polished-black faience, a cantilevered canopy and a bowed signboard. Specialist writers have called it “one of the best surviving Odeons in Britain.” (Historic England amended the building’s list entry in December 2024 to record Clavering and Bullivant as its architects, where it had previously credited Harry Weedon alone.)
The building began as an independent cinema called the Beacon and, in Historic England’s words, “was acquired by Oscar Deutsch in the course of construction” — becoming one of the earliest cinemas in his Odeon circuit. And Historic England goes further: its list entry for the Odeon Sutton Coldfield records that the Odeon house style “was first adopted by Clavering at the Beacon, Kingstanding, Birmingham.” In other words, the national Odeon look began at this building.
Listed on 10 October 1980 — at just forty-five years old, and originally under the name “Top Rank Club” — it was recognised on architectural merit, not age, making this not just a local landmark but a moment in the story of twentieth-century British architecture.
Picture palace, bingo hall, landmark
For its first decades it was a picture palace — Saturday-morning matinees packed with children, the organ rising on the left of the screen. The cinema closed in 1962, and the building then ran as a bingo club — first as a Top Rank, later Mecca — for more than sixty years, until it finally closed on 7 June 2026, when Rank said the club “requires considerable repairs and maintenance.”
Through every change of use, one thing held: this was the place Kingstanding gathered. Ninety-one years of continuous public life under one roof.
Empty — and not beyond saving
The building now stands empty and is being marketed for sale, and has reportedly suffered fire damage. But a Grade II listing protects the whole building, and Kingstanding has shown it still cares. Our campaign calls on Birmingham City Council to secure the Odeon and work with residents to bring it back into community use.
Sign the petition to save the Odeon →