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The creation of The Talk of the
Town on Hippodrome Corner
has been a large-scale building and engineering operation. The planning
of the restaurant facilities and kitchens was the work of Erie Hartwell,
a partner of Charles Forte and a director of Theatre Restaurants Ltd.
The credit for devising ways-and-means and overcoming the many structural
difficulties involved belongs to A. T. Pine, L.R.I.B.A, M.Ins.A.R.,
Forte's resident architect.
 The
stage has been completely reconstructed by Hall Stage Equipment Limited
to Robert Nesbitt's plan - with a "bridge" and rising-and-sliding
orchestral rostrums incorporated. In front of the stage the old water
tank has been removed, involving an excavation forty-five feet across
and forty feet deep; in its place the rising apron-stage, which revolves,
has been constructed. Special stage features include the very large
Venetian-type blind which is raised, lowered and tilted electrically,
and an electrically controlled pre-set contour curtain. Of special technical
interest are the rear-folding draw-curtain tracks. The two large chandeliers
over the auditorium are made to rise electrically into ceiling-wells
in order to clear the line of sight for spectators. Provision has been
made for an ice-floor and the presentation of a fountain spectacle.
All the old Hippodrome
floorings have been removed; on the stalls level, two other floorings
-- of earlier dates and with different "rakes" - were discovered
and had to be removed, too. The original mosaic of the foyer was also
revealed when the old rubber flooring was replaced by the new one. Approximately
one-and-a-third miles of Wilton Carpet and over a thousand square yards
of linoleum have been used for the covering of the new floorings The
ceiling is made of an entirely new plastic material of great strength
and lightness.
 The
main contractors were Messrs. Walter Lilly and Co. Ltd., and the work
of bricklayers, carpenters, plasterers, plumbers, painters, tilers,
steelfixers and labourers has taken over 162,000 manhours. The debris
carted from the old building has totalled nearly 1,600 cubic yards,
and the materials used in the re-construction include 120,000 bricks,
60 tons of steel, 150 tons of cement, 50 tons of plaster, 15 tons of
granite chippings, 400 cubic yards of concrete aggregates, 200 cubic
yards of sand, 1.25 miles of piping for plumbing services, and vast
quantities of partition slabbing, paint, and wallpaper.
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 The
electrical installation is the work of the Strand Electric Company.
The switchboard-console, of the latest electro-mechanical design and
involving 120 circuits, is situated in a control room from which the
operator can observe his effects both on the stage and the dance-floor.
The console is a remote-control in that the actual dimmer-bank with
which it is connected is in the basement. Over a hundred new-type
soft edge Fresnel spot-lanterns (in use for the first time in this
country) have been installed above the stage and restaurant ceiling;
all the decorative lighting fittings and the chandeliers have been
specially designed by the General Electric Company in collaboration
with Robert Nesbitt, and the lamps include 2,000 new-shape star bulbs
specially made to his specification.
 The
Talk of the Town is ventilated by a fresh air supply fan providing
17,000 cubic feet per minute of filtered and warmed air; this represents
34 tons of fresh air per hour. Air ducts concealed within the building
fabric include some which would be large enough for two people to
cycle abreast inside them.
The ground floor frontage and canopy was designed by
Fredk. Sage and Co. Ltd., in conjunction with Mr. Nesbitt. The exterior
cladding is of toughened black glass, with aluminium framed poster
cases at intervals along the frontage illuminated by tubular lighting,
and decorated with fibreglass ornamentation. The rusticated pilasters
and doors and frames of entrances are of aluminium sprayed with metallic
gold.
To see more images of the destruction of the London
Hippodrome and its current state in 2004 Click
here...
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