The Tower Ballroom.Blackpool

The Tower Balleoom was built for the Blackpool Tower Company and opened in 1894. Matcham was responsible for the interior of the ballroom only; the rest of the large Blackpool Tower complex was designed by Maxwell and Tuke. Although not a theatre, this is one of Matcham's most important works and makes use of many of the elements of theatre architecture: the two tiers of balconies on three sides, the characteristic onion domed canopies over the corner boxes, and the 'proscenium' framing the orchestra platform. The ceiling is a tour de force of flamboyant plasterwork and painted panels. This ballroom ranks among the most spectacularly opulent interiors of the nineteenth century in Britain. Following a serious fire in 1956, Andrew Mazzei restored the building to its original form, at a cost of £500,000, and it reopened in 1958.