Criterion Theatre

The Criterion Theatre was originally intended as a concert hall, with the space's function changed during its construction in the early 1870s. It was build in a large space available between Jermyn Street and Piccadilly Circus, and was earmarked for a restaurant, dining rooms, ballroom and concert hall by the caterers Spiers and Pond. The majority of this development was to reside underground, and the Criterion Theatre is the only West End theatre to be situated almost entirely underground – even the Upper Circle is not at street level. The Criterion Theatre was completed in 1873, with interior work designed by Simpson and Son, and a façade heavily influenced by French Renaissance architecture.