Overview

Originally opened as the Spanish Congress Hall in late May 1931, the hall was part of several new additions to the Blackpool Winter Gardens. At its opening the hall was said to seat 2,000 under a roof that “gives the effect of perpetual sunshine”.

Blackpool Winter Gardens overview

Blackpool Winter Gardens first opened in July 1875 with a winter garden and roller skating rink, however it would not receive its official opening until July 1878 by which time several additional features had been added to the complex. The Opera House, originally opened as Her Majesty’s Opera House and designed by UK theatre architect Frank Matcham, was added in June 1889, and the Empress Ballroom was added in 1896. A palm house was added in 1897, at the same time as the Pavilion (originally constructed in 1878) was altered.

The original Winter Gardens Company was taken over in 1928, and in the immediately following years a number of additions and upgrades were made to the complex, generally designed by J.C. Derham and themed by Andrew Mazzei. Olympia Hall was opened in June 1930, and in May 1931 the Floral Hall was refurbished and several additional function spaces were added: the Baronial Hall, the Galleon Bar, the Renaissance Restaurant, the Windsor Bar, and the Spanish Congress Hall.

The Spanish Hall’s interior decoration was executed in the Atmospheric style with an Andalusian village theme by French-born British art director Andrew Mazzei.

The rectangular hall is roughly 79ft by 64ft (24m by 19.5m) and its vaulted ceiling consists mainly of large skylight panels, allowing for the admission of large amounts of natural daylight.

Wrapping around the entire hall is a three-dimensional frieze depicting Andalusian villages and vistas, complete with clouds painted on the walls above which give way to the skylights. At all four corners of the hall there are segmental battlemented balconies with clusters of Spanish village buildings. Tiny lights inside the buildings help create a warm glow when the daylight from above has faded.

According to the English Heritage listing for the complex , the east end of the hall has a balustraded balcony and above it a large applied relief arcade with barleysugar columns, the apertures revealing a Spanish landscape mural; whereas the west end has three Moorish arches with balconies all set within a large semi-circular, elaborately decorated mounting.

In 2012, Blackpool City Council completed a light-touch refurbishment of the hall. In August 2019, Conlon Construction completed a 14-month, £1.9 million restoration which won them a Silver award at the National Site Awards 2019 hosted by the Considerate Constructors Scheme .