THE demolished facade of a 1913 cinema has been rebuilt as part of new Art Deco-style apartments.

Scaffolding has been removed to reveal a new four-storey block on the site of the former Picture Palace Cinema in Ness Road, Shoebury.

Workmen have spent ten months painstakingly replicating the historic landmark’s curved facade, demolished last March after plants were found growing through its crumbling stonework.

Paul Seager, director of architects ACS Design, said: “We are pleased with the scheme.

“It has been a talking point and added to the regeneration of that corner.

“It’s nice to create a building where we had the opportunity to work with that kind of design.”

The eight flats over three storeys with a retail unit on the ground floor are expected to open in March, after workmen finish fitting out the interior.

The architects firm, based in Nelson Street, Southend, moulded the old cinema’s facade before it was demolished and copied it into the new building.

They have used the period’s Art Deco style as inspiration for the flats behind the facade, replacing the original’s square “shed-style” body.