The arcade itself was originally built as a picture house in 1910 but was only open as a cinema for 16 years. Originally designed by Nicol & Nicol in 1910, the sloped attractive floor shows where the cinema screen and rows of seats once were.

It was so popular as a cinema that another larger cinema was built and the existing building was converted into the Piccadilly Shopping Arcade. Celing murals by Paul Maxwell run throughout the arcade and the artistic ceiling and classic architecture is reminiscent of the old cinema.