The Lyric was designed by C. J. Phipps and built for Henry J. Leslie by Messrs Stephens and Bastow. Leslie financed the building of his new Theatre from the profits of 'Dorothy' from which he apparently made the huge sum at the time of £100,000. The Theatre's Freehold is now owned by the Theatres Trust.

The Lyric Theatre's Windmill Street Facade showing the remains of the house that once stood there, now the Lyric's dressing room block and stage door entrance. - Phot M.L. 06.The Lyric's Windmill Street Facade is interesting in that it is actually the remains of a house which once stood there. The house was built in 1766 by Dr William Hunter, who was an anatomist, partly as a home and partly as an anatomical theatre and museum. Internally the house was gutted to make way for the Lyric's dressing rooms but externally it is still much in its original form. The rear of the house was demolished so that the Lyric's stage could be built on the site. On the Windmill Street Facade there is a Blue Plaque to commemorate the original building.

The Theatre is unusual in that it still uses water to operate the iron curtain. Originally this was pumped from the Thames to most Theatres and Hotels around London's West End and used to hydraulically operate lifts and all manor of heavy machinery. Today the Lyric's Iron Curtain is operated via an electric pump but can also be operated manually by two people at a time, though it's a very labour intensive job, and slow too. The Lyric was also fitted with a large revolve which is still operable today, either by a huge and ancient electric rectifier or by hand.