BFF 30th Anniversary - Love Architecture Festival 2012 - Celebrating BFF's Cinema Architecture

Over our thirty years BFF have become one of the acknowledged leading architecture practices in the cinema and media sector.  In June, Stefanie Fischer and John Burrell will be giving tours and lectures at some of our most popular cinema buildings.  The events will be part of the RIBA's Love Architecture Festival 2012, which will involve a range of events across England and Wales to bring architecture alive through walks, talks, tours, exhibitions, films, children’s activities and more.

Scala Cinema and Arts Centre, Prestatyn

On Wednesday 20 June Stefanie will be giving a lecture on the development of the Scala Cinema and Arts Centre in Prestatyn, hosted by the North Wales Society of Architects. 

The Scala was opened in 2009, bringing access once more to film on a site with strong local memories of cinema-going and helping to revitalise the town centre in Prestatyn.  In addition to a dedicated 150 seat cinema it provides a 150 seat multi-use auditorium suitable not only to cinema exhibition but also performing arts, dance and exercise classes, fairs and markets.  

Cinema City, Norwich

Stefanie will run a tour of Cinema City in Norwich on Thursday 21 June, which will be followed by a talk by Jon Greenfield, the Chair of the Norfolk Association of Architects, and a screening of A Single Man.

In 2007, Cinema City, the Regional Film Theatre for Norwich and Norfolk, secured its future by redeveloping from a single-screen cinema to a three-screen venue.  The cinema, Listed Grade I, occupies a converted medieval hall and an adjoining 1920s hall.  Excavation created the space for additional screens below a main screen similar in size and capacity to the previous single screen.  The refurbished café bar and restaurant is located in the medieval hall and its courtyard.


Click here for details of the Norwich event

Exeter Picturehouse

On Friday 22 June, Stefanie will lead a tour of Exeter Picturehouse.  This will be followed by a talk by Professor Robert Brown, Head of Architecture at the University of Plymouth, looking at the image of the architect in film, followed by a screening of the classic film The Fountainhead.

The two-screen cinema is housed in a converted 1950’s warehouse on the edge of the central conservation area in Exeter and on a prominent approach into the city centre and opened in 1997.  The foyer and a café bar have been accommodated in a new extension, which animates the previously blank flank to the warehouse.

Click here for details of the Exeter event

Harbour Lights, Southampton

John will run a tour of Harbour Lights in Southampton on Saturday 23 June, which will be followed by a talk on Southampton’s new Cultural Quarter and arts complex, and a screening of Inception.

Harbour Lights, is a landmark building in the former P&O docks, providing two auditoria for film and video exhibition and conferences, an exhibition space, a café bar and education facilities. 

We have curated a gallery of our favourite images of the cinema published on Flickr.

Click here to see the full size images on Flickr

Click here for details of the Southampton event

BFF 30th Anniversary - Canford School

Burrell Foley Fischer were invited to take part in a limited design competition for a new Assembly Hall / Chapel / Performance space within the grounds of Canford School, Dorset.

Founded in 1923, the school stands in a magnificent 250-acre park. The river Stour forms a boundary and there are splendid formal gardens and playing fields. The oldest part of the buildings is a fine medieval hall (known as John of Gaunt's Kitchen); part of the present building is Georgian, the rest was designed by Sir Charles Barry in 1847, and is Listed Grade I.

The judges commented: “hugely impressive process and presentation.  Excellent styling and sympathy shown for both the existing buildings and the parkland setting.  The vertical lines and the sense of light were pleasing to contemplate”. 

BFF 30th Anniversary - Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

With the 2012 Snooker World Championships underway it seems an appropriate time to look back at BFF's refurbishment and remodeling of the tournament's spiritual home, the Crucible, Sheffield.

The hosting of the Annual World Snooker Championships at the Crucible since 1977 has meant that the venue holds a special place in the affections of people, not just in Sheffield but across the country and internationally.  The redevelopment was phased, and each phase delivered on time and on budget, to allow the theatre to reopen each spring to host the Championships, ensuring that the international showcase for Sheffield continued uninterrupted.  The remodelled and refurbished theatre has been warmly received by all those involved with the snooker, including the players and the audience.

We have curated a gallery of some of our favorite images of the theatre published on Flickr.

Click here to see the full size images on Flickr

BFF 30th Anniversary - The Lux Cinema

The Lux Centre Cinema, the home of the London Film Makers Co-op, opened in Hoxton in September 1997.  At night, the two-way projector cast images onto the screen as well as into the square outside. Slate floor-tiles spilt onto the pavement, and video pits on the floor of the foyer showed obscure one- minute films by local multimedia artists. Still in the foyer, a glass- panelled alcove flowed down from the ceiling like a waterfall. Engraved on the panes a photographic image of the ruched curtains that used to adorn traditional cinema screens. The seat in the middle was reserved for the proverbial kissing couple in the back row. 

The Lux was not just an arthouse cinema, it was also intended as a cut-price centre for experimental film-makers. The auditorium had a flat wooden floor with removable seats for multimedia and live performances, music and dance, conference and film production. Acoustic panels along the walls rotated 180 degrees, to reveal frosted glass windows when natural light was required. Editing suites and hi-tech equipment were available to hire, and the gargantuan windows of the gallery on the first floor exposed the interior. True to the tradition of this working-class area, it was a state-of-the-art cinema that served a functional purpose. 

Unfortunately the rapid regeneration of Hoxton led to rent prices more than trebling and this became a key factor in the eventual demise of the LUX as a venue based organisation in 2002.

BFF 30th Anniversary - Angell Town

The Angell Town project is a pilot scheme in Brixton, South London, which addresses the design and management problems typical of a 1970s deck-access estate. The initiative to improve the environment of what had become a ‘sink estate’ came initially from the tenants, who were very keen to make sure that the proposals by the London Borough of Lambeth were tailored to the needs and desires of people of the estate.  In 1988 three projects were initiated; a Workspace Project using derelict ground-level garages; an Enterprise Centre for training and employment opportunities and a Pilot Project to replan the deck-access housing.

Before

After

The urban design objectives were to reintegrate the estate with the surrounding areas of Brixton by re-establishing a street based urban layout; to establish an active public realm at ground level; to establish a hierarchy of public and private space; to de-industrialise the estate; to create clear, safe routes for people who use and live on the estate and to solve a variety of related problems to do with security, refuse collection, dangerous parking and traffic, and the general hostility of the surroundings.


The project won many awards including Community Initiative Award 1983, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1991, Times/RIBA Community Enterprise Award 1989, Civic Trust Award 1990, and The Communities Projects Foundation Award for Partnership.

Before

After

In 2008 the ongoing success of the project was acknowledged by Baroness Whitaker in the House of Lords. “ A few weeks ago I saw in Angell Town in Brixton the rehabilitation of exactly one of those estates, accompanied by new building, which created attractive, safe and affordable homes within a strong community, steered by residents’ own wishes.  Nearly three-quarters of them said that they now felt safe, that they were satisfied with their new homes and that Angell Town was now a pleasant, friendly and attractive place to live.  A few years ago, half knew a victim of crime and it was a deeply unpopular place to live.”  

Demolition, Deconstruction and Digging

Mark Foley worked with Shape East recently, when they ran the third in their series of Kettle's Yard workshops, using guest professionals to bring to life built environment topics for primary and secondary schools.  

The Space Makers Project follows the building process of the new Education Wing at Kettle's Yard, Cambridge. Over a two-year period, Kettle's Yard are working with two schools, two artists, Shape East and project evaluators Flow Associates. The project will see the artists work to creatively develop the knowledge and skills of the young people in the fields of architecture and the built environment. Different built environment professionals will be involved in each session, to support the artists and provide their professional expertise.


In March, the Comberton Village College BTEC Art and Design pupils met with Mark Foley to delve into the world of demolition and deconstruction, led by artist Raksha Patel.  They discovered how buildings are demolished and the emotive response felt by those experiencing the sight of a demolished building as well as the demolishers. These were linked to artists such as Gordon Matta-Clark (Anarchitecture), Do Huh So and Mike Nelson.  Video clips of 1960’s tower blocks being demolished in the 70’s and 80’s introduced the young people to the awe surrounding the act of demolition leading to the impact that the footage of the Twin Towers made on the world. The pupils led their own deconstruction session, tearing, scrunching, cutting, taping, reforming, drawing and re-assembling. They created sculpture, which others destroyed and recreated to explore issues of transformation, fragmentation and meaning.

BFF 30th Anniversary - Interchange

The project for Interchange Studios, completed in 2000, involved the construction of a new Weekend Arts College and the conversion of the former Hampstead Town Hall, a Listed Grade II building into a new headquarters for charities, voluntary organisations and the University of the Third Age whose activities are centred around the arts, training and people with disabilities.

The building accommodates many of the organisations under the umbrella of Interchange Studios, providing offices, a library, function and meeting-room spaces, a performance hall seating 250 people, foyer spaces, and a café/bar for both visitors and occupants alike.  The building is linked to a new extension by a glazed atrium art gallery space. 

The new extension is occupied by the Weekend Arts College, providing music, dance and drama for young people, including those with disabilities.  The College comprises two new rehearsal studios, music practice and recording studios, and affiliated storage, changing rooms and office spaces.

Twelve years later Interchange continues to thrive and has provided support to many people of all ages.  Amongst those who have benefited from the venue include members of the street dance group, Diversity, winners of Britain's Got Talent in 2009, and Ms Dynamite who said "WAC was the foundation of the experience and expertise I needed to become the artist I am today". 

Visit the Interchange website

BFF 30th Anniversary - Collins Music Hall

Burrell Foley Fisher LLP were invited to participate in a limited competitive selection process for a new theatre venue on the site of the former Collins Music Hall, which was destroyed by fire in 1957.  

The brief called for an adaptable theatre space of 600-700 seats to address the different requirements of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre thrust stage productions and those of the Manchester Royal Exchange in-the-round productions, as well as end stage formats for other access.  The alternative in-the-round, thrust and end stage options are manipulated using towers and seating wagons floating on air castors

Nothing remains of the former auditorium save an empty space (last used as a timber yard) buried deep within the site and accessed only by a long carriage passage.  Waterstones bookshop already occupied the front of the building facing Islington Green.

A new wrought language was developed for the auditorium drawing inspiration from the structural clarity of gasometers, or the emcompassing excitement generated by the form of a bullring.  The foyer area was to be multi-layered, with a glazed roof and west wall to entice patrons along the dark passage.  Tantalising views are given into the auditorium from the foyers through sliding shutters, which close when the show is ready to begin. 

BFF 30th Anniversary - Renoir Cinema

The facelift of the former Gate Bloomsbury was completed in 1986 within just seven weeks and, on a budget of £80,000.  Notwithstanding the tight budget the scheme successfully evoked the feel of a French Art House and attracted a loyal cinema going audience.  The decoration incorporates cream walls with a curve free pattern in dark grey.  The bar has a black laquer finish, mirrors and the carpet was designed to reinterpret the entrances to 1930’s French apartment buildings. 

There was insufficient budget to readdress problems arising from the twinning of the original single screen however new seating was installed in light blue velvet and the front of house areas improved.  The strong graphic identity for the Renoir is used to mark the entrance through a Miesian box on the forecourt to the Brunswick Centre.  This has proved to be an inspiration to photographers and we have curated a collection of our favorites published on Flickr.     

Click here to see the full size images on Flickr

Visit the Renoir cinema website

BFF appointed to the School of Arts, Birkbeck, University of London

We have been commissioned to refurbish and remodel the main reception areas for the School of Arts at Birkbeck, University of London.  The School of Arts occupies 39 – 47 Gordon Square, Listed Grade II, in Bloomsbury and wish to create a stylish, flexible space that provides a distinctive image for the School, including reception, exhibition and teaching spaces.

Thomas Cubitt, then London’s best-known builder, developed Gordon Square in the 1820s. It is famous for its association with the Bloomsbury Group, a collective of intellectuals, writers and artists, including Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster, who lived and worked around Bloomsbury in the first half of the 20th century.  The economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) lived at 46 Gordon Square, which is marked by a blue plaque. The same house was used by the Bloomsbury Group when the painter Vanessa Bell lived there before Keynes.


Visit the Birkbeck School of Arts Website

BFF 30th Anniversary - Brighton West Pier

Burrell Foley Fischer LLP was appointed by St Modwen Properties Plc as heritage architects for the restoration of the West Pier in Brighton.  A full architectural scheme for the restoration of the pier to its original design was prepared by the Practice, based upon a combination of surveys of the remaining structure and historic research.  However a catastrophic storm in June 2004 brought restoration plans to a halt. 

John Burrell’s association with the Pier goes back to his student days when he prepared measured drawings of the kiosks and the entire pier.  These are now deposited with the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments.

BFF 30th Anniversary - Bliss Mill

The Restored Mill

Burrell Foley Fischer LLP was commissioned to bring a new lease of life to the derelict buildings of Bliss Mill, Listed Grade II, built by William Bliss II in 1873 for the weaving of high-quality tweeds. The project involved converting and restoring the main Mill Building, the weaving shed, the Warping House, the Lodge House and outbuildings into residential accommodation, with landscaped grounds, a swimming pool, squash courts, tennis courts and other leisure facilities for use by residents. The restoration work included administering an English Heritage Grant for fabric repairs.

The Derelict Mill prior to restoration

Stefanie featured in the AJ Women in Practice Special Issue

Stefanie is amongst sixty female Practice Directors and Partners featured in the "Women in Practice" special edition of the Architects' Journal.  She reveals that she became an Architect as a result of visits to her grandmother in Vienna, where she developed an interest in Wagner, Hoffman, Olbrich and Loos.

Christine Murray, the editor of the AJ, states that the purpose of the issue is "to give aspiring female architects the courage and determination to pursue a successful career in architecture".

Read the Special AJ issue - Stefanie's on Page 51

BFF 30th Anniversary - Frensham Heights Performing Arts Centre

The performing arts centre is a new theatre built for both teaching use and public performance, including dance, drama and music.  The auditorium, with a seating capacity of 340, is modelled on double cube proportions, creating a very adaptable space rising in three tiers to an exposed, trussed rafter roof.  Staging can be arranged in a variety of layouts to suit the performance space required: from an open-end stage to a proscenium frame; and from a thrust stage to theatre-in-the-round.  The seating can be electronically retracted to the rear wall to give a level floor surface throughout.  Each of the staging configurations can be set up by three people in about 45 minutes.

The building is sited within the grounds of an Edwardian Mansion, which accommodates the main part of the school, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  It rests calmly behind a screen of mature oak trees, through which the lively foyer areas can be seen from the direction of approach.

Awards for the building include The Farnham Society Amenity Award 2001, The Royal Fine Art Commission/Sky TV ‘Building of the Year Award’ in the Education Category 2001, The Timber Industry Award 2001, The Waverley Design Award 2001 and a Civic Trust Award 2003.

Visit the Frensham Heights School website

Sunday Times reports on the 'real cinema' movement

An article in yesterday's Sunday Times "Culture" magazine reported on the 'real cinema' movement, using the analogy of the 'real ale' campaign.  They noted that rather like those who "turned against the chemical horrors of 'keg' in the 1970's", there is an increasing "demand for real local cinemas, and that people really do want to go out for their films, but preferably not to an out-of-town multiplex".  The article explains how the smaller independent cinemas provide an alternative to the "cold alienation of the multiplex" by using "town-centre sites and an 'event' style, including proper restaurants and bars".

Amongst the example cinemas cited are three designed by Burrell Foley Fischer, Broadway, in Nottingham, the Kino, in Hawkhurst, Kent, and Cinema City, in Norwich. BFF has specialist knowledge of the film sector, underpinned by 30 years experience working for independent cinema operators, regional film theaters and community arts cinemas. 

One of the screens at Broadway, featuring sofa style seating

Broadway was a phased development around a client in occupation of a building that started life as a Methodist Chapel and was converted into an Educational Co-operative Building in the 1950s.   Facilities provided in early phases of development include a new cinema for film exhibition and conferences, a refurbished 1950s auditorium for film exhibition, edit suites for film and video production and training, and broadcast-standard studio, a café bar, front-of-house accommodation, administrative offices for Broadway and like-minded organisations, educational facilities, seminar rooms, and creative media start-up units.

The Broadway bar

The final phase of the centre’s development provided two new screens and a multi-media lab that allows Broadway to exploit the potential of digital media.  A glazed elevation opens up the frontage to communicate more effectively Broadway’s engagement with film and media and provides improved foyer, social and conferencing spaces.  The project was awarded the Lord Mayor of Nottingham’s Award for the best adaptation of an existing building 1997 and an Adapt Award 1998.

The entrance to the cafe bar

See examples of our other cinemas here

Read Bryan Appleyard's article here

BFF 30th Anniversary - St Georges Estate

Burrell Foley Fischer LLP was selected by the Estate Steering Group (working with EastendHomes) to develop a masterplan and design proposals to RIBA Stage C for St George’s Estate in Shadwell, London. 

200 new flats in ten, 9 storey, new infill sites

The brief from EastendHomes called for extensive consultation with the Estate’s residents, a third of whom are leaseholders within a significant Bengali community, and the preparation of a masterplanning report.  Burrell Foley Fischer LLP’s design proposals were included in the offer document on which Council tenants based their ‘yes’ vote to transfer the management of the estate from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to EastendHomes.

The new infill sites currently under construction

St George’s Estate has 500 residential units which are to be brought into line with the standards set out in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Decent Homes policy. Proposals explored how to make the best use of available land to improve the organisation of public and private space.  The homes are to be set in surroundings that people value and enjoy, but that also offer a long-term sustainable future for St George’s.  The project is currently on site.

The first new homes to be completed

BFF 30th Anniversary - Boiler House, Royal Holloway

The original complex of Royal Holloway, part of the University of London, is a grand 19^th Century red brick building dressed in stone by WH Crossland.  The site also includes another building by Crossland, a boilerhouse, which was until 1968 used to provide the university’s heat and power.

The Royal Holloway drama department took over the building and decided to turn it into a centre for experimental theatre.  Burrell Foley Fischer LLP won a competition to undertake the conversion.  The brief was not to create any sort of auditorium – the space was to be left bare so that it could be filled with the imaginations of the theatre directors.

The interior of the boilerhouse was acoustically insulated, weatherproofed and given a new sprung floor, but otherwise the “found space” aesthetic is retained and not smartened up.  

New Sinuous Bridge for The Royal Academy of Engineering craned into position

The new stainless steel entrance bridge has been craned onto the forecourt of No.3 Carlton House Terrace.  The new bridge, manufactured by Babcock International Group PLC, will provide a single accessible approach to the refurbished headquarters of the Royal Academy of Engineering. 

The bridge will lead visitors into the Royal Academy of Engineering, across a landscaped garden inspired by the designs of Decimus Burton (1800-1881), one of the original architects of Carlton House Terrace.

Visualisation of the completed bridge

Acting dynasty to appear at The Royal Hall, Harrogate

It was reported in Sunday's Observer that members of the Fox family, one of Britain's most glamourous theatrical dynasties, are to appear on stage together for the first time to pay tribute to the legacy of their illustrious forebear, engineer, Samson Fox.  Edward Fox and his wife, actress Joanna David, have decided to lead members of the family in May in a one-off stage show at the Royal Hall, in Harrogate, the grand venue commissioned and paid for by his ancestor.

The Royal Hall, created for Samson Fox by renowned theatrical designer Frank Matcham and his architect Robert Beale, was completed in 1903.  It was conceived as a cure hall, or Kursall, in the tradition of European spa towns.  The hall fell in to disrepair but was restored four years ago after a campaign, supported by Edward Fox.

Burrell Foley Fischer led the design team for this sensitive conservation and restoration project by focussing on the authenticity of historic details through careful research.  It was recognised with a 2008 BCI Award: Conservation- Highly Commended and a 2009 RICS Pro-Yorkshire Award: Conservation and Overall Best Project.

Read the full Observer article on the show

Visit the Royal Hall Website for details of the event

BFF 30th Anniversary - Kino Cinema

Kino Hawkhurst was the first all digital screen in the UK. The design addresses the challenge of providing a stylish and comfortable environment for enjoying film within the constraints of a listed church hall and a phenomenology tight budget.  The auditorium is an insertion within the church hall and was detailed to address the acoustic and technical requirements of a cinema without damage to the original fabric of the building.  If the cinema ceased to operate within the hall, it could be stripped out to reveal the original painted timber boarded ceiling and walls, elaborately detailed window frames and reveals and timber trusses.

The technical requirements of the brief to accommodate acoustic absorption, house and emergency lighting and a surround sound installation have been used to create a striking interior based on an interpretation of a Paul Klee painting.  While evoking the identity of an art house the cinema has proved popular with cinema goers of all ages including teenage audiences.  A café bar and landscaped courtyard has also been provided.  The design of front of house areas, while respecting the character of the building carries through the colour palette used in the auditorium.  The gridded design for the cinema has been adopted as the Kino logo.

Victoria Hall, Hawkhurst (David Anstiss) / CC BY-SA 2.0

Visit the Kino Cinema Website