InventaCinema
This is how most people go to the cinema: enter, buy concessions, go to the screen, sit down and watch. And who can blame them if they don’t consider the cinema build? Such as what materials were used? How energy-efficient are cinemas? How has cinema design changed? And the answers are usually: brick, not very and not much.
Until now.
Because now, there is a new concept for a low-carbon, modular neighbourhood cinema called InventaCinema. This build could revolutionise cinema buildings in the UK because it is a pre-fabricated building with modular components that can scale from a 60-seat to 200 capacity with numerous screens. The kit allows for an entrance foyer, sales points, cafe/bar and back of house. Plus, because of the modular design, it could be used to add to an existing cinema or building and create an additional energy-efficient screen.
Cinema Architect Stefanie Fischer is the brains behind the concept, and we asked her to tell us more about InventaCinema.
Stefanie Fischer.
Can you talk more about why InventaCinema is needed? Our experience of cinema development is that it is often long, costly (think of any Grand Designs project that goes over budget) and with little energy efficiency in mind.
InventaCinema offers a more affordable approach to providing a cinema than conventional development. This is important, given the slim margins on which many cinemas operate.
InventaCinema could be purchased at an established price and delivered on a turnkey basis. This reduces risk on cost and makes the whole process from inception to completion much more straightforward for clients. This is of particular benefit to first-time and one-off developers of a cinema. The modular and offsite pre-fabrication also reduces programme risk. It sets out to reduce the operating cost of a cinema and, in particular, energy costs. This is critical to the continuing viability and sustainability of neighbourhood cinemas. The renewable energy strategy follows a Mean-Lean-Clean-Green approach.
The cinema auditoria are passively ventilated, removing the need for mechanical ventilation and cooling, which can account for circa 70% of a cinema’s energy use. The structural loads of the floor, wall and roof panels that form the structural envelope are transferred to ground screws rather than conventional concrete foundations. As well as reducing embodied carbon, this creates a void between the floor panels and the ground, which can be used to form a labyrinth through which supply air is drawn. It is attenuated to avoid noise intrusion and heated or cooled using heater batteries before entering the auditorium at a low level. The energy source for the heater batteries is PVs on the cinema's roof; battery storage helps to even out demand. The air is then extracted at a high level and similarly attenuated to avoid noise leakage from the cinema to the neighbourhood.
Are there any cinemas that are already low-energy venues, and what are some of their initiatives?
A trailblazer for sustainable cinemas is Lewes Community Screen at Depot, Lewes. They have shown a strong commitment to sustainability both in the design of the building and its operation. In recognition of this, the cinema won the National Creative Green Award 2020, a National Award for sustainability in the arts that recognises the achievement of the creative community in taking action on climate change.
Lewes Community Screen is a value-driven organisation. They have appointed a Green Ambassador and invested in staff training. They engage and inspire their audiences with promotions and campaigns. They have developed a Sustainability Plan and Action Plan to address the environmental impact of running a cinema. They promote green transport and display live train and bus times in the foyer. They offer customers locally produced high-quality seasonal food and promote filtered tap water. They have developed a waste management plan.
How has thinking about cinema architecture changed in the last decade?
There has been a trend towards cinemas being more than simply a place to watch films. Newer cinemas are becoming active leisure and social hubs in the neighbourhoods in which they are located. The switch to digital distribution and exhibition has allowed new viable models of small screens to be developed in previously underserved rural, small towns and the periphery of city areas.
There has been an increased focus on seating comfort standards and sound and image quality. During my career as a cinema architect, I have replaced the seats up to three times in a given cinema to increase seat centres and seat tier widths as expectations of comfort have changed. It is rare now to install tip-up seats in cinemas and more usual to install ‘Club’ seats, recliners, sofas or armchairs. Because of the growing importance of the food and beverage offered in cinemas, integrating bottle holders and small tables with the seating, rather than just cup holders, has become a key consideration for some operators. There is a much greater focus on inclusivity, including meeting the needs of customers with mobility, visual and aural impairments and accommodating the needs of people with dementia. Sustainability has become a headline consideration for operators, partly because of the energy crisis but also because audiences are increasingly making ethical choices about where to pursue leisure pursuits along with how they travel, what clothes they buy and what they eat and drink. There is much more focus on the customer experience of going to a cinema.
What can audiences do to help?
Audiences can help in many ways, including:
supporting their local cinema by choosing to watch films there;
supporting ethical approaches to developing and operating a cinema that reduces their carbon footprint by choosing to view films in a net zero cinema, choosing to purchase locally sourced food and drink, supporting the availability of filtered tap rather than bottled water, collaborating with a cinema’s recycling and waste management schemes and choosing green forms of transport.
InventaCinema is a net zero carbon-negative cinema developed through a collaboration between InventaCinema Ltd and Agile Properties and Homes. For more information, go to www.inventacinema.com
