Contact: 0131 228 2688
Aug 05 Update - New Model - Photos:
images from Richard Murphy Architects via RSA
Richard Murphy Architects Filmhouse project for Lothian Road - model viewed by Sir Sean Connery:
image from Richard Murphy Architects
The Festival Square location has proved controversial with key members of Edinburgh Council and some neighbours.
Richard Murphy exhibited the Edinburgh Filmhouse at the Venice Biennale 2004, initially as the only Scottish-based architect, though other Scottish architects were shown as part of the Ligthhouse's last minute entry.
Sean Connery Filmhouse: Aerial View
Edinburgh Filmhouse - New Proposal, Apr 2008
Filmhouse, Edinburgh
Filmhouse, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh by Richard Murphy Architects, Edinburgh
“Iconic building”…..“The new Filmhouse would have an atmospheric overhang
and has the potential to be a signature building like other rotundas -
such as New York's Guggenheim or Rome's Pantheon.“
Does Edinburgh need another “ Iconic building” or a “signature building”?
And is this building really 'iconic'?
Cambridge St View
The Edinburgh Filmhouse development will strengthen the cultural zone - Usher Hall, Royal Lyceum Theatre and Traverse Theatre - that merges with the office zone across Lothian Road & The Exchange. The Sheraton Hotel is reported to have objected to Richard Murphy Architects’ proposals with concerns from the
Council who own Festival Square – entitled Ceaucescu Plaza by Murray Grigor in the 2001 RIAS Festival exhibition.
View from Usher Hall west across Lothian Road
The four-storey elliptical building would contain five or six flexible
cinemas, a roof garden, education, curriculum development & production
spaces and a suite dedicated to the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Model View from Sheraton east to Usher Hall
Edinburgh Filmhouse - Website: www.filmhousecinema.com
Festival Square
Speculatively placed on Festival Square in front of the rather bland Sheraton Hotel on Lothian Road the Filmhouse would be visible from the West End of Princes Street. The building would be clad in back-lit etched glass and feature typical Richard Murphy sliding walls. The building would be situated in the south-west corner of Festival Square, covering up to half the square.
View south down Lothian Road
The Edinburgh City Council leader, Donald Anderson, has stated concerns re the concept of locating the new Filmhouse in Festival Square.
Model View from north-west
Funding:
Sir Sean Connery is backing the new Edinburgh Filmhouse project: the proposed £20m International Film Festival building is due to be named after Sean Connery, who famously hailed from Edinburgh, working as a lifeguard at Portobello Swimming Pool and delivering milk to the likes of Fettes College, but now resides in the Bahamas. Sir Sean’s childhood home is at 176 Fountainbridge Street faced with a small commemorative plaque.
Model View from north-east
The day after the Wednesday announcement, Thu 2 Sep 2004, Sir Sean Connery visited the Filmhouse model at Richard Murphy Architects’ offices. The Sean Connery Filmhouse was exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale in early September. Filmmaker and architecture expert Murray Grigor started talking about a ‘Kineopolis’ more than a decade ago. The Filmhouse is the most successful UK film theatre outside London and has carried out a number of feasibility studies for expansion in Edinburgh. Richard Murphy Architects have previously worked on the DCA cinema in Dundee which had some novel ideas (believed to be not actioned in full) re the screen recessing to reveal the city; this concept will be echoed in the new Filmhouse.
Context:-
Usher Hall
Sheraton Hotel Health Club
Lothian Road
Filmhouse Cinema, Edinburgh: 0131 228 2688
Cameo Cinema
Edinburgh : back to index
Buildings / photos for the Edinburgh Filmhouse Architecture pages welcome:
info@edinburgharchitecture.co.uk
Filmhouse Edinburgh Building : page - adrian welch / isabelle lomholt