The Corn Exchange Newbury were gifted projection equipment by the UK Film Council and needed to find a location where they could provide a new cinema experience. Our brief was to create an intimate 32-seat auditorium within a former dance studio that was located on the second floor, above a bar and next to the main theatre auditorium. The studio was a suspended concrete box with clerestory windows that borrowed light from the first floor bar. The key challenge was ensuring that this box could be soundproofed to prevent noise from the latest blockbuster disturbing a theatre performance and the bustle of a busy bar interrupting the intense dialogue of a quiet film.

The Corn Exchange is a grade II listed prominent building in Newbury’s market place and whilst listed building consent was required for the work, disturbance to the listed fabric of the building was minimal, with sound insulation added to the interior of the concrete dance studio.  The studio structure had been added to the building when originally converted to a theatre in the late 20th century.

The early design process explored the origins of cinema in the 1920s and the Art Deco influences on these pioneering buildings. A sumptuous palette of rich red, deep blue and black fabrics were proposed for the carpet, screen wall and seating respectively - evoking early cinemas’ use of red velvet upholstery and dark atmospheric, intimate spaces.

The auditorium capacity was dictated by the size of the studio and the optimum distance needed between the front row of seats and the screen. Together with the screen size and the room width we had to undertake a complex calculation to locate each seat to ensure a satisfactory experience for all users of the auditorium.

The side walls of the cinema are lined with insulated panels, inset with five soft-padded acoustic baffles - each fixed at a ten degree angle to the wall. These baffles are designed to absorb sound and prevent reverberation of the audio experience within the cinema, ensuring that a clean and clear soundtrack can be heard for every film screened. The cinema is hugely popular locally and often preferred to the local multi-screen cinema by discerning film goers.

Ian Blake designed Screen One whilst at Sutton Griffin Architects