Archlight Cinema

Battersea, London

  • LocationBattersea, London

We fitted-out the new Archlight Cinema within the railway arches of Battersea Power Station, providing three bespoke cinemas.  Each cinema has approximately 50 seats with state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos 3D surround sound, and laser projection delivering crystal clear picture quality.  The seats are super-comfortable, with individual tables.  We provided a small foyer in front of each arch, and a larger foyer in front of the middle arch to accommodate the box office and concessions.  Toilets were provided within the left and right arches.

This project had a number of challenges.  The key challenge being the location of the cinemas – within the railway arches underneath one of the busiest train lines in the UK.  We needed to deliver the cinemas as sound structures independent of the original Victorian brickwork railway arches.

A waterproof lining system was first installed to the internal brick arches prior to an independent steel structure which followed the contour of the arches. The steelwork was then clad with multilayers of sound deadening and acoustic boards to achieve the required sound levels.  With the restricted height in the arches, the mechanical and electrical installations in particular had to be carefully designed and installed to fine tolerances.

Throughout the whole project we liaised closely with a number of stakeholders, including Network Rail, Battersea Power Station and Sir Robert McAlpine who were in charge of delivering the largest construction site development in Europe at Battersea Power Station.

Despite the complexity of the project, we delivered this project within the 14 week programme.