We delivered the fit-out of the three screen, Curzon Hoxton in East London, to a 14 week project during the COVID pandemic.
The cinema originally opened in 1914 and after 40 years as a Gaumont Cinema, the site closed. The building fell into disrepair before being sold in 1960, when it became a meat packers and then a delicatessen. In 2004 the building was bought by the Shoreditch Trust, who drew up the plans to re-open the cinema.
The screens are in the basement and have superior comfort seats and front seat recliners – and house 119, 66 and 60 seats across the three screens. The three screens are finished in the same way with a bespoke new pleated acoustic wall treatment. The basement also includes a lounge area with a large LCD screen which can be hired out for private events; and a bottle bar with glass top and back bar. New toilets have been fitted on both the basement and ground floor levels
The ground floor includes a bar and restaurant, with a seating area; and a new commercial kitchen behind the bar. The flooring throughout the cinema communal areas and the whole of the ground floor is Terrazzo tiles, which were brought over from Barcelona.
Externally the building is rendered with a specialist clay render, only quarried in Devon and installed only by approved installers. We installed new glazed entrance doors, with disabled access, in line with the building’s new fire strategy.
A key challenge to the project was ensuring that the basement remained watertight throughout the refurbishment. To enable this, we adopted clever construction fixing methods, which ensure that the waterproof membranes were not undermined. In addition, the property included residential apartments. We undertook careful programming of the works, to ensure that we maintained the programme, whilst adhering to the requirement of no noise before 8am of after 5pm.
Images copyright of Paul Riddle.
