Picturehouse Cinemas has announced two new London additions to their circuit of cinemas – East Dulwich Picturehouse & Café, scheduled to open at the end of 2014, and Crouch End Picturehouse, expected in 2015

Picturehouse also announce their commitment to the Filmworks development in Ealing where a state of the art 1000 seat cinema will sit at the heart of a new ‘Cultural Quarter’ in the centre of Ealing, to open in 2017. More details about this development will be announced in due course.

Lyn Goleby, Managing Director of Picturehouse said, ‘since joining Cineworld we have had access to substantial capital investment and are now making good progress with our mission to expand our London offer. We are at various stages of planning on seven London sites right now and it’s great to be breaking ground on the first ones this week.’

East Dulwich Picturehouse & Café
In the former St Thomas More Community Centre on Lordship Lane, East Dulwich Picturehouse & Café will be home to a 3-screen cinema with a café-bar and a small courtyard garden to the rear. The seating will be semi-reclining with ample legroom and with state of the art digital projection and sound technology.

The architectural integrity of the building will be preserved and in some areas, brought back to life as Picturehouse plan to reveal the beamwork currently hidden by suspended ceilings. In addition, a green roof will provide a kitchen garden for esoteric British herb and salad varieties, which will be served downstairs as part of the café’s fresh food menu.

Crouch End Picturehouse
The site for Crouch End Picturehouse has a wonderful history as a cinema despite being used as an office building and warehouse for the last 40 years. In 1911 the Picturehouse Cinema opened at 165 Tottenham Lane, renamed in 1925 as the Perfect Picture House. In 1929 the building was refurbished, new sound equipment installed and the cinema reopened as the Plaza Cinema. Closed at the outbreak of war, the Plaza was badly damaged in an air-raid and demolished soon after.

The Resident: East Dulwich Picturehouse & Café will be home to a 3-screen cinema with a café-bar and a small courtyard gardenEast Dulwich Picturehouse & Café will be home to a 3-screen cinema with a café-bar and a small courtyard garden

Rosebery House was built on the site in the late 1950s, and this is the building, which forms the basis of Crouch End Picturehouse. It is the only surviving example of 1950s-60s Modernism in the area, and for this reason aspects of the Modernist ethos have been incorporated into the refurbishment. The sympathetic redesign and reuse of the existing structure, with enlargement at the rear, will provide 5 screens, and approximately 610 seats. There will be a ground floor café leading to a first floor bar. Picturehouse currently work closely with Art House cinema and the continued partnership will provide a vibrant mix of films and theatre for Crouch End.

Ealing
Establishing neighbourhood cinemas within interesting architectural spaces is central to the Picturehouse philosophy and this development allows for the creation of a very unusual space within a prominent corner location with double height glazing.

All the new Picturehouses are neighbourhood cinemas, primarily serving residents in the local area, and as such will have a diverse programme, including the best of mainstream and family films, as well as British independent, world cinema and documentaries. Catering for all age groups, they will also provide special clubs, like the Big Scream! for parents and babies, Slackers Club for University and College students, Toddler Time, Silver Screen for the over 60s, and a Kids’ Club every weekend.

They will be satellite-enabled bringing Picturehouse Cinemas’ Screen Arts programme of Event Cinema to the big screen, including content from National Theatre Live, The Metropolitan Opera Live from New York, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Live from Stratford-upon-Avon and a broad programme of special events around film, art, comedy, literature and popular culture.

Clare Binns, Director of Programming & Acquisitions, said ‘It’s great that we can now bring the best of World Cinema, great films for all generations, and our diverse Screen Arts programme to more local neighbourhoods around London town. It’s a very exciting time for Picturehouse Cinemas!’

The cinemas will have fully licensed screens, enabling customers to enjoy quality wines and boutique beers, a signature of the Picturehouse experience, within the auditoria.

The cinema cafés will serve simple, delicious and carefully sourced modern British food daily, handmade onsite with ingredients from local suppliers wherever possible. Menus will feature seasonal salads, gourmet burgers and sandwiches, along with globally inspired specials, small plates and a selection of hot dishes. To complete the experience, bespoke wine and beer lists will be on offer alongside Fair Trade tea and coffee.

There will be plenty for the kids on a dedicated menu, plus all the usual treats and combo snackboxes to take into the screens.