Addendum (again!): Perhaps I should have read the Engadget article before posting — some key features of the refurbishment noted:
“Essentially” two Atmos rigs to service both stalls and circle level, “Dolby added a series of line array speaker stacks in the ceiling. Only two of these are visible, however, with the rest hidden by a blue cloth.”
“The bas-relief figures of nymphs dancing toward the screen are being restored and will soon be reinstalled.”
“And, despite weighing around 55,000 lbs, the screen and [screen] speaker[s] can be retracted, turning the cinema into a theater.”
The article is littered with mistakes, but ho-hum.
The retractable screen speakers can be seen among the photos in Engadget, seemingly mounted at the end of trusses. Below the screen appears to a be new steel structure, perhaps to form an “extended” stage?
Many more photos over at Engadget — including of the proscenium end.
Another rendering of the proscenium shows a curtain with the old “safety curtain” design, as shown in another previously released rendering.
Additional renderings of the foyer areas.
Photos of the foyer areas—largely unfinished—installed escalator can be seen, as well as the formation of the new circular recessed ceiling elements.
Cut-outs for the sidewall speakers can be seen at circle level.
Wooden panelling referenced in previous post appears to be wood sheets to form walls rather than finished panelling.
Sidewalls stripped back to bare brickwork ahead of circle circle, existing finishes removed from front splay walls.
Ceiling from balcony to proscenium completely removed, not sure if what’s largely covering it over is a dust sheet? AFAIK fabric for stretched fabric systems is usually supplied in widths of a few metres maximum.
New wall within proscenium built, presumably using British Gypsum SoundBloc.
Ceiling below booth appears to be a perforated acoustic type.
The primary decorative finish is the coved plasterwork to the sidewalls/ceiling above the circle balcony, which appears to have been retained, albeit now near-black in colour. If I’m not mistaken, some of the new wooden panelling has been fitted to walls in the far left (or right, when looking at the photos) corner of the circle.
The new concealed lighting behind the coves seems to be operational; it’s not clear from the photos whether this will allow for changeable colours—it mostly looks very warm white, but there are some oddly cyan segments—albeit these might just be misregistrations in the shot.
It looks like the old front of the circle, with its “pageant” lightboxes, has been removed?
Sidewalls past the balcony to screen end have been stripped back to what appears to be brickwork, with new ducting attached. The construction of the new Royal Circle stadia and vomitory can be seen.
Additionally, two speaker arrays can be seen suspended from the ceiling.
I’m not quite sure what’s happening with the mess of portholes to the front of the booth?
Lionel: The photo uploaded by “Ally H.” to Yelp that you mention is of an auditorium over at the Vue West End, prior to its 2017 total refurbishment. The old grey pleated fabric (presumably Soundfold) sidewalls can be seen, as well as the amber “festoon” curtain above the screen.
thomastace: Going by the recent licensing plans (linked to in my previous posts here,) the old Mezzanine/Studios Screen 1 (approx. Ground Floor level) has been converted into 2 VR Rooms.
moviebuff82: I would imagine that it will drawn some of the innumerable overseas tourists wandering around the heart of London’s West End—but I can’t say I’ve noticed any during my trips in recent years to the OLS, as the auditorium wasn’t very well filled!
I’ve certainly noticed patrons from North America in the Cineworld (Empire) Leicester Square IMAX; presumably the sparkling refurbishment and Dolby Cinema signage will help “bring in the punters,” as we say.
I have taken a number of photos of the replacement building over the past few months and hopefully will get around to uploading them sooner rather than later!
Suffice to say for now, the building is externally taking form, with much glazing installed, and the metal framework for the corner “tower” below which will be the entrance to the replacement Odeon, being almost topped out.
terry: The Vue West End still has tabs and moveable masking, all operating on my last visit to Screen 5—and, these days, I don’t think any other Vue location includes tabs?
FanaticalAboutOdeon: Thank you for your detailed reply from the 24th, and also for the correction regarding the signage—apparently, I hadn’t been deceived by my “eyes” after all!
As you say, LED has largely displaced neon, which has been relegated to “specialist” applications.
The neon strips at the top of the Vue West End’s facade were reinstated in the 2017 refurbishment, being in a similarly poor state to the neon that was attached to the OLS' facade—alas, sections already look bent and presumably will come away sooner rather than later!
Alas, unlike neon tubes, LEDs are not an inherently smooth linear and omnidirectional light source; hopefully the OLS' new lighting will be suitably specified.
Regarding the Cineworld (Empire) IMAX auditorium lighting, IIRC, the sequencing is actually just red/green/blue, each held for about 30 seconds, with a 10 second fade—quite unimaginative as you say!
I imagine that the OLS will be following the Dolby Cinema “blue” lighting scheme rather than sequenced colour mixing?
(*i.e. the LEDs are measured and sorted into “bins” during manufacturing, ISTL claim to use the highest output—i.e. best—ones in the Prolix-series strips.)
Circle “pageant box” — I noticed from the renderings that this has been lost, which is unfortunate! The difficulty is that any cinema with a large balcony poses a challenge acoustically—one problem being reflections straight back to the screen off the balcony edge—so the option is, I imagine, between keeping the box, and sufficient acoustic treatment.
The licensing plans do show a “lighting bar” at ceiling level, although whether this will see any more use than the existing one that you mention is another matter!
Tantalisingly, the stage end is being kept under wraps! The oft changed curtains have always been part of the Odeon’s charm which the Company say they are keen to preserve and I can’t imagine why having at least one set/track would be a problem. There is sufficient wing space for centre-opening tabs to clear the arch completely and effectively disappear if a longer track were being used – thus no compromise on the widest image possible
That does at least sound promising from a feasibility standpoint!
For some years now, OLS has been the only Odeon to retain operative tabs – in all other Odeon to retain operative tabs – in all other Odeons tabs have either been removed, motors isolated or new builds not having tabs at all.
On visiting an iSense auditorium at the Odeon Orpington recently, it seemed to me that moveable masking was used. Do you know what Odeon’s current policy is regarding masking?
I gather there was some debate earlier in the year about whether much plainer/flatter splay walls would be more conducive to the sophisticated sound system achieving its optimum effect. The 1998 replica ladies were to a degree three dimensional. I don’t know what the outcome was.
Control of “lateral” reflections off sidewalls is imperative, in order to achieve a high standard of dialogue intelligibility and stereo imaging.
The “3D” flying ladies from the ‘98 refurbishment would tend to act in a more diffuse fashion than a flat wall, with more of the sound simply heading off to another wall (and, provided it’s treated, end up being absorbed there!) It seems to me, also, that they are would be too small in relative surface area to “cripple” system performance.
However, the whole front end of the auditorium needs to be controlled and I expect the ceilings/splay walls have been covered over with acoustic absorption hidden by stretched fabric, per today’s industry standard practice.
(Incidentally, have you any idea how much was removed in the strip-out? I’m assuming that all the plasterwork to the sidewalls/ceiling above the circle was kept?)
Given concerns about the acoustic effects of the flying ladies, and—whilst renderings are often very misleading—I have a suspicion that the reinstatement will be indeed be flatter and will be finished with (yet more!) stretched fabric.
So far so good—a wonderful “Christmas present,” I trust, awaits!
A planning application for “non-material amendments” to the original application is available to view, with the the following documents showing the cinema’s floor plan:
16/9/00013/MOD-PROP GROUND FLOOR PLAN
16/9/00013/MOD-PROP FIRST FLOOR PLAN
16/9/00013/MOD-PROP SECOND FLOOR PLAN
The largest auditorium shown is marked as “AUDITORIUM 11,” and measuring its size off these plans, its internal width is ~24m.
Auditorium depth between the demising wall behind the screen to the back wall is ~30m; if I’m not mistaken, the last row of seating is ~26m from the screen, and if so, the design esssentially confirms to the IMAX requirement of the last row not to be greater than the screen width away from the screen.
Behind this last row of seating is a “disabled viewing area.”
joeswin: I may well be mistaken and “over-excited” in stating that the Odeon signage is “new!”—d'oh!
I’m not sure it makes sense sequencing-wise, presumably the signage subcontractor will be on site later.
Light leakage from the “Christmas in Leicester Square” fair in Leicester Square Gardens may have been reflecting off the signs last night, making them look misleadingly bright and new.
Albeit, the relevant proposed signage elements don’t look particularly different in the planning application, and I notice from other photos taken during the works that those signs were not removed, so perhaps the existing is simply being kept?
cultman1: Appears to be on track with the glass box closing off access from the square and soon ready for the finishing (aka loosely “Cat B”) stage of the foyer fit-out. My guess is that the auditorium is further advanced not being open to the elements and the sequencing seems to be from the stage house/auditorium end out to the Leicester Square facade.
IOW, it might not look like it, but one might say that the project is actually pretty much done, it “just” needs “decorating.” The site should soon be buzzing away with the final race on for the stated opening! Exciting times… :–)
Update—Leicester Square visit today—“Glass box” frame up, glazing partially installed, the new high level “Odeon” logo installed has been on the tower, as well as the new “side” facing logo above the former Mezzanine/Studios entrance.
Interiors of foyer areas are now less visible externally (early evening,) lacking the earlier floodlighting at circle foyer level and obscured by the partially-completed “glass box.”
Foyer areas still look entirely unfinished viewed externally, being of course still open to the elements. Mechanical/electrical services installation appeared to be underway in the ground level foyer.
The building is certainly looking a great deal less forlorn than it was a few months ago!
FanaticalAboutOdeon: Many thanks for your reply. I forgot to ask—do you know whether tabs and moveable masking are included in the refurbished auditorium?
Regarding flying ladies, are the 1998 recreations simply not being reinstated, albeit perhaps coated in a different colour? The new colour appears grey in the renderings.
A Dolby Cinema page has been posted on Odeon’s website.
Specific to the OLS, to quote:
“It combines state-of-the-art audio and visual technology with the grandeur of deco architecture to create an unforgettable cinematic experience[…]
“This debut Dolby Cinema introduces the UK to the combination of Dolby Vision, the dual-laser projection system which offers spectacular, high-contrast, dramatic imaging[…]
“Four hundred meticulously aligned speakers project sounds that can explosively fill the entire space or flit quietly overhead as the story unfolds[…] (Comment: 400?! Presumably, by counting every last driver?)
“Carefully preserving the historical significance of the auditorium, including the classic Royal Box balcony, the largest Dolby Cinema to date is thoughtfully designed to eliminate visual distractions, with clear sightlines for all premium seats and acoustic isolation construction.”
I can’t say I ever noticed any problems with acoustic isolation in the auditorium as it was, albeit the HVAC may have been somewhat too audible. It would, of course, be churlish to complain about a high degree of auditorium isolation being reinstated or improved upon!
(As previously noted, viewed from Leicester Square, it looked as though British Gypsum SoundBloc plasterboard has been attached under the circle, the colour of the paper facing matching that product line.)
Thank you FanaticalAboutOdeon, that resolves some previous discussions on this site on the screen width.
Regarding sightlines to the top of the screen from rear stalls, I took dimensions from the new licensing plans and scaled them onto the wonderful 1930s cut-away diagram. It’s possible that this wasn’t drawn to scale—but assuming it’s close enough, and also assuming an increased rake for the new stalls, it is an improvement over previous which was within a hair’s breath. Nevertheless, it still very much constrains the maximum screen height possible, precluding a “giant” screen ahead of the proscenium.
Odeon’s renderings suggest predominantly dark—if not black—coloured side walls/ceiling for the auditorium; do you know if this is the case?
Giles: The screen is shown as still being 48ft. wide in the planning documents, albeit it might have been moved further forward to the proscenium opening.
I’ve previously posted “pie in the sky” ideas for what might have been possible, but—for whatever reason—it’s clear now that they aren’t going down that path, and various structural constaints have been mentioned here by FanaticalAboutOdeon (girder above the proscenium opening, for instance.)
The poor sightlines from the rear stalls are well known, with the top of the screen only just being visible from the last row. It is clear from the plans that the stalls have been “restepped” for the recliners and as no steps nor level change is shown between the ground floor foyer and the rear of the stalls, i.e. the new rear of the stalls is presumably at the same or about the same level as the previous.
Thus, it is likely that the last row of the stalls will still have very tight sightlines—this alone would constrain the screen height (and thus width.)
48ft. wide for an auditorium of that size is definitely too small with the last row of the circle being ~2.75x screen width away from the screen. (Max. 1x for IMAX—or at least a “classic” IMAX!) However, the front stalls should be OK (~0.4s screen width away), or the front circle (~1.3x screen width away) for those not inclined to recline (!) and prefering a more traditional distance, as well as a better optimised vertical position and viewing angle in relation to the screen.
I’m not up to speed on all the requirements for a “Dolby Cinema,” but, I don’t think having an “immersive” screen size (in the IMAX or “giant screen” sense) is mandatory. Rather it is focused on picture/sound (including a black auditorium to optimise contrast.) Additionally, the “classic” IMAX requirements have been set aside in certain cases (TCL Chinese Theatre being an obvious example, where the last row is much further than 1x screen width away from the screen.)
I have just revisited the licensing application previously linked to, and it is not yet shown as approved. However, an additional “POLICE CONDITIONS” document, dated 14th November 2018, has been added; of the new conditions, of note (to quote):
“There shall be a minimum of two SIA door supervisors on duty from 20:00 until 02:00 Thursday Friday and Saturday. They shall display their licences in yellow hi viz arm bands. At all other times the premises shall risk assess the requirement for SIA security and document their assessment, which shall be made available to the Responsible Authorities upon request.
“On Thursday, Friday and Saturday between 22:00 and 02:00 hours, all bags shall be searched. At all other times the requirement to conduct searches will be on a documented risk assessment basis.”
I shall avoid any political comment on this other than to say it all sounds like a lot of intrusive “security theatre” and seems highly inappropriate to the cinema experience! :–(
Update: Quick visit to Leicester Square last night—conditions were not ideal due to the wet weather!
There was no sign (visually or aurally) of building work being underway, but the foyer areas were well lit.
There was very little externally visible progress, with some additional services (ducting, pipes, cable trays, etc.) added to the circle foyer ceiling.
Lest anyone think that the works are far from complete, it is instructive to review Zappomatic’s photos of the Cineworld (Empire) Leicester Square foyer works undertaken earlier this year.
Whilst that project had a different scope and set of constraints, it can be seen that from the end of February 2018 to ~6 weeks later, the public areas had been transformed from plasterboard to a finished state.
Paul Stephenson: That canopy signage is in fact an LED display, as shown in the first document titled “EXTERNAL SIGNAGE” of the relevant planning application.
“OSCAR DEUTSCH ENTERTAINS OUR NATION” was example text, one might imagine to present the external proposals/signage in a favourable light; see p10 of the “DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT” in the main application relating to the external alterations.
To quote:
“It is also proposed to have a white lit band to the edge of the canopy featuring a written historical reference – ‘Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation’. The Text will be provided by LED panels, and will be capable of change – e.g. for Premiere performances.”
Obviously, no such condition for “historical references” is among those in the advertising consent!
D'oh! Hadn’t noticed that antovolk had already posted a link to the Engadget article.
Addendum (again!): Perhaps I should have read the Engadget article before posting — some key features of the refurbishment noted:
“Essentially” two Atmos rigs to service both stalls and circle level, “Dolby added a series of line array speaker stacks in the ceiling. Only two of these are visible, however, with the rest hidden by a blue cloth.”
“The bas-relief figures of nymphs dancing toward the screen are being restored and will soon be reinstalled.”
“And, despite weighing around 55,000 lbs, the screen and [screen] speaker[s] can be retracted, turning the cinema into a theater.”
The article is littered with mistakes, but ho-hum.
The retractable screen speakers can be seen among the photos in Engadget, seemingly mounted at the end of trusses. Below the screen appears to a be new steel structure, perhaps to form an “extended” stage?
Addendum: Correction to above link: Inside the new look Odeon Leicester Square.
Many more photos over at Engadget — including of the proscenium end.
Another rendering of the proscenium shows a curtain with the old “safety curtain” design, as shown in another previously released rendering.
Additional renderings of the foyer areas.
Photos of the foyer areas—largely unfinished—installed escalator can be seen, as well as the formation of the new circular recessed ceiling elements.
Cut-outs for the sidewall speakers can be seen at circle level.
Wooden panelling referenced in previous post appears to be wood sheets to form walls rather than finished panelling.
Sidewalls stripped back to bare brickwork ahead of circle circle, existing finishes removed from front splay walls.
Ceiling from balcony to proscenium completely removed, not sure if what’s largely covering it over is a dust sheet? AFAIK fabric for stretched fabric systems is usually supplied in widths of a few metres maximum.
New wall within proscenium built, presumably using British Gypsum SoundBloc.
Ceiling below booth appears to be a perforated acoustic type.
At long last, some photos of the refurbished auditorium:
(Warning—it is not in a finished state, and the refurbishment is very extensive—the faint of heart may just want to turn away!)
Inside the new look Odeon Leicester Square
The primary decorative finish is the coved plasterwork to the sidewalls/ceiling above the circle balcony, which appears to have been retained, albeit now near-black in colour. If I’m not mistaken, some of the new wooden panelling has been fitted to walls in the far left (or right, when looking at the photos) corner of the circle.
The new concealed lighting behind the coves seems to be operational; it’s not clear from the photos whether this will allow for changeable colours—it mostly looks very warm white, but there are some oddly cyan segments—albeit these might just be misregistrations in the shot.
It looks like the old front of the circle, with its “pageant” lightboxes, has been removed?
Sidewalls past the balcony to screen end have been stripped back to what appears to be brickwork, with new ducting attached. The construction of the new Royal Circle stadia and vomitory can be seen.
Additionally, two speaker arrays can be seen suspended from the ceiling.
I’m not quite sure what’s happening with the mess of portholes to the front of the booth?
Alas, no shots of the proscenium end, I’m afraid.
Lionel: The photo uploaded by “Ally H.” to Yelp that you mention is of an auditorium over at the Vue West End, prior to its 2017 total refurbishment. The old grey pleated fabric (presumably Soundfold) sidewalls can be seen, as well as the amber “festoon” curtain above the screen.
Photo of former Odeon Studios Leicester Square auditorium.
(At least, I think it is—I haven’t been there in a very long time indeed!)
thomastace: Going by the recent licensing plans (linked to in my previous posts here,) the old Mezzanine/Studios Screen 1 (approx. Ground Floor level) has been converted into 2 VR Rooms.
moviebuff82: I would imagine that it will drawn some of the innumerable overseas tourists wandering around the heart of London’s West End—but I can’t say I’ve noticed any during my trips in recent years to the OLS, as the auditorium wasn’t very well filled!
I’ve certainly noticed patrons from North America in the Cineworld (Empire) Leicester Square IMAX; presumably the sparkling refurbishment and Dolby Cinema signage will help “bring in the punters,” as we say.
Ticket prices advertised as “£7.99 every film, every day.”
I have taken a number of photos of the replacement building over the past few months and hopefully will get around to uploading them sooner rather than later!
Suffice to say for now, the building is externally taking form, with much glazing installed, and the metal framework for the corner “tower” below which will be the entrance to the replacement Odeon, being almost topped out.
terry: The Vue West End still has tabs and moveable masking, all operating on my last visit to Screen 5—and, these days, I don’t think any other Vue location includes tabs?
FanaticalAboutOdeon: Thank you for your detailed reply from the 24th, and also for the correction regarding the signage—apparently, I hadn’t been deceived by my “eyes” after all!
As you say, LED has largely displaced neon, which has been relegated to “specialist” applications.
The neon strips at the top of the Vue West End’s facade were reinstated in the 2017 refurbishment, being in a similarly poor state to the neon that was attached to the OLS' facade—alas, sections already look bent and presumably will come away sooner rather than later!
Alas, unlike neon tubes, LEDs are not an inherently smooth linear and omnidirectional light source; hopefully the OLS' new lighting will be suitably specified.
Regarding the Cineworld (Empire) IMAX auditorium lighting, IIRC, the sequencing is actually just red/green/blue, each held for about 30 seconds, with a 10 second fade—quite unimaginative as you say!
The system is highly specified, though, with 151 ISTL Prolix LED “bars” containing selected* red, green and blue OSRAM LEDs—considerably more expensive than the LED strips used as features in most auditoria.
I imagine that the OLS will be following the Dolby Cinema “blue” lighting scheme rather than sequenced colour mixing?
(*i.e. the LEDs are measured and sorted into “bins” during manufacturing, ISTL claim to use the highest output—i.e. best—ones in the Prolix-series strips.)
Circle “pageant box” — I noticed from the renderings that this has been lost, which is unfortunate! The difficulty is that any cinema with a large balcony poses a challenge acoustically—one problem being reflections straight back to the screen off the balcony edge—so the option is, I imagine, between keeping the box, and sufficient acoustic treatment.
The licensing plans do show a “lighting bar” at ceiling level, although whether this will see any more use than the existing one that you mention is another matter!
That does at least sound promising from a feasibility standpoint!
On visiting an iSense auditorium at the Odeon Orpington recently, it seemed to me that moveable masking was used. Do you know what Odeon’s current policy is regarding masking?
Control of “lateral” reflections off sidewalls is imperative, in order to achieve a high standard of dialogue intelligibility and stereo imaging.
The “3D” flying ladies from the ‘98 refurbishment would tend to act in a more diffuse fashion than a flat wall, with more of the sound simply heading off to another wall (and, provided it’s treated, end up being absorbed there!) It seems to me, also, that they are would be too small in relative surface area to “cripple” system performance.
However, the whole front end of the auditorium needs to be controlled and I expect the ceilings/splay walls have been covered over with acoustic absorption hidden by stretched fabric, per today’s industry standard practice.
(Incidentally, have you any idea how much was removed in the strip-out? I’m assuming that all the plasterwork to the sidewalls/ceiling above the circle was kept?)
Given concerns about the acoustic effects of the flying ladies, and—whilst renderings are often very misleading—I have a suspicion that the reinstatement will be indeed be flatter and will be finished with (yet more!) stretched fabric.
So far so good—a wonderful “Christmas present,” I trust, awaits!
A planning application for “non-material amendments” to the original application is available to view, with the the following documents showing the cinema’s floor plan:
The largest auditorium shown is marked as “AUDITORIUM 11,” and measuring its size off these plans, its internal width is ~24m.
Auditorium depth between the demising wall behind the screen to the back wall is ~30m; if I’m not mistaken, the last row of seating is ~26m from the screen, and if so, the design esssentially confirms to the IMAX requirement of the last row not to be greater than the screen width away from the screen.
Behind this last row of seating is a “disabled viewing area.”
Errata: The Odeon brand signage may not be new.
joeswin: I may well be mistaken and “over-excited” in stating that the Odeon signage is “new!”—d'oh!
I’m not sure it makes sense sequencing-wise, presumably the signage subcontractor will be on site later.
Light leakage from the “Christmas in Leicester Square” fair in Leicester Square Gardens may have been reflecting off the signs last night, making them look misleadingly bright and new.
Albeit, the relevant proposed signage elements don’t look particularly different in the planning application, and I notice from other photos taken during the works that those signs were not removed, so perhaps the existing is simply being kept?
cultman1: Appears to be on track with the glass box closing off access from the square and soon ready for the finishing (aka loosely “Cat B”) stage of the foyer fit-out. My guess is that the auditorium is further advanced not being open to the elements and the sequencing seems to be from the stage house/auditorium end out to the Leicester Square facade.
IOW, it might not look like it, but one might say that the project is actually pretty much done, it “just” needs “decorating.” The site should soon be buzzing away with the final race on for the stated opening! Exciting times… :–)
Update—Leicester Square visit today—“Glass box” frame up, glazing partially installed, the new high level “Odeon” logo installed has been on the tower, as well as the new “side” facing logo above the former Mezzanine/Studios entrance.
Interiors of foyer areas are now less visible externally (early evening,) lacking the earlier floodlighting at circle foyer level and obscured by the partially-completed “glass box.”
Foyer areas still look entirely unfinished viewed externally, being of course still open to the elements. Mechanical/electrical services installation appeared to be underway in the ground level foyer.
The building is certainly looking a great deal less forlorn than it was a few months ago!
A photo has been uploaded.
FanaticalAboutOdeon: Many thanks for your reply. I forgot to ask—do you know whether tabs and moveable masking are included in the refurbished auditorium?
Regarding flying ladies, are the 1998 recreations simply not being reinstated, albeit perhaps coated in a different colour? The new colour appears grey in the renderings.
A Dolby Cinema page has been posted on Odeon’s website.
Specific to the OLS, to quote:
“It combines state-of-the-art audio and visual technology with the grandeur of deco architecture to create an unforgettable cinematic experience[…]
“This debut Dolby Cinema introduces the UK to the combination of Dolby Vision, the dual-laser projection system which offers spectacular, high-contrast, dramatic imaging[…]
“Four hundred meticulously aligned speakers project sounds that can explosively fill the entire space or flit quietly overhead as the story unfolds[…] (Comment: 400?! Presumably, by counting every last driver?)
“Carefully preserving the historical significance of the auditorium, including the classic Royal Box balcony, the largest Dolby Cinema to date is thoughtfully designed to eliminate visual distractions, with clear sightlines for all premium seats and acoustic isolation construction.”
I can’t say I ever noticed any problems with acoustic isolation in the auditorium as it was, albeit the HVAC may have been somewhat too audible. It would, of course, be churlish to complain about a high degree of auditorium isolation being reinstated or improved upon!
(As previously noted, viewed from Leicester Square, it looked as though British Gypsum SoundBloc plasterboard has been attached under the circle, the colour of the paper facing matching that product line.)
Thank you FanaticalAboutOdeon, that resolves some previous discussions on this site on the screen width.
Regarding sightlines to the top of the screen from rear stalls, I took dimensions from the new licensing plans and scaled them onto the wonderful 1930s cut-away diagram. It’s possible that this wasn’t drawn to scale—but assuming it’s close enough, and also assuming an increased rake for the new stalls, it is an improvement over previous which was within a hair’s breath. Nevertheless, it still very much constrains the maximum screen height possible, precluding a “giant” screen ahead of the proscenium.
Odeon’s renderings suggest predominantly dark—if not black—coloured side walls/ceiling for the auditorium; do you know if this is the case?
Marvellous!
Giles: The screen is shown as still being 48ft. wide in the planning documents, albeit it might have been moved further forward to the proscenium opening.
I’ve previously posted “pie in the sky” ideas for what might have been possible, but—for whatever reason—it’s clear now that they aren’t going down that path, and various structural constaints have been mentioned here by FanaticalAboutOdeon (girder above the proscenium opening, for instance.)
The poor sightlines from the rear stalls are well known, with the top of the screen only just being visible from the last row. It is clear from the plans that the stalls have been “restepped” for the recliners and as no steps nor level change is shown between the ground floor foyer and the rear of the stalls, i.e. the new rear of the stalls is presumably at the same or about the same level as the previous.
Thus, it is likely that the last row of the stalls will still have very tight sightlines—this alone would constrain the screen height (and thus width.)
48ft. wide for an auditorium of that size is definitely too small with the last row of the circle being ~2.75x screen width away from the screen. (Max. 1x for IMAX—or at least a “classic” IMAX!) However, the front stalls should be OK (~0.4s screen width away), or the front circle (~1.3x screen width away) for those not inclined to recline (!) and prefering a more traditional distance, as well as a better optimised vertical position and viewing angle in relation to the screen.
I’m not up to speed on all the requirements for a “Dolby Cinema,” but, I don’t think having an “immersive” screen size (in the IMAX or “giant screen” sense) is mandatory. Rather it is focused on picture/sound (including a black auditorium to optimise contrast.) Additionally, the “classic” IMAX requirements have been set aside in certain cases (TCL Chinese Theatre being an obvious example, where the last row is much further than 1x screen width away from the screen.)
I have just revisited the licensing application previously linked to, and it is not yet shown as approved. However, an additional “POLICE CONDITIONS” document, dated 14th November 2018, has been added; of the new conditions, of note (to quote):
“There shall be a minimum of two SIA door supervisors on duty from 20:00 until 02:00 Thursday Friday and Saturday. They shall display their licences in yellow hi viz arm bands. At all other times the premises shall risk assess the requirement for SIA security and document their assessment, which shall be made available to the Responsible Authorities upon request.
“On Thursday, Friday and Saturday between 22:00 and 02:00 hours, all bags shall be searched. At all other times the requirement to conduct searches will be on a documented risk assessment basis.”
I shall avoid any political comment on this other than to say it all sounds like a lot of intrusive “security theatre” and seems highly inappropriate to the cinema experience! :–(
Addendum: Apologies for the poor quality photo, owing to the wet weather.
Update: Quick visit to Leicester Square last night—conditions were not ideal due to the wet weather!
There was no sign (visually or aurally) of building work being underway, but the foyer areas were well lit.
There was very little externally visible progress, with some additional services (ducting, pipes, cable trays, etc.) added to the circle foyer ceiling.
Lest anyone think that the works are far from complete, it is instructive to review Zappomatic’s photos of the Cineworld (Empire) Leicester Square foyer works undertaken earlier this year.
Whilst that project had a different scope and set of constraints, it can be seen that from the end of February 2018 to ~6 weeks later, the public areas had been transformed from plasterboard to a finished state.
Cropped photo of the view in from LSQ uploaded.
An early view of the original “Flying Ladies”:
Craftsmen put final touches to the ‘Flying Ladies’ plaster figure reliefs.
Paul Stephenson: That canopy signage is in fact an LED display, as shown in the first document titled “EXTERNAL SIGNAGE” of the relevant planning application.
“OSCAR DEUTSCH ENTERTAINS OUR NATION” was example text, one might imagine to present the external proposals/signage in a favourable light; see p10 of the “DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT” in the main application relating to the external alterations.
To quote:
“It is also proposed to have a white lit band to the edge of the canopy featuring a written historical reference – ‘Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation’. The Text will be provided by LED panels, and will be capable of change – e.g. for Premiere performances.”
Obviously, no such condition for “historical references” is among those in the advertising consent!