We aim to rediscover Bristols cinematic heritage, develop community spirit and involvement and embrace a sustainable future.

Problema

We are trying to solve 4 issues; The 1st is that theatres are notoriously expensive to run (with large carbon footprints) making it difficult for companies to cover their costs. The 2nd is that Bristol has a thriving theatre industry but no medium size venues that can be used for events. Many companies struggle to put on shows while touring companies bypass Bristol altogether. The 3rd issue is that despite a rich cinema heritage most of Bristols cinemas have been demolished. The final issue is that The Whiteladies Picture House is a beautiful 1920's cinema that has stood derelict for 10 years. Since the cinema closed the area has suffered with many shops and restaurants closing down. The area is missing the community focal point that would attract more people to the area.

Solución

Our solution is to convert the Whiteladies Picture House into a multi-use arts centre consisting of 400 seat theatre, 200 seat cinema and function room. The renovation would restore all of the important historical features of the building and protect the building for future generations to enjoy. We aim to use the latest energy efficient technology in order to reduce the buildings carbon footprint and running costs. This new venue would act as the social hub for the local community and would also attract visitors from the wider community to the area. The 400 seat theatre is just the right side to fill the current gap between the smaller studio venues and the much large theatres in Bristol and so would attract a variety of new theatre companies to Bristol as well as helping to support the local theatre community. As well as showing poplar Films the cinema space would be used for educational events that would allow people to learn about the history of cinema.

Mercado

Because of the way that the building would operate there are no other venues in Bristol that are doing exactly what we want to do. Our aim is to create a venue that compliments rather than competes with the existing venues. There are other venues elsewhere in the country (such as the Electric Palace in Bridport) that have achieved a similar ambition to us. We are in contact with many of these organisations and they are hoping to help support our project with advice and guidance. The difficult aspect of The Whiteladies Picture House is the amount of capital expenditure needed early on in the project, but once renovated we see no limits to what we can achieve and hope that other community groups can use us as a business model for their own renovation projects.