Royal Society Festival of Literature and the Arts

Over the first weekend in October the Royal Society will be hosting a Festival of Literature and Arts, titled One Culture.  The Society's very first literature festival will celebrate 350 years of their science book collection, as they bring together some of the best authors, scientists, poets, historians and theatre practitioners to express, explore and enthuse about science and culture in all its forms.

The event will be hosted at the Royal Society's headquarters at 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, a Listed Grade I building.  Burrell Foley Fischer have been the Society's architects for a number of refurbishment  and reorganisation projects over the past decade.  Most recently we completed the History of Science Centre, created in the space formally occupied by the Society's library.

The refurbishment provides study, exhibition and meeting facilities, in an atmosphere that reflects the Society's committment to excellence and inspiration.  It equally provides for the safe keeping of the collections.

Visit the festival website

Rio Cinema features in hit film, One Day

The much loved independent cinema, the Rio, in Dalston, East London, features in the recently released hit movie One Day, the adaptation of the bestselling book by David Nicholls.  The lead character, Emma, played by Anne Hathaway, is seen visiting the Art Deco cinema in the film.

The cinema was designed by George Coles of Adams and Coles in 1913 and altered by F.E. Bromige in the 1930s. At this time an Art Deco shell was created within the existing interior, reducing the size of the auditorium. While continuing to operate as a successful local cinema, by the 1990s the building was in need of a comprehensive overhaul. 

Burrell Foley Fischer’s refurbishment provided the cinema with state of the art audio-visual technology and comfortable new stalls seating within the renovated and restored Art Deco shell. The box office and bar counters are designed to appear as modern insertions within the existing building fabric.  External and internal illuminated signage and neon strips accentuate the fluted features and vertical bands of the original façade giving the cinema a strong night presence.

The cinema has also recently been featured by the Guardian when it was the first to be reviewed as part of their weekly “Cine-files” series.  Each week they review the facilities and programming policies of each venue and describe the Rio as “a morally good cinema among thousands of bad and ugly”. 

See the Guardian's review

BFF buildings open to the public as part of Open House London

Four Burrell Foley Fischer buildings are open to the public as part of Open House London, which takes place on 17 and 18 September 2011.  Open House London is the capital’s greatest architectural showcase; a city-wide celebration of the buildings, places and neighbourhoods where we live, work and play. It provides the general public with the chance to explore hundreds of inspiring buildings for free, which this year includes The Royal Society in Carlton House Terrace, the Almeida Theatre in Islington, Stratford Picturehouse and the Cine Lumiere at the Institut Francais. Please note that advance booking is required for some events – refer to the Open House London website for full details.

Cine Lumiere at the Institut Francais
Burrell Foley Fischer’s refurbishment of the, Listed Grade II, 228 seat Art Deco Cine Lumiere at the Institut Francais in South Kensington restores the character and quality of the interior whilst ensuring it is up to date in terms of projection and sound technology, comfort and operational flexibility.

Stratford Picturehouse

This new build four screen cinema has exhibition and café bar facilities, and a private restaurant integral to the design. The dominant feature is its projection room, a three-storey-high cylindrical drum, suspended by metal rods from the glass ceiling and running the length of the building. 

The Royal Society

The refurbishment and reorganisation of The Royal Society’s buildings entailed making better use of a unique set of Listed Grade I Nash buildings by providing a coherent, high profile, architectural setting for the society’s activities.

Details on the Royal Society Website

The Almeida Theatre

Burrell Foley Fischer have been the Almeida’s architects since 1982 working with successive generations of directors.  The theatre has been developed into a venue of exceptional quality for the performance of drama, opera and music, and for other related arts activities.