Foundation for Art and Creative Technology
Encyclopedia
FACT is a new media arts centre based on Wood Street in Liverpool
, England
.
, video
and new and emerging media.
For audiences, FACT provides a point of entry into the arts of film, video and new media
. For artists, it is a support system without parallel in the UK. For Liverpool, it forms a key aspect of its cultural and economic renaissance.
FACT has been a key organisation during Liverpool
's European Capital of Culture
year, 2008.
, the building is situated on Wood Street in the Ropewalks area of the city centre. It offers three gallery spaces, four cinema screens and a multimedia suite and also comprises a cafe, a bar and a lounge area.
-illuminated columns, running the building’s full six-storey height, it is a huge wide screen bent around two elevations.
Once inside, the foyer is a dramatic 4-storey void providing a dramatic route through the building linking the new public spaces. Exposed concrete is used on the ceilings and outer walls of the exhibition spaces, with black concrete floors in the foyer, lounge and bar areas - the natural colours providing a suitable backdrop for the artwork.
The sweep of the box office desk and the walls of the exhibition spaces are designed to draw visitors to the heart of the building and up the concrete cantilevered stairs to the upper floors, where the bar and Picturehouse cinema screens are housed. The cafe area is situated adjacent to the rear entrance, where full-height glazing opens onto another, yet to be completed, public square.
Liverpool’s three high quality screens seat 264, 152 and 104 people, all screens are to THX
standard. Supported by one metre deep concrete beams, the huge sculptural under-bellies of these screens are visible from both the ground and upper floors. Access to the screens is at second floor level from the lounge and bar area, accessible by another staircase and framed by the building’s large square window. A further exhibition space is also available next to the bar.
year, FACT launched FACT TV - an online platform for audiences to experience digital arts and culture.
Designed in-house by FACT’s Media Services team and funded by Arts Council England
, FACT TV offers a chance to see the vast programme of work by the UK’s centre for film video and new media art, plus work by FACT and Arena Housing’s ground-breaking web-casting project tenantspin and FACT’s work with young filmmakers.
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Support for the creative industries
It claims to be the UK's leading organisation for the development, support and exhibition of filmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
and new and emerging media.
For audiences, FACT provides a point of entry into the arts of film, video and new media
New media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
. For artists, it is a support system without parallel in the UK. For Liverpool, it forms a key aspect of its cultural and economic renaissance.
FACT has been a key organisation during Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
's European Capital of Culture
European Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
year, 2008.
The Building
Designed by architectural firm Austin-Smith:LordAustin-Smith:Lord
Austin-Smith:Lord is a British architectural firm, established in 1949.Currently in voluntary administration following staff redundancies in November 2011.-Selected designs:*Riverfront Arts Centre*Avril Robarts LRC*Catalyst...
, the building is situated on Wood Street in the Ropewalks area of the city centre. It offers three gallery spaces, four cinema screens and a multimedia suite and also comprises a cafe, a bar and a lounge area.
2003 opening
FACT was Liverpool’s first purpose-built arts centre for more than 60 years. It was opened in February 2003 by its founding executive director Eddie Berg, having cost £10 million to build. The building is linked to Bold Street, one of Liverpool’s main shopping areas, by a public square off Wood Street and Colquitt Street.Building design
The brief to the architects was to create a bold landmark building on a site previously occupied by a 1960s garage. In response Austin-Smith:Lord has created a building very different in character to the surrounding red-brick warehouses. The zinc tile-clad façade defines the building; interspersed with seven programmable LEDSolid-state lighting
Solid-state lighting refers to a type of lighting that uses semiconductor light-emitting diodes , organic light-emitting diodes , or polymer light-emitting diodes as sources of illumination rather than electrical filaments, plasma , or gas.The term "solid state" refers commonly to light emitted...
-illuminated columns, running the building’s full six-storey height, it is a huge wide screen bent around two elevations.
Facilities
Beyond the façade are galleries dedicated to moving image and new media artwork, space for online and streaming media broadcasts, the Medialab for the development and production of artists’ projects, and The Box a hybrid gallery/projection space a café and a bar. In addition is Picturehouse Liverpool, run by leading independent operator City Screen, with three state-of-the-art cinemas showing the latest arthouse releases alongside more mainstream films.Once inside, the foyer is a dramatic 4-storey void providing a dramatic route through the building linking the new public spaces. Exposed concrete is used on the ceilings and outer walls of the exhibition spaces, with black concrete floors in the foyer, lounge and bar areas - the natural colours providing a suitable backdrop for the artwork.
The sweep of the box office desk and the walls of the exhibition spaces are designed to draw visitors to the heart of the building and up the concrete cantilevered stairs to the upper floors, where the bar and Picturehouse cinema screens are housed. The cafe area is situated adjacent to the rear entrance, where full-height glazing opens onto another, yet to be completed, public square.
The Cinemas
Within FACT, PicturehousePicturehouse
Picturehouse was a specialty film production and distribution company formed in 2005 as a joint venture of New Line Cinema and HBO Films, both divisions of Time Warner....
Liverpool’s three high quality screens seat 264, 152 and 104 people, all screens are to THX
THX
THX is a trade name of a high-fidelity audio/visual reproduction standard for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, and car audio systems. The current THX was created in 2001 when it spun off from Lucasfilm Ltd...
standard. Supported by one metre deep concrete beams, the huge sculptural under-bellies of these screens are visible from both the ground and upper floors. Access to the screens is at second floor level from the lounge and bar area, accessible by another staircase and framed by the building’s large square window. A further exhibition space is also available next to the bar.
FACT TV
In 2008, during its programme for Liverpool's European Capital of CultureEuropean Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
year, FACT launched FACT TV - an online platform for audiences to experience digital arts and culture.
Designed in-house by FACT’s Media Services team and funded by Arts Council England
Arts Council England
Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
, FACT TV offers a chance to see the vast programme of work by the UK’s centre for film video and new media art, plus work by FACT and Arena Housing’s ground-breaking web-casting project tenantspin and FACT’s work with young filmmakers.