The Regal Cinema is in Redruth

Redruth

Redruth is a town and civil parish traditionally in the Penwith Hundred in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has a population of 12,352. Redruth lies approximately at the junction of the A393 and A3047 roads, on the route of the old London to Land's End trunk road , and is approximately west of...

, Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom.

History

Perhaps the finest cinema building in Cornwall at the time it opened, and possibly the South West

South West England

South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...

, the Regal Cinema in Redruth opened on 2 December 1935, with seating for 982 on a semi-stadium

Stadium

A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...

 plan. It was opened by Mr Prance as part of Sound & Movement Cinemas. The original sound system was by British Thomson-Houston

British Thomson-Houston

British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...

. In the 1960s the cinema was equipped with CinemaScope

CinemaScope

CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...

 and stereophonic sound.

When the Cornwall Circuit Group of cinemas were taken over by The Rank Group

The Rank Group

The Rank Group plc is a European gaming and leisure business. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...

, the cinema was later sold off to independent Vivian Bartle, and in 1983 the former café area was converted into an 80 seat screen 2. The auditorium

Auditorium

An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...

 was tripled in 1986 with seating for 600 front area (screen 3) and 172 (screen 2) & 121 (Screen 1) in the rear areas. It was taken over by Merlin Cinemas on 24 July 1998. Screen 3 has retained its stage

Stage (theatre)

In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...

 facilities and allows the cinema to operate as the town’s theatre when required. Screen 3 now has Dolby Digital

Dolby Digital

Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...

 Surround Sound. Screen 3 is also the largest screen and auditorium in Cornwall.

In August 2008 the exterior of the building was fully refurbished, including a new roof, with walls re-rendered and painted in blue with red stripes (The Regal's owners', Merlin Cinemas, branded colour scheme).

April 2011 saw another phase of redevelopment at the Regal with two screens going digital, screen 7 (a licensed auditorium with leather arm chairs) and screen 3 which now boasts Dolby 3D.

Description

The exterior is a fine 1930s art deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 design complete with tower and cinema name placed between horizontal strips. It was completely refurbished with new neon

Neon

Neon is the chemical element that has the symbol Ne and an atomic number of 10. Although a very common element in the universe, it is rare on Earth. A colorless, inert noble gas under standard conditions, neon gives a distinct reddish-orange glow when used in either low-voltage neon glow lamps or...

 signage and outdoor under-pavement blue LED lighting during October and November 2007. The windows have been blocked in for the screen in the former café but the whole façade is still striking. Above the main entrance is Screen 7, which opened in 2006. This is accessed by a circular staircase from the bar and restaurant next door, and not through the main cinema entrance. In addition, Screen 7 is also unusual in having a licence, waiter service and double, sofa style, seating and tables.

In the main foyer

Foyer

A foyer or lobby is a large, vast room or complex of rooms adjacent to the auditorium...

, which is circular in shape, the low ceiling commands you to observe the art deco design at the centre of the floor.

The plans were drawn up by an Australian architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 called Mr Smith working for the Watkins Partnership in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

. The most striking feature is the fin

Fin

A fin is a surface used for stability and/or to produce lift and thrust or to steer while traveling in water, air, or other fluid media, . The first use of the word was for the limbs of fish, but has been extended to include other animal limbs and man-made devices...

 structure (to the left of the frontage) that spreads upwards into the air above the cinema. The size of this fin runs about 23 feet into the building, (about the depth of the foyer). Originally, there was a glass lit central feature rising the full height and according to the plan had the words "cinema & café" detailed into it. This feature today has been boxed over.
Inside, the foyer executes a visual trick. The auditorium is set at a different angle to the façade by roughly 25 degrees. By creating a circular foyer the architect has disguised this fact, as without obvious side and back walls the patrons were unlikely to notice the change in direction. From the foyer were doors to a small lounge (off to the left - originally they had gold coloured rattan

Rattan

Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.- Structure :...

 chairs and glass topped rattan tables) and stairs to the café, above the foyer. Light gained entry to the café by the large windows running across the frontage, the kitchen was placed under the large fin structure with a single window beyond the fin.

From the foyer are steps down to the vestibule

Vestibule (architecture)

A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...

, where a cloakroom

Cloakroom

A cloakroom, or sometimes coatroom, is a room for people to hang their cloaks. They are typically found inside large buildings, such as gymnasiums, schools, churches or meeting halls....

 and toilets were available before entering the fan shaped auditorium. There was a front stalls entrance and foyer set to the left of the stage. The stage had an orchestra pit and 35' wide proscenium

Proscenium

A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...

. The projection

Movie projector

A movie projector is an opto-mechanical device for displaying moving pictures by projecting them on a projection screen. Most of the optical and mechanical elements, except for the illumination and sound devices, are present in movie cameras.-Physiology:...

 box was placed above the raised area of seating. It has also been reported that a colour lit fountain was contained in the building, probably within the café. The walls of the cafe had drawings of deer and a young couple skating. The auditorium is quite plain with leaves painted on the side walls.

In August 2008, the exterior of the building was fully refurbished, including a new roof, with walls re-rendered and painted in blue with red stripes (the Regal's owners', Merlin Cinemas, branded colour scheme).