Glasgow-based, award-winning architecture firm Loader Monteith has been appointed to lead a design team undertaking detailed feasibility work on a community cinema project in Portobello. The commission, by The Friends of George (FoTG) group, is supported by the award of a grant from The Architectural Heritage Fund.
The design team’s work will dovetail into an in-depth commercial and operational assessment being undertaken by independent cinema consultants Mustard Studios, whose work is being funded by a grant from the Scottish Land Fund.
Loader Monteith approached Stefanie Fischer, a leading cinema architect within the UK’s independent cinema sector, to join their team as a subconsultant. Her expertise as a cinema architect complements that of Loader Monteith Architects as conservation architects.
The appointment of the team led by Loader Monteith builds on a long running campaign by FoTG who have been working to save the art deco former cinema from demolition. With strong support from within their community, FoTG hope to acquire and restore the C-listed building and operate it as a cinema for the community. These latest commissions will develop and refine the group’s ambitious plans and will also include input from educational and film industry partners.
Last year, FoTG Ltd had the cinema building formally valued by a firm of professional surveyors and made an offer to purchase it as a ‘restoring purchaser,’ based on that valuation. Funds for purchase were generously offered by benefactor and writer V.E Schwab.
Recent silent community protests, independent of the FoTG group, have called on the current owner of the building to clear up the mess outside of the cinema and to address the continued neglect and dereliction of the building. This offer was rejected by the current owners of the building who have tried – and failed – twice in recent years to secure consent to substantially demolish The George and develop the site with luxury flats. Last October, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) published their decision notice on the application by the current owner to have The George ‘delisted.’ HES confirmed that the building continues to meet the criteria of special architectural and historic interest and so there will be no statutory change to the current ‘C’ listing designation.
Friends of the George Chair Mike Griffiths said “We are delighted to be able to appoint such an expert team of professionals to develop and refine our proposals as we continue to point the way towards a positive future for The George not only in the heart of the community of Portobello, but more broadly, to play a role in the cinema sector in Scotland. The consultants we have working on this bring extensive expertise and experience to the project and will be led by a firm of architects with a burgeoning reputation for exciting contemporary architectural design, deployed to breathe new life into historic buildings. …”
Specialist Conservation Architect and Director at Loader Monteith Iain King said “We are pleased to have been selected as the lead architects, alongside our expert team of consultants, to support the Friends of The George in developing the proposal for the George Cinema. Despite the building currently being on the Buildings at Risk Register, it benefits from strong community support and the dedication of the Friends of The George, a group committed to preserving this Art Deco gem and restoring it as a sustainable, independent cinema. We look forward to collaborating with them on this important project.”
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 