BFI IMAX facts for kids
Oppenheimer poster at the BFI IMAX in 2023
|
|
 BFI IMAX
Location in Greater London
|
|
| Address | 1 Charlie Chaplin Walk South Bank London SE1 8XR United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30′18″N 0°06′49″W / 51.505°N 0.113611°W |
| Public transit |  Waterloo Waterloo; Waterloo East |
| Owner | British Film Institute |
| Operator | British Film Institute (1999–2012, 2022–) Odeon Cinemas (2012–2022) |
| Type | Cinema |
| Capacity | 498 (plus 2 wheelchair spaces) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | May 1999 |
| Architect | Bryan Avery |
The BFI IMAX is a super-sized cinema in the Waterloo area of London. It's located right near Waterloo train station. This amazing cinema is owned and run by the British Film Institute. For a while, from 2012 to 2022, it was operated by Odeon Cinemas.
The cinema building stands in the middle of a busy roundabout. This roundabout connects several important London streets. These include Waterloo Road, Stamford Street, York Road, and Waterloo Bridge.
Contents
Discovering BFI IMAX History
How the BFI IMAX Was Built
The BFI IMAX was designed by a talented architect named Bryan Avery. His company, Avery Associates Architects, finished building it in May 1999. The cinema's screen is truly massive. It's the biggest in all of Britain! The screen is about 20 meters (66 feet) high and 26 meters (85 feet) wide.
The cinema can seat around 500 people. It also has a powerful 14,000-watt digital surround sound system. This system makes movies sound incredibly real. Even though the building is surrounded by busy roads and has an underground train line just four meters below, it's very quiet inside. The architects and engineers designed the building with special anti-vibration parts. These parts stop noise and shaking from getting into the cinema.
Awards and Recognition
When it first opened, the BFI IMAX won several important awards. In 1999, it received a Design Council Millennium Product Award. The next year, in 2000, it won a Civic Trust Award. These awards showed how special and well-designed the cinema was.
Changes in Operation and Technology
In 2012, the cinema got an upgrade. Its huge screen was replaced, and a new digital IMAX projector was added. This new projector worked alongside the original 70mm film projector. This meant the cinema could show both classic film movies and new digital ones.
In July 2012, the BFI announced that Odeon Cinemas would operate the cinema for the next five years. Odeon handled things like movie schedules and ticket sales. This partnership even allowed people to watch operas on the giant screen! However, the BFI still had control over important parts of the cinema. This included the name, some of the film choices, and how the technical equipment worked.
The BFI London IMAX became very popular for mainstream movies. For example, before the movie The Dark Knight Rises even premiered, 66,000 tickets were sold in just five weeks. This showed how excited people were to see big movies on such a huge screen.
In June 2022, the BFI announced that its agreement with Odeon would end. On July 19, 2022, the BFI took back full control of the cinema's operations. The cinema closed briefly on that date and then reopened on July 22, 2022.
Other Large Screens in London
London has other IMAX cinemas too. One traditional IMAX cinema is located at the Science Museum in South Kensington. In December 2008, more IMAX digital cinemas opened at Odeon cinemas in Greenwich and Wimbledon. Another digital IMAX screen opened in 2011 at the Odeon in Swiss Cottage.
BFI IMAX Screen Size
The BFI IMAX has the largest cinema screen in the United Kingdom. It measures about 25.9 meters (85 feet) wide and 19.8 meters (65 feet) tall. This makes for an incredibly immersive viewing experience. The auditorium has seats for 493 people, including four spaces for wheelchairs.
See also
- Cardboard City (the previous name of the site)
- IMAX Melbourne
