British Kinematography (1951)

April, 1951 WELLS COATES \ PLANNING THE TELEKINEMA 109 1. Size. — This was conditioned entirely by the nature of the available site and the financial outlay allotted. Not less than 400 seats were to be provided. Minimal " offices," no stage, no stage effects. 2. Programmes.— What constituted the most important factor in the broad statement of requirements was the provision, in a set programme of approximately one hour's duration, of both large screen television and film material. The original conditions suggested that two screens might be provided. Apart from a broad statement of safety considerations, very little further information was given: it was left to the architect and his associates to work out what could be pro and constructed as a Category " A " structure, and it is hoped it may remain on the site as a permanent experimental theatre ; it is not likely that the " Far-Movey " will be moved on. Site of Building First, the site: it is located at the York Road end of the " downstream " section of the Exhibition, that portion which lies between Hungerford railway bridge and Waterloo Bridge. The site is hemmed in by the railway bridge, by the York Road ramped " roundabout " to Waterloo Bridge and by the remains of what used to be Howley Street. Fig. I. Side Elevation of the Telekinema vided. Mr. John Ralph, of the British Film Institute, attached to the Festival Office, was in charge of purely film and film-making arrangements, assisted by Mr. Raymond Spottiswoode. Above all, the main work of interpreting the requirements fell to the technicians of the three principal firms associated with the development of special equipment: the British Thomson-Houston Company, Cinema-Television, Limited, and Electrical and Musical Industries Limited. 3. Category of Building. — This important question was debated at the outset. The Festival Exhibition had largely been planned as a temporary affair, but with a theatre, requiring all the usual precautions for safety of the public, some revisions were necessary. In the event, the building has been planned Although this site was triangular in form its dimensions did not allow of a fanshaped " plan, nor did the financial budget run to the expense of such a structure with its unequal spans, etc. The first decision to be made, therefore, was to adopt, for so small a theatre, a parallel-sided plan, so that maximum economies of structure could be attained. The building was consequently located on a line parallel to Howley Street — which was the longest leg of the triangular site — with the access or entrance block nearest the railway bridge, the flank wall terminating on an angle parallel to it. Sectional Geometry If this building could be said to have anything new or novel about it, perhaps it is in