Norwich Cinema City

Norwich Cinema City is a cultural cinema and historic arts venue in central Norwich, Norfolk, England. It occupies Suckling House, a Grade I listed former merchant’s house on St Andrews Street, together with Stuart Hall, a later building added to the site in the 1920s. The venue combines film exhibition with hospitality and education, giving it a broader cultural role than a conventional multiplex. The site’s oldest surviving fabric dates from the early fourteenth century. Its principal frontage reflects an eighteenth-century renovation, while Stuart Hall was constructed in 1925. After Suckling House ceased to be used as a residence in 1915, the property passed through local ownership before Ethel Mary and Helen Caroline Colman restored it and presented the house and new hall to the City of Norwich in 1925. Their stated intention was to support education in a broad and comprehensive sense. That civic and educational origin remains important to the venue’s identity. Cinema City opened in Suckling Hall in April 1978 with a single auditorium seating approximately 230 people. Early improvement work in 1981 introduced a new projection box, stairs and box-office facilities. The Great Hall was adapted into a bar, while part of the building was converted for kitchen use, establishing the combination of cinema, food and drink that continues in the present operation. A major redevelopment transformed the venue into a three-screen cinema. During the rebuilding, the cinema operated temporarily from Norwich Playhouse in 2004. The restored and expanded Cinema City reopened in 2007, with substantial funding support from the Arts Council. The redevelopment created three auditoria within the historic complex while preserving and exposing significant architectural features. Screen One holds just under 200 people and supports digital and 35mm projection; Screen Two seats just under 100, and Screen Three seats slightly more than 60. New public areas include a lobby in a seventeenth-century panelled room, a courtyard used for eating and drinking, and newly accessible fourteenth-century vaulted rooms used as dining spaces. The venue’s charitable and commercial functions are divided between related organizations. Cinema City Ltd, formerly known as Norfolk and Norwich Film Theatre Ltd, manages the site as a charity and undertakes education work in Norwich and across Norfolk through Cinema Plus. Commercial activities, including screenings, the bar and restaurant, are operated by Picturehouse Cinemas Limited. Picturehouse is an art-house cinema network within the wider Cineworld group. The building itself remains owned by Norwich City Council. Cinema City is therefore both a local cultural institution and part of a national cinema operator’s network. Its programming and facilities support specialist, independent and cultural film exhibition, while its listed architecture, restaurant and educational work broaden its appeal. The venue marked its thirty-fifth anniversary in 2013, when actor John Hurt was announced as its patron.

Norwich Cinema City occupies Suckling House, a historic merchant’s residence on St Andrews Street in Norwich. The oldest surviving portions of the complex date from the early fourteenth century. The building takes its name from the Suckling family, who owned the house during the sixteenth century. Its street frontage was substantially altered during an eighteenth-century renovation. Stuart Hall, a separate brick addition on the eastern side, was built in 1925 with a public-hall function and seating for roughly 450 people. Suckling Hall ceased to serve as a residence in 1915. The Norfolk News Company acquired the property in 1916 and carried out repairs before selling it in 1923 to Ethel Mary and Helen Caroline Colman. The Colmans restored the house and added Stuart Hall, equipping the new hall with a projector and screen. In 1925 they presented the property to the City of Norwich for educational and public purposes. This transfer established the civic and educational context in which the later cinema developed. Cinema City first opened in April 1978 in Suckling Hall. It initially had one auditorium with approximately 230 seats. Improvements undertaken in 1981 included a new projection box, stairs and box-office facilities. The historic Great Hall was subsequently adapted for use as a bar, and a nearby vaulted area was converted into a kitchen, making hospitality part of the venue’s operating model. The original premises underwent a major reconstruction in the 2000s. Cinema City operated temporarily from Norwich Playhouse in 2004 while the work was carried out. The redevelopment, supported substantially by an Arts Council grant of more than £3 million, reopened in 2007 as a three-screen cinema. Creating the auditoria required excavation of several metres within the site, allowing the new screens to be arranged with their backs toward St Andrews Street while retaining the historic structures above and around them. The rebuilt venue includes three differently sized screens. Screen One, on the first floor, accommodates just under 200 people and retains both digital and 35mm projection capability. Screen Two seats just under 100, while Screen Three seats slightly more than 60. The redevelopment also created a lobby in a seventeenth-century panelled room. The courtyard became a setting for food and drink, and medieval vaulted rooms adjacent to the cinema were opened to the public as additional dining spaces. Cinema City’s structure combines charitable site management with commercial operation. Cinema City Ltd manages the site and carries out educational activity in Norwich and elsewhere in Norfolk through Cinema Plus. The organization was previously called Norfolk and Norwich Film Theatre Ltd and changed its name in August 2014. Picturehouse Cinemas Limited conducts the commercial activities, including film screenings, the bar and restaurant. Picturehouse is part of the Cineworld cinema group. Norwich City Council owns the building. The result is a hybrid cultural venue: a listed civic building, a specialist cinema, a hospitality destination and an education provider. In 2013, during celebrations marking thirty-five years of cinema operation, actor John Hurt was announced as patron. Cinema City’s significance rests not only on its screen programme but also on the preservation and public use of a historically important Norwich building.

• 2014

  Charity adopts Cinema City Ltd name

  [1]Norwich Cinema Cityen.wikipedia.org

  Norfolk and Norwich Film Theatre Ltd changed its name to Cinema City Ltd.

• 2013

  John Hurt becomes patron

  [1]Norwich Cinema Cityen.wikipedia.org

  Actor John Hurt was announced as patron during the venue’s thirty-fifth anniversary year.

• 2007

  Three-screen redevelopment completed

  [1]Norwich Cinema Cityen.wikipedia.org

  The cinema reopened after a major reconstruction supported largely by Arts Council funding.

• 2004

  Temporary move to Norwich Playhouse

  [1]Norwich Cinema Cityen.wikipedia.org

  Cinema City relocated temporarily while its original premises were redeveloped.

• 1981

  Initial cinema improvements

  [1]Norwich Cinema Cityen.wikipedia.org

  Renovation work added a new projection box, stairs and box-office facilities.

• 1978

  Cinema City opens

  [1]Norwich Cinema Cityen.wikipedia.org

  The venue opened in Suckling Hall as a cinema with approximately 230 seats.

• 1925

  Suckling House and Stuart Hall transferred to Norwich

  [1]Norwich Cinema Cityen.wikipedia.org

  Ethel Mary and Helen Caroline Colman restored Suckling House, added Stuart Hall as a public hall, and presented the complex to the City of Norwich for broad educational purposes.

A locally rooted cultural and arthouse cinema that combines specialist film exhibition, heritage architecture, hospitality and education within a national Picturehouse operating network.

• Film exhibition · 1978

  Cinema City film programme

  The venue presents films in a cultural and arthouse cinema setting, using three auditoria within the Suckling House and Stuart Hall complex. Screen One supports both digital and 35mm projection, while the smaller Screens Two and Three provide more intimate presentation spaces. The available reference material does not specify a complete programming policy or individual recurring seasons.

• Bar and restaurant · 1981

  Cinema City hospitality

  Cinema City incorporates food and drink facilities into the historic site. The Great Hall was adapted as a bar, while the redevelopment added a courtyard and opened medieval vaulted rooms for dining. Commercial hospitality operations are conducted by Picturehouse Cinemas Limited.

• Film education

  Cinema Plus

  Cinema Plus is the education arm associated with Cinema City Ltd. It undertakes educational activities at the venue and across Norfolk, extending the institution’s role beyond commercial film screenings. Specific programmes and launch dates are not identified in the reference material.

• 2007

  Rebuild and expansion into a three-screen cinemaGeneration change

  Background

  The original single-screen operation required a substantial redevelopment of its historic premises. The project also sought to improve public access to significant architectural areas and add hospitality space.

  Action taken

  The cinema temporarily operated from Norwich Playhouse, after which the rebuilt venue reopened with three screens, a new lobby, courtyard facilities and public dining areas in historic vaulted rooms.

  Aftermath

  Cinema City returned to its original site as a larger cultural cinema while retaining and showcasing elements of the listed building.

  Arts Council grant. More than £3 million in grant support (Redevelopment completed in 2007)

  Source

1. 1Norwich Cinema Cityen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Picturehouse Cinemaspicturehouses.co.uk