Crouch End Picturehouse, London
Retrofit Team
Architect: Panter Hudspith Architects, London
Materials
Panter Hudspith Architects replaced the original curtainwall and specified Kalwall for the front elevation. Unusually, the translucent cladding is fitted with a tight 6-inch-wide grid, known as Verti-Kal, which not only serves to emphasize height but is the first of its type in the United Kingdom. On this scheme, the Kalwall panels insulate to 0.78 watts per square meter, making the building sustainable. The building also now exudes a gentle glow at night.
Architect James Jeremiah comments, “It’s the first time we’ve specified Kalwall and it fulfils our vision of retaining the modernist characteristics of the building. One of our original concepts for the building was of a zoetrope [one of the earliest forms of moving image] and there’s a strong history of using transparency in films with people moving behind the shadows. We felt the Kalwall system was a very good fit for what we wanted to achieve.”
Translucent Cladding Manufacturer: Kalwall
The Retrofit
Originally built as a factory in the 1950s, the Crouch End Picturehouse forms part of a wider initiative within the London suburb of Haringey, aiming to re-establish the area as one of London’s cultural and arts centers. The result is a transformation of an ugly concrete building into a $9.75 million five-screen cinema complete with café, bar, restaurant and community rooms.
Panter Hudspith Architects recently was honored with three industry awards for the project’s design: the 2016 Architects’ Journal Retrofit Award for Leisure, Best Green Design from the Haringey Design Awards and the Architect of the Year (Sports & Leisure) from the Building Design Architect of the Year Awards.
In addition, the building’s sustainable measures, including the Kalwall cladding, solar panels and a green wall, helped the building achieve a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) rating of Very Good. BREEAM is the most widely used green environmental assessment method for buildings and communities in the UK.
Photo: Kalwall