Architect:Takero Shimazaki Architects

Image:David Grandorge

Takero Shimazaki Architects Curzon Camden Cinema

Detail Winner

Camden’s new cinema represents the adaptation and renewal of the once industrial infill lining its viaducts. The ambition sought to retain as much of the landlords pre-existing shell as possible, re-purposing the building fabric installed as part of the larger Hawley Wharf regeneration. Working with the inherited materials, new architectural elements were inserted with their own language which now define the public spaces of the cinema.

Working with plywood, galvanized metal and structural steel, the architects wanted to elevate otherwise modest building materials with the addition of stone and render. The intention was a sense of ‘otherness’, something different to what was there before. It was important not to conform to the often appropriated industrial warehouse typology. Instead, the interventions are individual arched spaces with expressed façades, colours, material textures, tactility, fabric, light and shadow.

curzon camden cinema Takero shimazaki architects 17-minThe notion of lightness and weight occurring simultaneously was explored. The existing arches have a sense of material, structural and historical weight. New elements were inserted using as little new material and resource as possible.

The auditoriums, café and bars are connected, yet separate. They are individual spaces, each with their own door to the street. The project proposes an architectural scenario of urban niche-like parasitic interventions, fitting into the existing industrial infrastructure – adapting into a re-use architecture of lightness and weight.

Photos © David Grandorge

(Content provided by Takero Shimazaki Architects)


Architect:Takero Shimazaki Architects

Image:David Grandorge

Posted onOctober 11, 2023 byGalvanizers Association

Read next…

2023 Architecture Winner

LJ Works demonstrates how residents can take an active role in local regeneration by claiming land for long-term public use – creating space for self-sustaining local economies governed by and for the community. The project brings industry, growing and community…

Read more

Architecture Award Highly Commended

Knox Bhavan were commissioned to design a house to be a long-term primary residence on the banks of the Thames. This was an opportunity to design and construct a beautiful, flood resistant, energy-efficient house to serve the client’s current and…

Read more

Art Winner

Bideford’s rich history comes alive through thoughtfully crafted sculptures that embody its Elizabethan legacy. The Cooper Sculpture, celebrating the town’s barrel-making street, and the Bideford Merchant sculpture, reflecting its vibrant trade history, stand as galvanized testaments to durability and aesthetic…

Read more

Data centre, Germany

A large building in the immediate vicinity of the Düsseldorf-Süd motorway junction resembles, at roof level, a Star Wars spaceship. The building, which is around 280 m long and up to 125 m wide, houses various IT companies that operate…

Read more