Chester, CH1 2AR
Owners: Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd, and parent company, Cineworld Group plc.
Six screen unit.
Opened by: Lord of Mayor of Chester, Councillor Sheila Little.
Date opened: Friday 10th November 2023.
General manager: Alf McClean.
Primary first movie shown: ‘Anatomy of a Fall’, starring Sandra Hüller and Swann Arlaud.
Seating capacity: Total capacity= 746 seats. Screen 1 (218), Screen 2 (136), Screen 3 (142), Screen 4 (107), Screen 5 (95), Screen 6 (48).
Chester is the 28th Picturehouse cinema in the circuit’s portfolio.
Positioned above the new market, which is located in Exchange Square, off Northgate Street Chester, this cinema is part of the Chester Northgate Development.
Formed in 1989 as an alternative to the multiplex model, Picturehouse was the chosen operator by the council from seven competing bids for this, their modestly sized multi-screen cinema. Following an exchange of a lease agreement with Cheshire West and Chester Council in late summer of 2016, there were delays in construction of the development itself, and the fit out of the building met further delays caused by the Covid Pandemic and financial problems of the parent company, Cineworld.
Although Chester Market opened on Tuesday 8th November 2022, it was to be exactly a year on until the cinema was open for business. During this time, several changes were made to the original layout.
The entrance is via a single set of double doors that lead into a vestibule foyer that has a large original mural designed by the award-winning multi & interdimensional artist Murugiah, which was unveiled by the Lord of Mayor of Chester, Councillor Sheila Little, when she officially opened the building on Wednesday 8th November 2023, prior to the open for general cinema business on Friday 10th November 2023.
A staircase and a lift take customers up to the reception lounge where tickets and concessions can be purchased. Bright geometric pattern walls on the staircases contrast with the reception foyer’s design.
Here, in enviable shades of pink and blue, that gently nods to the perfectly pastel-hued worlds of one of Picturehouse’s favourite filmmakers, Wes Anderson. Characters from his ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ are evident in the foyer decorations.
The twentieth-century plushness of Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel.
A large first-floor café/ bar and a roof garden, which will be opened up during warmer weather, overlooks the iconic 1930s Odeon Cinema, which is now occupied by the multipurpose entertainment venue, Storyhouse.
Six screens are accessed on two levels. The largest, Screen 1 holds (218), Screen 2 (136), Screen 3 (142), Screen 4 (107), Screen 5 (95), Screen 6 (48), with a total capacity of 746 seats.
Traditional, generously upholstered seats are arranged in several different colours with tray stands between for customer’s sweets and drinks.
The auditoriums walls, in a muted red tone, are tastefully decorated in modernistic designed panels of red and blue, that complement the shapes and colour hues that are seen in the foyer.
The wall mounted pod that contains the projector in screen 1
Projection is digital/laser, that gives maximum flexibility on programming, not only movie content, but also satellite transmission for event cinema programmes. Projectors are contained within a pod arrangement, high up on the rear walls.
This new Chester cinema is the twenty eighth addition to the circuit’s portfolio.
chestercinemas.co.uk