(Incidentally, a number of seats are already reserved for the first screening listed at 19:30!)
I guess then literally all that will have happened is strip out/fit out of the foyer/public access areas. I had an odd dream last night in which I removed a piece of the old marble wall cladding from a skip outside…!
Zappomatic: Thanks for your views on the Superscreen sound system—I’m not too surprised, but it’s disappointing nevertheless. I may as well continue with LSQ as my venue of choice—albeit I’ve not been to the O2 since it was the “Millennium Dome,” so I suppose a revisit would be more than timely!
Regarding LEDs, as a broader comment, the market is a minefield; it is often difficult to identify product quality, including the manufacturer of the LED components used, and plenty of Chinese product is being resold or supplied at very high markups.
For instance, the Vue West End’s canopy underside light strips seem to be two or more rows of LED strips mounted in extrusions, with “opal”-type diffusers/covers. I know this because one of the extrusions only appears to have one working strip!
I have no idea which products were used, and it may be that they have been sourced and installed with the utmost care, but failure seems ridiculous given the £6.6m cost of the refurb; they should last more than a few thousand hours…!
Alas, it’s not uncommon to see LED installations with early failures or dim sections…
It will be interesting to see how Cineworld’s new decorative lighting in their O2 venue’s corridors holds up.
P.S. Just wait for the impact of the sugar tax on “soda” drink sizes… :–(
Westminster Building Control application no. 17/00439/OTHFP has had its status updated to “Building Work Started,” with the 15th January 2018 as the commencement date.
I cannot locate any new licensing application on Westminster’s site, which I assume will be required for the 4DX screen. I suspect the cinema will not be reopening by “early February”!
Incidentally—or perhaps not coincidentally—the hoarding on Leicester Street for the 1-4 Leicester Square works (hotel, etc.) has now been removed.
I took a number of external shots of the OLS last night—most of them turned out badly, not least due to the heavy pedestrian traffic in the square!
The large LED displays on the frontage are off, but the blue LED accents remain on, albeit in a dire state pending replacement.
The entire frontage is surrounded by a hoarding featuring artwork and notices such as “Something very special is coming soon…” and “We’re working had so you can put your feet up…”
The main contractor appears to be 8 Build.
Lights remain on in the circle foyer, and its current state is externally visible. As can be seen in the photo I have uploaded, the ceiling has been partially removed.
I had a look at the current external state of the Empire Leicester Square last night—no changes to the main entrance, but the poster boxes are now empty. The high level IMAX sign remains lit, as does the colour LED display on the left side of the canopy. (Although some sections were flickering!)
Other than the notice on the Leicester Square doors, the only sign of any building work is a “Construction Site” notice on the Leicester Street fire exit doors—photo uploaded.
A couple of repairs seem to have been completed to the Leicester Place elevation, photo to follow.
Zappomatic: The ground floor foyer will be “connected” to the Studios, and frontage alterations will encompass the Studios part of the building also, including new doors, removal of the “Odeon Studios” sign, etc.
See planning application 17/07604/FULL, “Elevations Proposed” and “Plans as Proposed.”
Thanks for confirming the sidewall speaker brand. At least Cineworld have had quality components installed for the surrounds, I’d assume they’ve kept the JBL ScreenArray screen speakers, so if all is well the sound in the Superscreen should be absolutely fantastic.
Seems odd they’ve chosen what look like cold white strips for the entrance vormitory lights, would be more sensible to use red for “guideway” lighting. Aside from the leakage/reflection issue, it won’t set the right mood as one enters. Ho-hum.
Zappomatic: The “hula hoops” look incredibly tacky and badly positioned!
It looks like the “hula hoops” are surface mounted. I expect they have either used a bendable extrusion with LED strips/modules inserted, or the bendable “neon tube”-type which comes with the LEDs already inside flexible plastic diffuser material of circular cross-section.
Not impressed with the upper floor escalator as shown in your photo, not least since the translucent panel attachments are unevenly lit.
Lighting is by way of red and blue spotlights in the ceiling which interesting seem to use a coloured filter glass rather than a coloured or colour changing LED.
If they are using white LEDs, it makes no sense as LEDs are monochromatic and typical “white” devices use, for example, blue LEDs to excite phosphors… throwing away efficiency at that stage, and then throwing it away again with the filter!
Not to say no-one does it… yesterday I noticed a restaurant next to the Garrick Theatre had neon-esque window signs, which on inspection were white LEDs behind coloured plastic cut-outs. (It actually looks great though, I shall have to experiment…)
Hmm… must put a stop to my lighting obsession!
Some elements of the refurbishment look good—I like the “glitter” floor tiles.
Do you know the manufacturer of the sidewall speakers in the Superscreen?
I’ve uploaded a photo (taken last night) of the blacked out front entrance doors, with the notice reading:
“EXCITING THINGS ARE HAPPENING — YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE WHAT’S COMING
“Whilst we work on improving your cinema, you can visit Picturehouse Central to watch the latest movies.”
I walked around the entire block (i.e. Leicester Sq., Leicester Street, Lisle Street and Leicester Place)—no signs of the refurb (yet?) externally.
There is a hoarding on Leicester Street which has been there for quite some time, but I assume this is for the redevelopment of 1-4 Leicester Square (Ground floor to 9th floor) only. All the more puzzling since Screen 2 has been closed for months!
Does anybody know what music is used in the “montage” sequence at the start, and in edited form, in the ABC policy trailer after? Fantastic stuff, excellent composition and arrangement, perfect to set the mood…
Terry: I agree with you in that the LUXE auditorium decor scheme is very unimaginative and I’d also say that it has too much of a “domestic” ambience for a cinema. I suppose their intention is for it to look more like a living room!
BTW, comprehensive information is available on Gradus' cinema (or rather leisure venue) lighting systems.
Also, Eomac are their North American distributors.
Alas, whilst they offer a wide range of mounting options, static colour choices are red/green/blue/amber/white.
An Odeon press release on the new LUXE auditoria at Putney, Haymarket and Swiss Cottage says that:
–“Each reclining screen will be upgraded with new speakers and Dolby 7.1 surround sound throughout to see the latest entertainment in style… –"Haymarket will include… four fully-refurbished screens with upgraded Dolby ATMOS sound systems… [and]… 24 speakers across all auditoriums.”
On Odeon’s website, no reference to ATMOS can be found under “Cinema information.”
I assume they mean 24 screens in each auditoria, otherwise that’s only enough for 5.1 in each, L/C/R/LFE behind screen, and a “rear array” comprising 2 speakers!
OTOH 24 in each would imply a seriously overspecified rear array for such small auditoria. Maybe they’re counting every driver (e.g. every woofer?) Go figure…
–“The New Year will also see ODEON Luxe Swiss Cottage become London’s first ODEON site to house an IMAX® screen complete with ODEON’s newly launched ODEON Luxe reclining seats…
–"Screens two and three have also been upgraded with enlarged screens for improved picture quality, providing the ultimate viewing experience…
–"Key features of the new ODEON Luxe refurbishments at Swiss Cottage will include:
• Four fully-refurbished screens with upgraded Dolby ATMOS sound systems
• 12 new speakers across all four standard screens”
Confusingly, the press release also says: “Each cinema will now boast new speakers and Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound across all auditoriums.”
Foyer will also be refurbished, and the venue will feature a new “Oscar’s bar.”
Hmm, “for some of the works to take place.” I assume this means that they’ll phase the works so that the foyer and associated areas, plus the 4DX auditorium will be complete by then, followed by refurbishments to other auditoria in 2018. (For the sake of completeness, I suppose the toilets also, at some stage.)
Possibly an opportunity to add larger seating, e.g. IMPACT/Superscreen balcony?
There are numerous complaints online about the lack of legroom in the IMAX auditorium. Even if restepping is an option—and I suspect it isn’t—they would end up losing centre seats.
I can’t say I trust Cineworld not to ruin everything special about the place, but we shall see… It might be said that it is fortunate that in part because of all the changes Empire Cinemas made, they have relatively little room for manoeuvre!
It appears that the step lighting, contrary to my description the linked photos page, is not an LED strip but uses an LED-lit side glow fibre optic rod.
Zappomatic: Good grief, I wonder if mice like to chew at Rockwool?!
Fortunately for myself, the OLS mouse just sat still and then disappeared after a while, maybe 20-30 minutes. In a way, it’s actually less distracting than popcorn-muching patrons… (The auditorium was almost empty for that screening.) “One eye” on the mouse and the other on the screen rather than intermittent crunching and rustling sounds.
The pests you report seem to crop up mostly in what I assume are the older parts of the Empire, albeit I’ve never been clear on which bits date back to the 19th century. The block from LSQ to the main auditorium block seems to have been extended up since 1928, at least with the addition of a “mansard” roof level presumably hiding services.
Lighting research update: I have just obtained an OSRAM E14/SES LED bulb for my desk lamp, 4000K colour temperature, looks the same colour as the IMAX/IMPACT auditoria house lights. (Model: “LED STAR Classic B40.”) OTOH, I also obtained some OSRAM “VALUE Flex 900” white semi-professional LED tape with integrated current regulation, also sold as 4000K, and it doesn’t! I’d guess it’s fairly similar to the general background lighting in the foyer areas of the refurbished Vue West End.
Zappomatic: One of the photos to which you refer on Odeon’s site is actually of a Luxe iSense auditorium!
It’s the one with the blue concealed LED lighting on the sidewalls. The overhead speakers for Dolby Atmos can clearly be seen.
(As an aside, why aren’t more interesting LED colours than plain “Royal Blue” used? Green and blue monochromatic LED colours typically lack warmth and magic… but mixing them yields a lovely “Blade Runner” cyan…)
Another “Fifty Shades” film? Good grief…
(Incidentally, a number of seats are already reserved for the first screening listed at 19:30!)
I guess then literally all that will have happened is strip out/fit out of the foyer/public access areas. I had an odd dream last night in which I removed a piece of the old marble wall cladding from a skip outside…!
Zappomatic: Thanks for your views on the Superscreen sound system—I’m not too surprised, but it’s disappointing nevertheless. I may as well continue with LSQ as my venue of choice—albeit I’ve not been to the O2 since it was the “Millennium Dome,” so I suppose a revisit would be more than timely!
Regarding LEDs, as a broader comment, the market is a minefield; it is often difficult to identify product quality, including the manufacturer of the LED components used, and plenty of Chinese product is being resold or supplied at very high markups.
For instance, the Vue West End’s canopy underside light strips seem to be two or more rows of LED strips mounted in extrusions, with “opal”-type diffusers/covers. I know this because one of the extrusions only appears to have one working strip!
I have no idea which products were used, and it may be that they have been sourced and installed with the utmost care, but failure seems ridiculous given the £6.6m cost of the refurb; they should last more than a few thousand hours…!
Alas, it’s not uncommon to see LED installations with early failures or dim sections…
It will be interesting to see how Cineworld’s new decorative lighting in their O2 venue’s corridors holds up.
P.S. Just wait for the impact of the sugar tax on “soda” drink sizes… :–(
Westminster Building Control application no. 17/00439/OTHFP has had its status updated to “Building Work Started,” with the 15th January 2018 as the commencement date.
I cannot locate any new licensing application on Westminster’s site, which I assume will be required for the 4DX screen. I suspect the cinema will not be reopening by “early February”!
Incidentally—or perhaps not coincidentally—the hoarding on Leicester Street for the 1-4 Leicester Square works (hotel, etc.) has now been removed.
I took a number of external shots of the OLS last night—most of them turned out badly, not least due to the heavy pedestrian traffic in the square!
The large LED displays on the frontage are off, but the blue LED accents remain on, albeit in a dire state pending replacement.
The entire frontage is surrounded by a hoarding featuring artwork and notices such as “Something very special is coming soon…” and “We’re working had so you can put your feet up…”
The main contractor appears to be 8 Build.
Lights remain on in the circle foyer, and its current state is externally visible. As can be seen in the photo I have uploaded, the ceiling has been partially removed.
Oops… I meant to say January 2018.
I had a look at the current external state of the Empire Leicester Square last night—no changes to the main entrance, but the poster boxes are now empty. The high level IMAX sign remains lit, as does the colour LED display on the left side of the canopy. (Although some sections were flickering!)
Other than the notice on the Leicester Square doors, the only sign of any building work is a “Construction Site” notice on the Leicester Street fire exit doors—photo uploaded.
A couple of repairs seem to have been completed to the Leicester Place elevation, photo to follow.
FanaticalAboutOdeon: Thank you very much for your detailed descriptions of the OLS foyer pre-1998. My reply is still pending!
Zappomatic: The ground floor foyer will be “connected” to the Studios, and frontage alterations will encompass the Studios part of the building also, including new doors, removal of the “Odeon Studios” sign, etc.
See planning application 17/07604/FULL, “Elevations Proposed” and “Plans as Proposed.”
Thanks for confirming the sidewall speaker brand. At least Cineworld have had quality components installed for the surrounds, I’d assume they’ve kept the JBL ScreenArray screen speakers, so if all is well the sound in the Superscreen should be absolutely fantastic.
Seems odd they’ve chosen what look like cold white strips for the entrance vormitory lights, would be more sensible to use red for “guideway” lighting. Aside from the leakage/reflection issue, it won’t set the right mood as one enters. Ho-hum.
Zappomatic: The “hula hoops” look incredibly tacky and badly positioned!
It looks like the “hula hoops” are surface mounted. I expect they have either used a bendable extrusion with LED strips/modules inserted, or the bendable “neon tube”-type which comes with the LEDs already inside flexible plastic diffuser material of circular cross-section.
Not impressed with the upper floor escalator as shown in your photo, not least since the translucent panel attachments are unevenly lit.
If they are using white LEDs, it makes no sense as LEDs are monochromatic and typical “white” devices use, for example, blue LEDs to excite phosphors… throwing away efficiency at that stage, and then throwing it away again with the filter!
Not to say no-one does it… yesterday I noticed a restaurant next to the Garrick Theatre had neon-esque window signs, which on inspection were white LEDs behind coloured plastic cut-outs. (It actually looks great though, I shall have to experiment…)
Hmm… must put a stop to my lighting obsession!
Some elements of the refurbishment look good—I like the “glitter” floor tiles.
Do you know the manufacturer of the sidewall speakers in the Superscreen?
D'oh! I’m running a tracker blocker plug-in, I guess that’s what’s blocked it as I see the banner in another browser.
How long have Screens 4/5 been blocked?
Yes, those “DFS”-grade sofas were always awful—good riddance!
Ian: I, too, was in Leicester Square last night and “noticed” the premiere—(poor quality) photo uploaded.
According to Odeon’s site, it is now closed.
This means that there is NO cinema with a Leicester Square address operating at present—I assume for the first time since WWII?!
Zappomatic: Blocked with sofas? Maybe they’ll be refurbishing Screen 4/5 concurrently?
Thanks for uploading the photos of the foyer’s last night of service—I haven’t been there in months now as no desire to keep saying “goodbye” again!
Oddly, Cineworld’s site makes no mention of the closure—just has no trailer nor screening times listed!
Bye-bye 1962/89 foyer. :–(
I’ve uploaded a photo (taken last night) of the blacked out front entrance doors, with the notice reading:
“EXCITING THINGS ARE HAPPENING — YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE WHAT’S COMING
“Whilst we work on improving your cinema, you can visit Picturehouse Central to watch the latest movies.”
I walked around the entire block (i.e. Leicester Sq., Leicester Street, Lisle Street and Leicester Place)—no signs of the refurb (yet?) externally.
There is a hoarding on Leicester Street which has been there for quite some time, but I assume this is for the redevelopment of 1-4 Leicester Square (Ground floor to 9th floor) only. All the more puzzling since Screen 2 has been closed for months!
Awesome, thank you very much!
Can’t find any CD copies, but it’s available in HQ via digital download/streaming including Spotify.
Video of the final screening.
Does anybody know what music is used in the “montage” sequence at the start, and in edited form, in the ABC policy trailer after? Fantastic stuff, excellent composition and arrangement, perfect to set the mood…
Planning application no. 7-2017-1685-L was refused by Bournemouth Council.
Terry: I agree with you in that the LUXE auditorium decor scheme is very unimaginative and I’d also say that it has too much of a “domestic” ambience for a cinema. I suppose their intention is for it to look more like a living room!
BTW, comprehensive information is available on Gradus' cinema (or rather leisure venue) lighting systems.
Also, Eomac are their North American distributors.
Alas, whilst they offer a wide range of mounting options, static colour choices are red/green/blue/amber/white.
An Odeon press release on the new LUXE auditoria at Putney, Haymarket and Swiss Cottage says that:
–“Each reclining screen will be upgraded with new speakers and Dolby 7.1 surround sound throughout to see the latest entertainment in style… –"Haymarket will include… four fully-refurbished screens with upgraded Dolby ATMOS sound systems… [and]… 24 speakers across all auditoriums.”
On Odeon’s website, no reference to ATMOS can be found under “Cinema information.”
I assume they mean 24 screens in each auditoria, otherwise that’s only enough for 5.1 in each, L/C/R/LFE behind screen, and a “rear array” comprising 2 speakers!
OTOH 24 in each would imply a seriously overspecified rear array for such small auditoria. Maybe they’re counting every driver (e.g. every woofer?) Go figure…
PhilipWW: You may well be correct. The last film I saw at Swiss Cottage was “The Last Days of Disco”!
Here’s some blurb from an Odeon press release:
–“The New Year will also see ODEON Luxe Swiss Cottage become London’s first ODEON site to house an IMAX® screen complete with ODEON’s newly launched ODEON Luxe reclining seats… –"Screens two and three have also been upgraded with enlarged screens for improved picture quality, providing the ultimate viewing experience… –"Key features of the new ODEON Luxe refurbishments at Swiss Cottage will include: • Four fully-refurbished screens with upgraded Dolby ATMOS sound systems • 12 new speakers across all four standard screens”
Confusingly, the press release also says: “Each cinema will now boast new speakers and Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound across all auditoriums.”
Foyer will also be refurbished, and the venue will feature a new “Oscar’s bar.”
Thanks Zappomatic.
Hmm, “for some of the works to take place.” I assume this means that they’ll phase the works so that the foyer and associated areas, plus the 4DX auditorium will be complete by then, followed by refurbishments to other auditoria in 2018. (For the sake of completeness, I suppose the toilets also, at some stage.)
Possibly an opportunity to add larger seating, e.g. IMPACT/Superscreen balcony?
There are numerous complaints online about the lack of legroom in the IMAX auditorium. Even if restepping is an option—and I suspect it isn’t—they would end up losing centre seats.
I can’t say I trust Cineworld not to ruin everything special about the place, but we shall see… It might be said that it is fortunate that in part because of all the changes Empire Cinemas made, they have relatively little room for manoeuvre!
Yikes, bye bye domes…
Zappomatic: Where did you get the information about the refurbishment dates from?
It appears that the step lighting, contrary to my description the linked photos page, is not an LED strip but uses an LED-lit side glow fibre optic rod.
Zappomatic: Good grief, I wonder if mice like to chew at Rockwool?!
Fortunately for myself, the OLS mouse just sat still and then disappeared after a while, maybe 20-30 minutes. In a way, it’s actually less distracting than popcorn-muching patrons… (The auditorium was almost empty for that screening.) “One eye” on the mouse and the other on the screen rather than intermittent crunching and rustling sounds.
The pests you report seem to crop up mostly in what I assume are the older parts of the Empire, albeit I’ve never been clear on which bits date back to the 19th century. The block from LSQ to the main auditorium block seems to have been extended up since 1928, at least with the addition of a “mansard” roof level presumably hiding services.
Lighting research update: I have just obtained an OSRAM E14/SES LED bulb for my desk lamp, 4000K colour temperature, looks the same colour as the IMAX/IMPACT auditoria house lights. (Model: “LED STAR Classic B40.”) OTOH, I also obtained some OSRAM “VALUE Flex 900” white semi-professional LED tape with integrated current regulation, also sold as 4000K, and it doesn’t! I’d guess it’s fairly similar to the general background lighting in the foyer areas of the refurbished Vue West End.
Zappomatic: One of the photos to which you refer on Odeon’s site is actually of a Luxe iSense auditorium!
It’s the one with the blue concealed LED lighting on the sidewalls. The overhead speakers for Dolby Atmos can clearly be seen.
(As an aside, why aren’t more interesting LED colours than plain “Royal Blue” used? Green and blue monochromatic LED colours typically lack warmth and magic… but mixing them yields a lovely “Blade Runner” cyan…)