The director's cut

28 March 2001

The remodelling of South Kensington's Goethe Institute, the Germany cultural centre, enhances the viewing pleasure of cinema-goers, while opening the building up to a rear terrace, away from the busy road.
Just at that crucial, terrifying moment when Graf Orlok emerges into the world of the living, the last thing an audience of rapt film-goers wants is a burst of caf noise as the cinema door opens to admit a latecomer. That is what used to happen at the Goethe-Institut in Exhibition Road, South Kensington, and it has to be said that few other silent masterpieces of German Expressionist film-making are enhanced by such sounds, even if they involve the clinking of foaming steins of lager or the swish of duelling sword blades slicing flesh to make those distinctive scars. Such barbaric practices have, of course, long since died out in German universities; and thanks to Bernhard Blauel's neat re-jigging of the Goethe-Institut's pair of terraced houses, so has the noise nuisance for film audiences. Blauel's project adds a revealing commentary on another development, the evolution of German diplomacy over the last 10 years. Since reunification, and renewed confidence and power, 'Germany is no longer representing itself culturally; it can do so politically,' says Blauel. Goethe-Instituts the world over are having to justify their existence, and find new ways of earning income. Hans Kallies, the head of administration in London, confirms that major German cultural events need little support from the institute, although it does have a role in smaller scale and lesserknown fields. Crucially, though, London is a major market for its German language courses, and has potential for room lettings for these reasons the German foreign office sanctioned a 500,000 expenditure, the only such licence for any Goethe-Institut premises. Blauel's various proposals reflect these changes. Originally just with the remit of solving the acoustic problem, the project became a re-ordering of

the entire building, including the 1970s almost retro-chic library, administrative offices and classrooms with robust furniture which Kallies says 'you could fight a war with'. Budget cuts turned it into just creating a new cinema and caf. One suggestion was to locate them in the basement, but Westminster planners turned down a glass rear extension, and in any case extra structural work added prohibitively to the cost. Consequently the project settled on the ground floor with remodelling of the basement, largely to move air handling units to the front vaults and make space for a couple of lecture rooms. For Blauel, the crucial point was to open a clear route from the entrance and the environment of Exhibition Road to the rear, an attractive terrace overlooking Imperial College's garden. Interwoven with this was a wish to avoid an unduly 'boxlike' character on the ground floor, caused by overly prominent acoustic lobbies. The solution is a new opening under the stairs, leading to a lobby and the terrace or, to the right, the cinema. With 92 raked seats which can fold away, or over100 in a flat layout, it is perhaps, as Blauel calls it, 'a multi-purpose room with an emphasis on film'. Having had advice from John Chapman, who also helped with the cinema at Tate Modern, it can take cinemascope projection, and Kallies hopes it will be used as a venue for the London Film Festival. With the cinema now approached from the lobby beyond the entrance, the new caf has its own entrance off Exhibition Road, and no longer serves as a foyer for the cinema. After discussions with German breweries fell through, Caf Organic will occupy the space, with a fit out by its house architect, Robert O'Hara. So no specifically German food but, hopes Kallies, 'a German accent'. Specification: Lighting by Erco, stainless steel mesh by GKD. Fibracoustic panels by AMF. Suntex sliding sun panels from Flydor Products, blackout blinds by Luxaflex. Sliding gear by Haefele. Suspended tubular ceiling by SAS Internatinal. Parquet flooring by Bauwerk, Haltopex trowelled resin flooring by Lasar Contracts, entrance matting from Jaymart and Emco. Doors by Shadboldt, ironmongery by Allgood. Compact laminate from Decra Plastics. Acoustic metal louvres by Naco Air Diffusion. Cinema seating by Auditoria Services.

Source: Riba Journal Credits: Client Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Architect Blauel Architects Cost consultant Davis Langdon and Everest Structural engineer Whitby Bird and Partners Contractor Kingswood Construction Cinema consultancy and installation Cinestall