Following its receipt of nearly £700,000 from the Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme in 2022, Colchester’s Firstsite has commenced work to replace many of its existing light fittings with LED equivalents, as part of a suite of measures designed to significantly reduce the award-winning art gallery and cultural centre’s carbon footprint and energy use.
Titled Firstsite Shining, the project will see the original, 12-year-old lighting system beginning to be replaced throughout the public areas.
The work will begin at the end of this month (October 2023), with lighting upgrades in the cinema. At the same time, the Arts Council funding will be invested in major improvements to the sound and projection system. The cinema will only be closed for a short period, between 30 October and 23 November and when it reopens, film buffs are sure to appreciate the greatly enhanced movie experience. The more powerful projection system will also have broadcast facilities which will be available to hire.
Launching Firstsite Shining, the gallery’s Director, Sally Shaw MBE says: “Overall, the new package of upgrades will provide an enhanced experience for customers, while reducing the cinema’s carbon footprint and in turn, saving energy and costs.”
She adds: “We will reopen the cinema on Thursday 23 November with a packed film and live screening programme which will include Scorsese’s blistering adaptation of David Grann’s non-fiction bestseller, Killers of the Flower Moon, Typist Artist Pirate King which tells the story of artist Audrey Amis, the heartfelt family drama 20,000 Species of Bees, Disney’s upcoming family film Wish and the uplifting The Miracle Club, starring Maggie Smith.”
Alongside new releases, including Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Firstsite’s December programme will also be sprinkled with festive classics and magical event-cinema, including a live screening of the Royal Ballet’s ever-popular The Nutcracker.
Scheduled to coincide with the cinema reopening, Firstsite plans to launch a membership scheme, that will include FREE access to all standard cinema screenings over a twelve-month period. Full details will be announced presently.
Firstsite will be documenting all the work in the cinema via its Instagram and TikTok channels, so follow @firstsitecolchester for all the latest updates.
The next tranche of improvements will start January 2024, in the shop area and foyer. Regular visitors will have noticed the shop has already been relocated, into what is known as the Mosaic Space.
Although its position may be a little unfamiliar, the shop’s full range of popular products remains unchanged, with some exciting additions including some luxury tea and coffee products. Whilst browsing, customers can also admire the stunning Berryfield Mosaic (c.AD200) displayed horizontally in a case embedded into the floor of space – which provides a remarkable glimpse into the ancient history buried under the building. Firstsite stands over what was originally a Roman townhouse and the mosaic lay undiscovered for nearly two millennia, until 1923.
To find the shop’s new location, simply follow the curve of the building, past the front desk and cinema, where you’ll see it, just beyond the fabulous @background_bob and his amazing friends…back again! exhibition.
Sally again: “These updates will drastically reduce our carbon footprint and electricity costs, make our building more visually accessible, and allow us the flexibility and precision to present our amazing exhibitions in new creative ways, lighting all artworks effectively. It will also enable us to celebrate our building’s unique architectural features in all their glory. Firstsite Shining is the first in a series of projects that we will deliver, to ultimately achieve net zero carbon by 2030 in accordance with the COP26 outcomes.”
