HANGZHOU KERRY CENTRE PREMIERE CINEMAS

Reflector is an essential accessory for film production. The designers highlight the iconic round-shape of reflectors and incorporated that into the cinema design. To illustrate different degrees of light intensity, yellow, brown and dove color are used.

The theme is portrayed in a contemporary style in the ceiling feature. Round aluminium plates are installed to simulate reflectors, they are arranged in different manners, some are overlapping, some intersect with each other, enriching the ceiling layout. Some of the plates are made of brown color hairline-finish stainless steel, which allows them to stand out from the rest of the ceiling feature and enrich the decoration.

The theme is also presented abstractly in other decorations. For instance, giant round plates are stacked up to form places for the customers to sit. The elegant stone wall and counter tables are all specially designed, their normally right angled edges and corners are made round to harmonize with the round decorations throughout the lobby. The marble floor is decorated by curvy lines formed by stripe patterns. The entire lobby is filled with round features that echo with the theme of reflector.

In the corridor, tall floor lamps are installed along the wall. The top of these lamps are round in shape, with light shining upwards. When the light is being reflected on the wall, the circular halo created on the wall elegantly echo the theme of round reflector. The signages used in the cinema are also circular in shape, with the auditorium numbers printed on top.

The theme continues into the auditoriums. With regard to sound effect concerns, the flooring material changed from marble to carpet. The carpet, similar to the marble floor in the lobby, is decorated with circular patterns formed by stripes of lines. Various circular decorative plates made of sound absorbing panels are being placed along the wall. Acting like real reflectors, these plates point towards various angles, as if reflecting the light to add colors to the shot. Some of the plates are highlighted with orange and yellow colored lines.

Basing on the round shape of reflectors, the theme is being presented in different styles throughout the entire cinema, such as the circular decorative plates in the lobby ceiling, curvy floor patterns, decorative floor lamps in the corridor, etc. With this subtle presentation of the theme, the designers hint the audience the correlation between reflectors and cinematography.


Challenges:

Reflector is an essential accessory for cinematography. Basing on the round shape of reflectors, the theme is being presented in different styles throughout the cinema.

The biggest challenge of this project is the restriction in creativity of the design. As the client of this project is relatively more conservative, they prefer a “safer” design that is innovative but elegant at the same time. Besides, the client specially requested for easier maintenance and management, where the installation and decorations would not require specialized cleaning. There was also a limited budget for the interior design of this cinema. All these requirements have limited the illustration of the theme in the design.

Another difficulty lies in the limited space in the cinema. As the ceiling is relatively low throughout the cinema and the area is small, it was tricky for the designers to arrange installations and decorations, as it would easily look very crowded and crammed.

In the final design, the designers tailor-made round shaped aluminium plates as ceiling feature to imitate reflectors. These plates intersect with each other in different angles, and point towards various directions. As the arrangement of the plates were carefully designed by the designers to achieve the best look, a minor incongruence of the actual installation with the original design would ruin the entire decoration. It was a demanding task for the construction team to install these features accurately.


Solutions:

With regard to the client’s requirement of a relatively conservative design, the designers adopted a subtle presentation of the theme basing on the round shape of reflectors, such as the ceiling feature and chairs in the lobby, curvy floor patterns, etc. A good example would be the floor lamps in the corridor, where the circular halo on the wall echoes the theme of circular reflectors. The theme is incorporated into the furniture and decorations in the cinema, without adding burden to the client in maintenance.

In order to create a grand atmosphere to match with the location of the cinema, the designers used stone for the wall and floor. Stone is durable and requires very easy maintenance. The application of stone in this design has created a stylish and elegant sense, which matches with the aluminium plates in the ceiling feature.

Although the space is very limited in the cinema, with the correct use of color and lighting effect, the large scale ceiling feature does not look heavy at all, and instead enriches the entire space. The round shaped aluminium plates in the ceiling feature is eye-catching and elegant at the same time, these static installations have created a sense of movement throughout the cinema.

For the contractor to accurately install the ceiling feature and decorations, the designers have created 3D models as reference, and explained to them the importance of closely following the original design. The skillful contractors have successfully and accurately created the design in the cinema.