Drivers Jonas is leading the search to find a new site for the National Film Theatre and the British Film Institute (BFI) on London’s South Bank.
The BFI has launched an Options Appraisal and Feasibility Study, to be completed by the end of February 2007, to refine the delivery of the facility by 2012.
The centre is likely to include film theatres, a library, studios, access to the BFI archive, flexible exhibition space, seminar and education facilities, BFI offices and retail and catering space.
The BFI and the NFT, which moved to their present site underneath Waterloo Bridge in 1952, are part of the South Bank Centre arts complex and it is hoped a new location can be found in the area.
Drivers Jonas is working with arts consultants David Pratley Associates, destination consultants Locum Consulting and cost consultants Davis Langdon.
The project team will shortly appoint sub-consultants to undertake a physical concept appraisal to inform option generation, site selection and building feasibility.
Rob Colley, a partner of Drivers Jonas, said: “We are delighted to be involved in this work it is an important project, not just for London, the local community and the ‘Cultural Olympics’, but for the country as a whole.
“We look forward to working with the BFI and contributing the experience that we have gained from turning many high-profile cultural visions into reality.”
Director of the BFI, Amanda Nevill, said: “Britain has one of the most vibrant film industries in the world and it is inconceivable that there is no national centre for its celebration.
“Film as a cultural activity is every bit as important as theatre, dance, music or fine art.
“A major international centre in London dedicated to film will have far-reaching economic, social and cultural benefits, not just to the local community but also nationally, internationally and to the creative industries as a whole in Britain.”
References: EGi News 11/10/06
