An award-winning Scottish architects firm has been appointed to develop plans to save a beloved art deco former cinema backed by a famous benefactor.
Loader Monteith, conservation architects behind the Jenners building, is to work on proposals for a community restoration project that has been supported by a bestselling American author.
The Glasgow-based company has been appointed to lead a design team undertaking detailed feasibility work on the project on the former George cinema in Portobello, Edinburgh.
The commission, by the Friends of George group, is supported by the award of a grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund.
The group has had previous financial help from US novelist Victoria Schwab, who writes as VE Schwab and who has been living in the area for a number of years. The acclaimed writer, whose novel The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is one of many bestsellers, is now a benefactor for the community cinema project.
The design team’s work will dovetail into an in-depth commercial and operational assessment being undertaken by independent cinema consultants, Mustard Studios, whose work is being funded by a grant from the Scottish Land Fund.
Loader Monteith approached Stefanie Fischer, a leading cinema architect within the UK’s independent cinema sector to join their team as a sub-consultant. Her expertise as a cinema architect complements the expertise of Loader Monteith Architects as conservation architects.
The appointment of the Loader Monteith led team builds on a long-running campaign by FoTG who have been working to save the art deco former cinema from demolition.
With strong support from within their community, FoTG hope to acquire and restore the C-listed building, and operate it as a cinema for the community.
These latest commissions will also include input from educational and film industry partners, the group said.
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Mike Griffiths, Friends of the George chair, said: “We are delighted to be able to appoint such an expert team of professionals to develop and refine our proposals as we continue to point the way towards a positive future for The George not only in the heart of the community of Portobello, but more broadly, to play a role in the cinema sector in Scotland.
“The consultants we have working on this bring extensive expertise and experience to the project and will be led by a firm of architects with a burgeoning reputation for exciting contemporary architectural design, deployed to breathe new life into historic buildings.
“We’re extremely grateful for the financial support we have received from the Architectural Heritage Fund, the Scottish Land Fund and our benefactor Victoria Schwab.”
Iain King, specialist conservation architect and director at Loader Monteith, said: "We are pleased to have been selected as the lead architects, alongside our expert team of consultants, to support the Friends of The George in developing the proposal for the George Cinema.
“Despite the building currently being on the Buildings at Risk Register, it benefits from strong community support and the dedication of the Friends of The George, a group committed to preserving this Art Deco gem and restoring it as a sustainable, independent cinema. We look forward to collaborating with them on this important project."
Last year, Friends of The George Limited had the cinema building formally valued by a firm of professional surveyors and made an offer to purchase it as a “restoring purchaser”, based on that valuation.
Funds for the purchase were very offered at that stage by benefactor, writer VE Schwab.
This offer was rejected by the current owners of the building, Buckley Building, which has had plans to demolish part of the cinema to build flats rejected.
The group said: “Recent silent community protests, independent of the FoTG group, have called on the current owner of the building to clear up the mess outside of the cinema and to address the continued neglect and dereliction of the building.”
Buckley Building was contacted for comment.
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