Plymouth is to be home to Europe’s first 360-degree cinema where audiences will be able to enjoy sports matches, gigs, plays, and movies on a domed screen that totally surrounds them.
Work has already begun in the project, part of a development which will create .
Those behind the project say that because the technology is so realistic it will seem to audiences like they are actually there at an event. It’s been described as a virtual reality set for 150 people,who will all experience something at the same time.
It could show live sport, cultural events including dance and music, and nature films – or be used for parties and even weddings.
The social enterprise Real Ideas Organisation CIC (RIO) is behind the overall plan to transform the 166-year-old, Grade II-listed Devonport Market Hall into an IT and business centre, with the immersive cinema housed in an adjoining extension as its centrepiece.
Top TV design guru Wayne Hemingway, with his internationally renowned company Hemingway Design, was brought in to work on the project at an early stage.
In 2018 RIO submitted detailed plans to Plymouth City Council, drawn by Plymouth’s Le Page Architects, for the refurbishment and extension of the building so it would contain a restaurant, kitchen, the immersive dome, a new amenity space, offices, function rooms and event and exhibition space.
Classic Builders – which has bases in Plymouth, Exeter and Redruth – has started work on the site, with steel for the 11m high structure already shooting up by July 2019.
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That will house the 15m diameter dome, “the centrepiece of the building restoration”, which is being made in the USA.
“The extension will also house a café/bar and two function rooms with a combined capacity of 120,” a RIO spokesperson said. “The basic frame will be erected over the next two weeks with secondary steelwork and cladding to follow.”
Structural steel specialist Jade-Aden, based in Dorset and Plymouth, is creating the steel skeleton. It will cover a floor area of 18m by 30m. RIO is promising minimal demolition to the fabric of the Victorian building but is stripping out more modern parts, such as opening blocked archways.
A design brief submitted to the council said: “The Market Hall will be the South West’s new space for digital, a space for research, learning, enterprise and visitors.
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“Anchoring and attracting talent to the city, the scheme will see the redevelopment of the historic Grade II listed Devonport Market Hall as a new world-class digital centre, further establishing Plymouth and the South West as national leaders in digital innovation; driving collaboration, experimentation, development, and play.”
It said the development would centre around the immersive dome theatre providing Plymouth with a new and unique visitor and cultural draw.
The overall plan includes 22,250sq ft of flexible office, event, “experimentation”, and work space.
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The Market Hall will support digital skills, inclusion and innovation; foster cutting edge research and providing development facilities for business, the brief said.
“The Market Hall will add to the regeneration in the west of Plymouth and Devonport and create a unique skills pipeline connecting primary schools through to industry,” the document added.
“There will also be a strong focus on city-based and regional business, connected to a central offer to schools and wider learning institutions.”
RIO, the organisation behind the revamp of the listed Devonport Guildhall, which is nearby, is recognised as a national leader in social enterprise.
The Market Hall project is a partnership between RIO, Plymouth City Council, the University of Plymouth, City College Plymouth and Devonport High Schools for Boys, plus several of the region’s brightest digital businesses.
To contact William Telford: william.telford@reachplc.com
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