United Cinemas Unicus Chichibu Complex by Mitsuhiro Shinohara

Bronze Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2023

United Cinemas Unicus Chichibu Complex

by Mitsuhiro Shinohara

A' Design Award 2023 Bronze Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
Awarded April 15, 2023
CLIENT: United Cinemas
Estimated Number of Design Views: 11,643
Verification code 1E8324E789 · Verify this award

Visit Site View at A' Design Award

Get a Badge

About United Cinemas Unicus Chichibu Complex

United Cinemas Unicus Chichibu is a cinema complex built for the city of Chichibu, which had been without a movie theatre for 29 years. The complex holds seven screens and 650 seats within 2,490 square metres. Most screens seat fewer than 100 people, which allows a wide variety of films to be shown for a small population. A curtain wall facade and a bright lobby finished with slate stone and wood welcome passers-by as well as film-goers. The design works as a living room for the city, where visitors of all ages can meet. All theatres use laser projectors and a digital signage system.

Press Kit

Unique Properties: The cinema complex has been waiting for citizens of the Chichibu for years. To answer the expectation for it, the cinema should be open and comfortable to people who do not watch movie. The cinema design to be here as like a living room for citizens. The city is famous for its nature as Mt. Buko, Nagatoro river, the rock pavement, and also the histrical view of town. This cinema takes them in and it succeed.
Dimensions & Packaging: 7 screens, 2,490.68 sqm., total capacity 650 seats. Most of screens are capacity of less than 100 seats. One 3D theatre. All theatres are installed a laser projector by Barco.
Tags: Movie Theatre, Cinema Complex, Cinema
Production Technology: Laser projector for all theatre, full automation projection system, disital signage system, Bems Gem2, 3D projection system
Design Challenge: This cinema has the most small capacity of the seats. It could be possible that make capacity more and less the amoutn of halls, but because of the feature of small population of the city and to make variety of showing movie, it is decided to make as possible as many halls with small amount of seats.
Project Duration: This project took over 10 years of planning, started in 2019 and finally be realized in 2022.
Chichibu is a famous tourist destination in the Kanto region, with a population of approximately 60,000 people, famous for its geo-sites such as Mt. Bukou, where concrete material was mined, Nagatoro Gorge, famous for its rock pavement and line rafting, and springtime lawn cherry blossoms. The movie theater was built adjacent to an existing neighborhood shopping facility.
Operation Flow: This project is cooperated with municipal office, the developper and United Cinemas to liven up the city as advertising and prompt citizens to the movie theatre.
The cinema is located where the main road from Tokyo district so we tried to make here become icon of the city.
PoteKuma-kun, the mascot character of the city, is adapted for exterior signage of the cinema that can see at image #3, a lot of advertisement, and coraborated with an advertisement movie before the show starts.
Also many news paper, radio, and local TV news picked us when the cinema opens and continues our cooperation for make citizens feel familier with movies and not to disappear a movie theatre from the city again.
Research: Even not very large area of the cinema, the curtain wall facade makes not only movie goer but also people who just interested can come easier. The lobby is as if it is sun room and nature look materials are adapted as like slate stones and woods, tried to take into the nature of Chichibu city into it. There are many older people at the city so tried to here to be a place just enjoy and makes communication over generations.
The cinema is not only a cinema complex, but also the living room with movie culture.
Inspiration: It have been a 29 years the Cihchibu city had lost a movie theatre. The developer P&D Consulting, the city and United Cinemas are planing to revive the movie theatre here for 10 years and in 2022 Summer, the cinema complex have been there with great welcoming by citizen.
Image Credits: All photos: P&D Consulting