Sidcup Storyteller

A new-build cinema and library that sits within a constrained site in the centre of Sidcup, with existing commercial premises to the western boundary and the highway, Station Road, to the east. To maintain a lower ground floor level throughout the development, the building is sunken into the ground to the northern end.

The structural design responds to the contrasting uses and differing size ‘rooms’ as you move north across the footprint. Exposed reinforced concrete beams reflect the load path of the cinema and residential structures above, including the raked/set back façade line to the main elevation. The use of visual in-situ concrete minimised the application of finishes and associated embodied carbon in these areas. The cantilevered ‘drum’ section over the main entrance of the building allowed for a relatively long and thin in-situ stair supported from one side. The scheme incorporates a blue roof, integrated around the rooftop plant, to attenuate stormwater runoff.