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I have a friend in the process of buying a theater with just 1 theater and is thinking of expanding to a theater with a total of 4-6 theaters in a space that is right next door. The question I have is should he either building a brand new theater next door and scrap the old one or should he build a theater and use the old theater for a 2nd run theater to make extra revenue.

It depends on the space available for building theaters. If he has enough space so that a brand new theater can be build along with the older one then it is well and good otherwise it would be better to go for only the new one so that he can explore his ideas well how to build the new one!


projector hire

Depending on the situation, there are a number of ways to approach this.

Is the space “right next door” a vacant building or undeveloped property? If it is a vacant building, will the existing conditions allow for the conversion into a new theater without significant structural alterations?

Also, will developing the adjacent space, whether as new construction or conversion, result in auditorium sizes that satisfy your operational requirements? What if the largest of the 4-6 auditoriums ends up having a significantly less seat count than the existing single screen theater? Will this be a problem?

Lastly, if the existing theater and adjacent space are connected, your friend can approach the project as an upgrade and expansion of an existing theater.

With any of the scenarios, your friend would benefit by hiring an experienced movie theater architect to develop preliminary layouts with alternatives on how to address the issues.

I take it you do cinema designs?

Yes, we are architects who specialize in movie theater design and we would be happy to assist your friend. Contact me directly to discuss the issues in more detail. Regardless of whether he chooses to initiate our services, I strongly recommend the hiring of any experienced movie theater architect. The investment for the initial planning will serve to develop the most appropriate approach for the project as well as produce a visual representation for the scope of work as you move the process forward.