Architecture and cinema share a profound and intertwined re-

lationship—both are spatial arts that shape how we perceive

the world around us. In film, architecture grounds the fantas-

tical, rooting otherworldly narratives in believable environ-

ments. In architecture, film offers a lens through which spac-

es can transcend function and become charged with emotion,

memory, and symbolism. This project explores that shared ter-

ritory, designing a building that not only houses the cine-

matic arts but becomes an immersive cinematic experience in

itself.

The building acts as a living archive, an educational and

public space where fiction and reality blend through the use

of homage. Rather than replicating famous film sets, it rein-

terprets them—layering iconic cinematic references into a new

architectural narrative. Each element within the structure

pays tribute to different moments in film history, transform-

ing recognisable fragments of cinema into functional, tangi-

ble spaces. The result is a building that feels both familiar

and dreamlike, where every space and surface teaches, evokes,

and inspires.

As someone who loves film, every detail of the building mat-

tered to me. From the Frank Lloyd Wright Ennis House panels

used on the set of Blade Runner which have been repurposed

as soundproofing panels in the screening rooms, to the chore-

ographed movement of a Busby Berkeley-inspired ground floor,

and the library which references Interstellar’s ‘Tesseract’,

a dimensional space where time is physically layered allowing

us to interact with the past through film.

The building becomes a carefully curated journey through

the language of cinema. The architectural design incorpo-

rates techniques directly borrowed from film itself—jump cuts

are evoked through the sudden vertical shifts of stairs and

lifts; narrative linearity is reflected in the sequential ex-

perience of ascending through the building’s layers. Moving

through the structure is akin to watching a film: immersive,

sequential, and filled with moments of surprise and recogni-

tion.

Glasgow, the building’s setting, also has a deep relationship

with film—serving as a stand-in for cities like New York and

Gotham, and home to productions ranging from the Oscar-win-

ning Seawards the Great Ships to Trainspotting. The form of

the Corten steel façade simulates a Glasgow tenement build-

ing and uses traditional techniques outlined in Seawards the

Great Ships underlining the idea of a set within a set, and

carrying on the idea that Glasgow itself has also been used a

set. This building is as much about place as it is about me-

dium. It was important for the project to remain public, re-

inforcing the idea that cinema is a collective experience,

and that architecture—like film—is for people. As the saying

goes, “People Make Glasgow.”

In an age of digital streaming, sustainability also plays a

role. Streaming a film at home produces up to 110 grams more

carbon than watching it on DVD. This project includes a mas-

sive DVD library capable of holding approximately 140,000

discs—roughly the entire catalogue of English-language

live-action films ever released on DVD—preserving media in a

more sustainable and tangible form.

By fusing cinematic movements, genres, and periods into a co-

hesive whole, the building becomes more than a library or

cinema—it is a spatial narrative, a constructed reality that

invites visitors to suspend disbelief. It’s a place where

sets become spaces, where the fictional becomes functional,

and reality is escaped.