The spectacular building applauded for looking rather like a Bond villain bunker, located in the middle of the Warwickshire countryside in Gaydon, has been making waves throughout the design and eco-minded communities. The British Film Institute (BFI’s) sleek new Master Film Store, designed by Edward Cullinan Architects, is a cold, dry fridge which keeps film fire-proof in low temperatures and humidity in an ecologically sustainable building.
Other than film preservation, environmental sustainability and low energy costs were the key drivers for this project, which has been ear-marked for receiving a BREEAM Excellence award (the world-class code for sustainability awarded by the UK’s building Research Establishment). Its picturesque green roof with a layer of growing plants helps it blend seamlessly into the local habitat and maintain almost the same level of bio-diversity which existed before the construction took place.
It’s re-assuring to know that this project, part of the BFI’s Screen Heritage UK (SHUK) project, is flying the flag for green technologies whilst preserving prints from the early works of Mitchell and Kenyon to Hitchcock’s masterpieces and, most recently, The King’s Speech, from deteriorating and being lost forever.
