2008

Assignment 2:
Analysis of existing
building type
City Stars Cinema Complex
[Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short
summary of the contents of the document. Type the abstract of the document
here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document.]

City Stars Cinema Complex

Hewlett-Packard
10/21/2008

Table of Contents
I.

Standards of cinema design .................................................................................................................. 5

Circulation ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Entrances ............................................................................................................................................... 5
Box booth (tickets) ................................................................................................................................ 5
Aisles ...................................................................................................................................................... 5
Fire Escape ............................................................................................................................................. 5
Accessibility ............................................................................................................................................... 5
Lobbies .................................................................................................................................................. 5
Cafeteria/Waiting Area.......................................................................................................................... 5
Restrooms.............................................................................................................................................. 6
Furniture .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Un-Movable ........................................................................................................................................... 6
HVAC ............................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Air conditioning sound damping ............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Air Conditioning Rooms ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Sound......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Lights ......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Parking ......................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

II.

Investigation of City Stars Cinema Complex (Local Case Study) ........................................................... 9

Accessibility ............................................................................................................................................... 9
Parking ....................................................................................................................................................... 9
Zoning ...................................................................................................................................................... 10
Plan. ......................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Bubble Diagram. .................................................................................................................................. 10
Circulation ............................................................................................................................................... 10
Entrances ............................................................................................................................................. 10
Reception Lobby/Ticket booth ................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Corridors .............................................................................................................................................. 10
Aisles .................................................................................................................................................... 10

2|Page

Fire exit ................................................................................................................................................ 11

Spaces .................................................................................................................................................. 11
Furniture .................................................................................................................................................. 13
Un-Movable ......................................................................................................................................... 13
Movable ............................................................................................................................................... 14
Sound....................................................................................................................................................... 14
Corridors: ............................................................................................................................................. 14
Materials:............................................................................................................................................. 14
Noise absorber Doors: ......................................................................................................................... 14
Lights ........................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Handicapped............................................................................................................................................ 15
III.

Analysis of Mandurah Boardwalk Cinema (International Case Study):........................................... 17

Zoning ...................................................................................................................................................... 17
Plan ...................................................................................................................................................... 17
Section of the cinema complex. .......................................................................................................... 18
Bubble Diagram ................................................................................................................................... 19
Circulation ............................................................................................................................................... 19
Entrances ................................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Reception Lobby/Ticket booth ............................................................................................................ 19
Table 1: Each auditorium and the current aisles ................................................................................. 20
Fire Escape ........................................................................................................................................... 20
Accessibility ............................................................................................................................................. 20
Cafeteria/Waiting Area........................................................................................................................ 20
Restrooms................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Cinema halls ............................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Furniture .................................................................................................................................................. 21
Un-Movable ......................................................................................................................................... 21
Seating arrangement ........................................................................................................................... 21
Screen .................................................................................................................................................. 21
Movable ............................................................................................................................................... 22
Sound....................................................................................................................................................... 22
Handicapped............................................................................................................................................ 22

3|Page

Parking ..................................................................................................................................................... 22
Fire Rating................................................................................................................................................ 22
IV.

Comparison between Local & International Case Studies: ............................................................. 23

V.

Check List for Optimum Design: .......................................................................................................... 26

4|Page

I. Standards of cinema design

Accessibility
Entrances
i.
Entrances with waiting areas to prevent traffic
Parking
i.
Normally 1 per 5 to 10 spectators.
ii.
The size will depend on the location and the number of seats in the cinema hall,
the number of venues.
iii. Local laws will determine the number of handicapped and their location.

Circulation
Lobbies
i.
Lobbies mediate between the outdoors and the cinema space itself
ii.
A successful lobby must be sized to allow comfortable circulation and milling
space for all the people
iii. Rest rooms, public phones, drinking fountains, concessions and merchandising
should be provided and located within easy access.
Box booth (tickets)
i.
Ticket booths require multiple windows and areas for computer workstations.
ii.
Multiple windows must be available for both current displaying and future
displaying.
Aisles
i.
Straight radial aisles are better for seeing purposes (scan from time saver p731)
ii.
They must be employed in many localities because
iii. An aisle should be of a maximum width of 1.2 m.
iv.
As the aisle length increases with conventional seating, good design practice and
building codes generally require that cross aisles be added to the seating plan to
ensure reasonable travel distance to exist.
Fire Escape
i.
These should be very obvious to users and positioned so as to allow the rapid
dispersion of escaping people in a place of safety, away from fire hazards.

Spaces
Cafeteria/Waiting Area
i.
The foyers are subdivided into actual foyer, cafeteria and a smoking area. An area
of foyer should be 0.8-2.0 m/ spectator.
5|Page

Restrooms
i.
Bathrooms should have a minimum of one fixture for every 25 people; these
should be allocated 65% for women and 35% for men.
ii.
Rest rooms should be distributed in proportion to the seats at each level of the
cinema and also must provide accessible fixtures compliance with applicable
codes and regulations
iii. People should not have to travel more than one level up or down to get to the rest
room.
iv.
Minimum width of 120cm for handicapped fixture inside the restrooms plus hand
rails located on each wall.
Staff / Storage Rooms
i.
There should be a changing and rest room for ushers and technical
personnel with a minimum width of 3 m.

Furniture
Un-Movable
Figure 1

Seating arrangement
i. Seating must be designed such that all audience
have a clear and unobstructed view of the screen.
ii. The spacing between the end of the chair and the
front of the other should not be less than 45 cm.
this spacing would provide a clear space between
the persons knees and the back of the chair in the
next forward row. Also it will not require that a
seated person stand to permit passage of another
person. Measurement from seats back to the
next seats back should be at least 90 cm as
shown in Figure 2.
iii. Spectators should sit within the outside edge of
the screen.
iv. The floor gradient is achieved by an inclination
of up to 10 % or by the use of steps with
maximum step height of 16 cm

Figure 2

Figure 3

Screen
i. The height/side ratio should be 1:2.34. Screens should be sound permeable
to allow the sound to be transferred to the audience (the main speakers
are located behind the cinemascope screen). The lower edge of the

6|Page

projection screen should be at least 1.20 cm above the floor. The screen
should be curved with a radius centered on the last row of seats.
ii. The viewing angle from the first row of seats to the centre of the screen
should not exceed 30 degrees.
iii. The viewing angle from the last row of seats to the centre of the screen
should not exceed 38 degrees.
iv. The angle from the last row of seat to the outer edge of the picture should
be at most 38 degrees. S

Figure 4

7|Page

Sound
i.
ii.
iii.

Walls and ceilings are made of non reflective materials and not in too bright
colors. The back wall of the cinema should be sound absorbent to prevent echo
The loudspeakers should be distributed around the auditorium so that the volume
differs between the first and the last row of seats does not exceed 4dB.
Sound dampers are provided in air ducts to reduce noise from installed machinery
into the air conditioning rooms. The length of these in the direction of air flow is
1.5 to 3 m depending on the air damping to be achieved.

Lights
i.
ii.

The cinema should have no outside light

Emergency lights

8|Page

II. Investigation of City Stars Cinema Complex (Local Case Study)

Accessibility
City Stars Cinema Complex exists in City Stars Mall, the Cinema is on the 5th floor. There
are 2 stairs, 2 escalators and 2 elevators. Parking

Figure 5 Floor Plan

Figure 6 Access Plan

Parking
City Stars Mall includes an easy accessible indoor parking which is designed to fit over
6,000 vehicles. If someone is going to the cinema, he/she is required to show the cinema
ticket and he pays a low price for the parking fees.

9|Page

Zoning
Bubble Diagram.
Box Office

Cafeteria
Seats
Cinema
Halls

Office

Roo
ms

Circulation
Entrances
There are 2 glass double doors with a total width about 2 meters, only one is used
for the audience to come and the other one is not used even in case of high
seasons. After accessing the door, the entrances are with big waiting areas.
Box booth (tickets)
As mentioned above that City Stars is one of the biggest cinema in Egypt, it was
required to have a big number of tickets' window in order to avoid the crowd; City
Stars Cinema has 10 ticket windows with 120 cm width. Behind the windows,
there are areas for computer workstations.
Corridors
The corridors leading to the cinema have two right angle corners; they are wide enough
which allow a good circulation among the audience. Their width is 182cm.
Aisles
The aisles in City Stars Cinema are
strait. In the big cinema that fit big
number of audience, the cinema is
designed to have 2 aisles which make it
more easily for people to come in and
out. They have three steps repeated each
150 cm for the ease of walking down
through the corridor. Each step is about

10 | P a g e

10 cm with also in comfortable high for all ages of users.

Fire Escape
Each cinema hall has only 1 exit door leading to one corridor that is leading to the street.
The width of the fire exit double door is 170 cm. The Only corridor that links all the
cinema fire exit doors is about 220 cm wide.
Spaces
Cafeteria/Waiting Area
The Entrance in City Stars Cinema Complex is divided into several areas; main
entrance, cafeteria and a smoking area. A large space is located in the entrance to
accommodate a cafeteria bar and its tables and chairs. As people going to the
cinema always like to eat snacks and the most popular one in cinemas is popcorn,
in City Stars Cinema Complex, there is a suitable area that allow users to buy what
they want to eat in the cinema without a need to go outside. This cafeteria doesnt
need a kitchen for it since it doesnt offer cooked food, only snacks. The place
holds about 8 round tables with their 4 chairs around them. The waiting area is
also designed to allow smoking in the area as it is equipped with a ventilation
system.

Figure 7 Cafeteria's waiting area

11 | P a g e

Restrooms
It is a must for any public place to have restrooms for its users. Bathrooms were taken
into consideration in the space planning design. The bathroom area is located next to the
entrance, employees offices, cafeteria and halls. It is the easiest places to go to from
anywhere in the cinema complex.
The entrance of the restrooms doesnt allow the users to enter directly to the bathrooms.
There is a right angle turn to enter the bathrooms which gives privacy to the users inside
there. Both the mens and womens had 3 to 4 cabinets. The sinks and toilets cabinet are
very close to each other.
Staff/Storage Rooms
Offices:
After all a huge complex like this one must be ran by high value employees who deserve
suitable offices to stay in. The employees' job in the cinema obliges them to watch all
facilities and always be present close to them. In the cinema complex the offices were
located between the ticket booths and the cinema halls to allow employee go anywhere
easily if there is a problem or so. The area of the offices is almost 5 x 2.5 m. there is only
one office for all the managers.
Storage Room:
The cinema staff uses a storage room to store bathrooms utilities and banners. According
to the Cinema manager, the space of the room is small.
Air Conditioning Rooms Projectors Room:
There is a high level located in the back
of the cinema halls, opposite to the
screen where all the projectors and A/C
rooms are located. This floor consists of
small rooms to accommodate the A/C
and projectors. In able to reach this
floor, 20 steps @ 20cm should be
climbed. Its height is about 4 m. The
corridor is very narrow. It makes only
one person to pass through it, about 70
cm.
For a huge cinema complex like this
one, there should be huge air
conditioning to make the weather in the
cinema comfortable for its users.

Figure 8

12 | P a g e

For each hall there is a room of A/C machines. These rooms should be directly facing the
halls in order to build its air tube into the cinema halls. The rooms of the A/C are about 10
m.
These rooms are located in the higher level of the A/C, the projectors are located. These
projectors are all on one straight line as well as the cinema off course. They dont need to
be put on a room. They have their own place between the rooms of the A/C but open to
the corridor.

Furniture
Un-Movable
Seating arrangement
i.

City stars cinema complex has large halls that fit around 250 people. And also
it has small halls that fit 200 people. It has large showing rooms.
There is a good distance between each row, about 70cm, to allow people to go to their seat
without having to bump into the others sitting down. The halls are inclined with a certain angle to
allow all audience to have a clear and unobstructed view of the screen.
ii.

The seats at City Stars Cinema are very comfortable and padded.
Table 1

Features

Large halls

Small halls

Capacity

250

200

Number of aisles

Number of seats
per row

18 (divided by two aisles)

14 ( divided by one aisles )

Screen
The screen is put 650 cm away from the first row of spectators to allow them
see the screen easily without hurting their neck. The screens height form the
ground is 170 cm to allow all the spectators to have a comfort vision of it.

13 | P a g e

Doors
All the door of the cinema halls are double doors of width 180 cm

Movable
Seats in lobby
There are four tables, each one has four chairs. These are located in the
waiting area.

Sound
Corridors:
They are done curved to the right angle in
order to distort noise.
Materials:
Carpets are glued on the floor and on the
walls inside the cinema halls and its corridors.
Noise absorber Doors:
Figure 9

All the doors of the cinema are double doors which are sound isolating (no vibration can
exit the hall.).

14 | P a g e

Figure 10

Handicapped
On the entrance of City stars cinema, one will find that there is a large number of stairs; the
designers didn't take into consideration about having someone coming with wheelchair, in the
cinema theater itself, and the bathrooms. There are no slopes. There are only stairs.

Criticism:
Positives:
1- Parking:
There are enough parking slots that are enough to suite the people who come
to watch a movie in the cinema.
2- Box booth (tickets):
The number of ticket windows that exist is enough to suit the cinema, Also, in front of the ticket
window there is a big free space that allow people to circulate smoothly during the crowd days.
The ticket windows are designed well compared to the standard design.
3- Cafeteria/Waiting Area:
The cafeteria and the waiting area are following the standard design as mentioned above.

15 | P a g e

4- Seating arrangement:
The seating arrangement in City Stars Cinema Complex is designed well as it allow all audience
to have a clear and unobstructed view of the screen. Additionally, it seats are comfortable for
people as the distance between each row is enough.

5- Sound:
Sound is good treated in City Stars Complex as it is treated in all way possible starting with the
curved corridors leading to the Cinema halls, to the furniture used in the halls and finally the
double doors that don't allow vibration to cross the hall.

Negatives:
1- Entrances
As they are only using one door, this doesn't allow a smooth circulation during high
seasons because this entire number of audience is required to show their tickets at a time
which takes a lot of time. If the other door gets opened, this will allow a free, smooth
circulation towards the waiting area.
2- Fire Escape
As each cinema hall has only 1 exit door leading to one corridor leading to the street; this
doesnt allow a rapid dispersion of escaping people. People hurrying to escape in case of
fire can pull each other as the space is not wide enough. This may cause severe
catastrophe.

3- Handicapped
The design in City Stars Cinema Complex doesn't help handicaps to have a smooth
circulation to the cinema, in other words, the design is not done to suit or welcome any
handicap to come in. this starts by having a big number of stairs that one has to cross in
order to reach the cinema without having any slopes. Also, in the bathrooms, there is no
bathroom designed for handicaps.

16 | P a g e

III.Analysis of Mandurah Boardwalk Cinema (International Case

Study):
Zoning
Plan

Figure 11 International Case Study Floor Plan

17 | P a g e

Section of the cinema complex.

Figure 12 Section

18 | P a g e

Bubble Diagram

Cafeterias

Fire Exit
Cinema
Auditorium

Rest Rooms

Lobbies
Stairs

Figure 13 Bubble diagram of the Cinema Complex

Circulation
Reception Lobby/Ticket booth
The tickets counters are 12 in number, out of which 2 are for handicap people with
a lower counter which makes it easily accessible for a wheelchair person.

Figure 14 The maximum and the minimum distance the wheelchair person can reach

19 | P a g e

Aisles
The aisles differences from one auditorium to another, because there are 6 halls, out
of which 3 are of different sides. The current aisles are as explained below:
Table 2

Auditorium Number
Required Aisles
2
2.5
4
2.5
6
1.5

Current Aisles
2.75
2.6
2.6

Table 1: Each auditorium and the current aisles

Fire Escape
There are also two fire exit in every hall, one is directly from the cinema to the
outside and the other exist is through a path from the foyer area, provided that
there is a Portable fire extinguishers and fire hose reels and a External fire hydrant
protection as well. There are also emergency exist way and there are emergency
lights as well.

Accessibility
Cafeteria/Waiting Area
There are candy bars looked near the cinema hall entrances, which are easily accessed.
Another important feature which makes the place attractive is the wide range of
restaurants and caf shops which are around the city center. The caf is a longitudinal
extension, and it is receded inside so that the way is not blocked by those passing by.
There is also a
number of columns
which are arranged
in such a way so to
separate
the
auditoriums
entrances from the
cafeteria.
The
columns also act as
a partition between
the chairs which are
kept in the opposite
direction from the
cafeterias.
Figure 15 The loop area is wide and there are number of seating zones

20 | P a g e

Furniture
Un-Movable
Seating arrangement
Seating space for people with disabilities are placed in the sixth row from above,
whereby the access to this seating is done through a wheelchair stair lift
travelling up of the 2 main aisles. The cinema auditorium is made up of stadium
type of seating, whereby the access and the egress of this seating is through 2
stepped aisles located at the sides of the auditorium. Each one of the 3 halls is of
a different size, the number of seating in the hall and its capacity is listed below.
Table 3 The seating capacity in each auditorium

Auditorium Number
2
4
6

Seating Capacity
256
214
141

The second auditorium is the largest and then the fourth is the Intermediated and
the sixth one is the smallest among them. The seat is 1090 in width and 400 in
height, and it is an armchair which is comfortable in seating and luxury in
appearances.

Figure 16 The Seating areaa inside auditorium 4

Screen
The screen is placed at a distance of 2 meters from the first row of seating, and it
is at a height of 1245 from the ground. The screen is 7370 as its total height and
the rows of seating are within a height of 4000 from the ground. This
measurement is as per the 6th auditorium, which is the smallest of all (Section,
Fig 2). The auditorium is also wall-to-wall screen.

21 | P a g e

Movable
Seats in lobby

Sound
Handicapped
The cinema hall is designed in such a way that it fulfill the Standard requirement of the
physical disable people. There are two elevators, whereby the wheelchairs people can
easily use it. It is however, the only cinema of its type in Australia. The total width of the
wheelchair stair is 1020 mm. The installation of the wheelchair stair lift will effectively
close off one aisle in a worst case scenario.

Parking
Car Parking surrounds the complex, and Reading Cinemas Mandurah is within walking
distance from the town centre. There is also a number of parking meant to be for disable
people now, which is designed with the following measurement.

Figure 17

Fire Rating
The wall is designed so to resist the fire between the cinemas for a minimum of 2 hours
whereas the doors fire rating is 1 hour. The doors are one hour fire rating between the cinema
and the lobby.

22 | P a g e

IV. Comparison between Local & International Case Studies:

Standards

Local Case Study

International Case Study

Accessibility
There is no walking area distance
between the cinema auditorium and
the parking. If one parked his/her car
in the parking, he has to go up stairs
average 5 to 7 floors.

The parking area is within a walking

distance from the cinema auditorium
and is also designed for handicap
people.

The entrance will allow a smooth

circulation if they opened the other
door already designed. Additionally,
They have a wide waiting area.

No Information

2. Box Office (Ticket Booth)

The box office is made to the

standard but there is special ticket
window for handicaps.

The box office is made to the standard

level and it also have two counters for
handicap people.

3. Corridors

The corridors are wide enough to

allow a smooth circulation.

No information

4. Aisles

The aisles are designed up to the

standard, as in big cinemas there are
2 aisles that allow free circulation.
It is not designed to suit the needs of
handicaps as there are made of stairs
and there are no slopes.

The aisles are designed so that it is

above the standards required, thus
providing a wider space for the
occupants of the cinema, making it
more comfortable and luxuries. It is
also designed to suit the needs of the
handicap viewers.

There is only one fire exit door in

each hall, all of them leading to only
one corridor; the corridor doesn't
allow smooth circulation n case of
fire.

There are 2 fire exits in each hall, thus

satisfying the basic requirements of
the cinema, and the corridor is wide
enough to allow the wheelchair people
to escape during fire.

1. Entrances to the cinema

complex
2. Parking

Circulation
1. Entrances

5. Fire exits

23 | P a g e

Spaces
1. Cafeteria/Waiting Area
The waiting area is designed up to
the standard. It includes a big
cafeteria that provides a wide variety
of snacks.

The cafeteria are designed so that it

doesnt block the way to the cinema
auditorium, and it also includes a wide
range of cafes and snacks, so that it
attract people to the place, and also
designed as per the local law of
disability.

There are no restrooms designed for

handicaps. The bathrooms location
is designed in a way that provides
privacy.

No information

The staff room is not big enough.

No information

The seating arrangement is done

well so that it allows good seeing for
all audience from the different
places. There are no special seats for
handicaps.

The seating differs from one hall to

another in number; however, there are
sides which are designed to suit the
handicap (the sixth row). It is designed
so that all the occupants could view
the screen easily from all sides.

2. Restrooms

3. Staff Rooms

Furniture
1. Seating Arrangement

2. Screen

The screen is placed at a distance of

650 cm away from the first row of
spectators. The screens height form
the ground is 170 cm

The screen is placed at a distance of 2

meters from the first row of seating,
and it is at a height of 1245 from the
ground. The auditoriums are wall-towall screen.

Mechanical Services
noise
1. HVAC System
The HVAC system has an automatic
shut off system upon activation of the
smoke detection system.
2. Ventilation:
The cinema is provided with a
ventilation system, in order to

The cinema is provided with smoke

detectors in the lobby area in order to
24 | P a g e

absorb the cigarettes smoke.

However, in case of crowd the
ventilation system doesn't operate
effectively.

ensure that the occupants get a clean

air. The system of smoke detection
and mechanical smoke exhaust
enables safe evacuation for all
occupants.

No Information

The wall is designed so to resist the

fire between the cinemas for a
minimum of 2 hours whereas the
doors fire rating is 1 hour. The doors
are one hour fire rating between the
cinema and the lobby.

There is good sound isolation in the

cinema auditorium which allows the
audience to enjoy watching the
movie without listening to noise
come from outside or from the other
cinema auditoriums.

No Information

3. Fire rating Materials.

4. Sound

25 | P a g e

V. Check List for Optimum Design:

Summary of Design Requirements

26 | P a g e