The Showroom Cinema is an independent cinema, café bar and creative workspace contributing to the

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In 2002, the cinema was voted the favourite independent cinema of ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

'' readers. In November 2007, Showroom was awarded the title Best Cultural Venue in Sheffield's Exposed' Magazine Awards.

Building

The Showroom Cinema is housed in a 1936

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

building which was formerly the Kennings

car dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

.Ruth Harman and John Minnis, ''Sheffield'' (

Pevsner Architectural Guides The ''Pevsner Architectural Guides'' are four series of guide books to the architecture of the British Isles. ''The Buildings of England'' series was begun in 1945 by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, with its forty-six original volumes pu ...

) It was first opened in 1993 with two screens; further phases of development have added another two screens, a bar and

cafe A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargil ...

and a meeting room, making it one of the attractions of Sheffield's

Cultural Industries Quarter The Cultural Industries Quarter is a district in the Sheffield City Centre, city centre of Sheffield, England, and one of the eleven Sheffield City Centre#Quarters, Quarters designated in the 1994 City Centre Strategy. It is roughly triangular ...

, in the south-east of the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

. Much of the remainder of the building is the Workstation, offices intended for use by business working in the

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

industries. The conversion programme was completed in 1998 and saw an entrance to the cinema created from Sheaf Square; the Workstation retains the original entrance on Paternoster Row. The building was used in the video for the

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. They comprise lead singer Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O'Malley. The co-founder and original bassist Andy Nicholson ...

song "

Leave Before the Lights Come On "Leave Before the Lights Come On" is a song by English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. The song was released on 14 August 2006 as the band's third single (music), single in the United Kingdom. The song was not included on the band's debut album ...

" in 2006. In 2015 plans for a thorough refurbishment of the Showroom were announced, but the cinema must raise £250,000 to undertake the work. The venue's four screens are to be refurbished, including new seats and carpeting throughout, as well as updated foyers and toilets.

Events

The Showroom is a venue for a programme called the BFI Film Academy which sharpens the creative skills of youths between 16 and 19 years of age. It gives the opportunity to qualify for a Silver Arts Award.

Festivals and events

Lovebytes (1995) Lovebytes Digital Art and Multimedia Festival. (1996) Lovebytes Festival. (1998) Sheffield Showcomotion Young People's Film Festival (1999–present) Lovebytes International Festival of Digital Art. (2001) Lovebytes International Festival of Digital Art. (2002) Lovebytes International Festival of Digital Art. (2003) Lovebytes International Festival of Digital Art. (2005) Environments International Festival of Digital Art and Media, Lovebytes. (2006) Digital Space at the Showroom Cinema (2006) Digital Space at the Showroom Cinema (2007) Digital Space at the Showroom Cinema (2008) Lovebytes. Digital Art in Sheffield. (2008) Celluloid Screams: Sheffield Horror Film Festival (2009) Celluloid Screams: Sheffield Horror Film Festival (2010) Celluloid Screams: Sheffield Horror Film Festival (2011) Celluloid Screams: Sheffield Horror Film Festival (2012) Celluloid Screams: Sheffield Horror Film Festival (2013) Celluloid Screams: Sheffield Horror Film Festival (2014) Celluloid Screams: Sheffield Horror Film Festival (2015) Lovebytes- Digital Spring. (2012) Off the shelf: festival of words (2013) Sensoria festival of music & film (2013) Sheffield doc/fest (2013)

References

External links

Official site
{{coord, 53, 22, 39, N, 1, 27, 54.1, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1936 Culture in Sheffield Buildings and structures in Sheffield Cinemas in Yorkshire Sheffield City Centre Art Deco architecture in England