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Beyond the Screen

Part 1 Project 2025
Jen Ho (Harrods) Tai
 Newcastle University | UK
Beyond the Screen reimagines Edinburgh’s historic Filmhouse as more than a cinema. It becomes a storytelling space that captures memory, emotion and community connection. Inspired by the ideas of Louis Kahn, Aldo Rossi and Peter Zumthor, the project explores how light, material and geometry can guide people through an architectural journey that mirrors the rhythm of film.

The design follows a sequence of emotional stages: curiosity, immersion, reflection and reconnection. Modular geometry and adaptive reuse strategies retain the spirit of the former church while introducing new spaces for gathering and shared experience. By simplifying complex narratives into spatial clarity, the architecture becomes a quiet storyteller.

Materials like recycled wood, Scottish slate and textured concrete enhance atmosphere and sensory depth. Natural light filters through the building to guide movement and create moments of pause.

The outcome is a cinematic experience shaped by architecture itself. This project respects the past while creating space for new memories to form. Visitors are not just watching a film. They are stepping into a story of their own.

Tutor(s)
John Kinsley
Fiona McNeill
2025
Image 01 – A Return, Not a Repetition Poetic opening statement exploring memory, presence and reinterpretation of the Filmhouse 'spirit'.
Image 02 – The Caretaker of Stories Narrative of Elias Bryce personifying the Filmhouse history, alongside timeline of historical transformations.
Image 03 – From Memory to Line of Enquiry Conceptual framework influenced by Kahn, Rossi and Zumthor, guiding explorations in cinema and architecture.
Image 04 – In Praise of Darkness Atmospheric study on silence and light, inspired by Zumthor’s materiality and sensory approach.
Image 05 – Point, Line, and Plane Reduction of Filmhouse geometry into Euclidean elements to uncover spatial clarity and typology.
Image 06 – Recomposing the Filmhouse Modular grid strategy showing 4×4 metre spatial cells, lightwell integration and material reuse.
Image 07 – Curiosity and Compression Spatial sequence diagrams illustrating transitions from tight thresholds to open volumes.
Image 08 – The Film Never Ends on the Screen Storyboard of the visitor journey: Arrival, Light, Meditation, and Rooftop reflection.
Image 09 – Beyond the Screen Sectional perspective summarising the architectural narrative: rhythm, light and cinematic experience.
Image 10 – The Quiet Continuity of Stone and Light Adaptive reuse strategy layering old and new, highlighting retained sandstone and stained glass.
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