Plans to redevelop Bethnal Green’s historic Genesis Cinema unanimously refused

Tower Hamlets council has unanimously refused plans by Falconer Chester Hall and NBDA to rebuild a 1930s cinema in Bethnal Green and add a 291-room student accommodation block to the site.

Councillors voted to support a recommendation from planning officers to refuse the redevelopment of the Genesis Cinema at a planning committee meeting last week.

The scheme would have downsized the historic Art Deco cinema from five to four screens and reduced its total seating capacity by more than half, from 946 seats to 447 seats.

Proposals for the new cinema have been designed by cinema-specialist practice NBDA with Falconer Chester Hall behind plans for the adjoining eight-storey student accommodation building, which would have been built towards the back of the site.

Located at 93-97 Mile End Road, the Genesis cinema was built in 1939 and has been refurbished twice, in 1973 and secondly in 1998 when it was bought by its current owner, Tyrone Walker-Hebborn. 

Walker-Hebborn is the co-founder of the East End Film Festival, which was centred at the cinema from 2000 until 2020, when it ceased due to the covid pandemic.

The cinema itself has suffered from a decline in attendance in recent years and is now at risk of closure due to a number of factors which have threatened its viability, including the pandemic and the rise of streaming services.

The project team behind the redevelopment of the site warned in planning documents for the scheme that a “major change is now required if the cinema is to survive”.

But Tower Hamlets council said the proposals fail to meet key policy requirements due to its lack of any affordable student accommodation space and the loss of the existing building, which is unlisted but considered a non-designated local heritage asset.

Demolition of the building would result in “the loss of an important cultural venue with extensive cinematic and entertainment heritage,” planning officers said, adding the proposed redevelopment “fails to represent a high quality or contextual design”.

The plans have faced opposition from heritage groups including Historic England, which described the existing cinema as an “important and valued East End establishment” which had been “lovingly restored” by Walker-Hebborn.

While the heritage advisor fell short of issuing a full objection to the scheme, it said its demolition would be a “sad loss to the community” and would cause heritage harm.

The Twentieth Century Society has objected to the plans, arguing that a “remarkable” amount of the building’s original layout survives despite its two major refurbishments.

Valor Genesis said it had considered several options to retain the existing building but found “no viable retention scenario”, concluding that the only way to retain the cinema function on site is through ”comprehensive redevelopment”.

The Genesis Cinema has been contacted for comment.