Update on Construction of Regal Cinema

* Regal Cinema*

Hello Highams Park — sorry for the recent radio silence. 

Truth is, we don’t want to post until we had something solid to tell you. Now we do — so here’s all of it.

* Where things stand*

With enabling works, site set-up, demolition and the façade retention now behind us, we’ve been quieter on site while we finalise some important design work. As we’ve dug down, we’ve uncovered three or four different types of old foundations from the building’s past lives — a common find beneath a structure this old, but the new foundation design has to respond to what’s actually in the ground, not what the old drawings suggested. On a project of this scale, the unglamorous work happening at the drawing board right now is what makes sure everything that follows is done once, properly, to the highest standard.

* About that “crack in the façade”*

There’s been a lot of chatter on social media, so here are the facts. Before works began, our structural engineers surveyed the retained façade and identified several cracks. In a brick wall standing on London clay, on a corner the Regal has occupied since 1911, that is entirely expected — she’s seen a lot of Highams Park life. Our structural engineer — 45 years of post-qualification major-project experience — inspected everything thoroughly and adapted the design where required as works progressed. We sprayed a new 8-inch (200mm) reinforced concrete wall, using a technique called shotcrete, directly against the back of the original brick wall — permanently bonding the two into one single, unified structure. In plain English: the old brickwork no longer carries the load alone. It has a reinforced-concrete partner bonded to its back, holding it stable — which is what allowed us to safely demolish the remainder of the building behind it, with additional temporary propping added as an extra safeguard. The result is a wall that is stronger, safer and more durable than she has ever been. The soul of the Regal, with a serious backbone to match.  We’re keeping watch, too. A comprehensive monitoring regime was agreed and in place before we even started: fixed points across the façade are checked daily, weekly and monthly. If you’ve spotted one of our engineers at a tripod with surveying kit — that’s exactly what they’re doing. She’s behaving precisely as she should.

*Why the pause*

Since May we’ve had a run of extreme heat, and you cannot pour structural concrete above 32°C without compromising its strength — we won’t bake weaknesses into foundations meant to last another century. The same heat is punishing for the people on site, and stop-start working in those conditions is inefficient and unfair on them. So we took a planned pause: our design team is using it to complete the next-phase design around the new ground information, and our site teams have kept working elsewhere so they return fresh and at full strength the moment temperatures allow. We’ll post here the moment they do.

* The money question*

The project is fully funded. We have already invested more than half of the total project cost — our own money, already in the Ground. We are fully committed, financially and emotionally, to delivering the Regal. So whatever you may read elsewhere — sorry, but we’re not going anywhere!

* A word to Highams Park*

We know how much this building means to you. We see the messages, we see people stop and look through the hoarding, and we feel the weight of what the Regal represents here. Every decision we make is made with care for this neighbourhood in minds. And if anyone understands waiting for something worth waiting for — England fans have been at it since ’66, coincidentally around the time our Chairman first settled in London. We have every intention of the Regal not testing your patience anywhere near that long.  The Regal is coming back. And she’s coming back properly. 

and thank you, genuinely, for your patience and your belief in this project. It means more than you know.

With everything we’ve got — The Regal Team