In the Norblin Factory, revitalized by the Capital Park Group, a new 7-screen boutique cinema named KinoGram will launch in autumn this year. It is an original concept that will combine all the best features of studio cinemas and multiplexes. The cinema will have substantive support from one of the most important national film associations – the Directors Guild of Poland, represented by Agnieszka Holland, Paweł Pawlikowski, Wojciech Smarzowski and Andrzej Saramonowicz. The first movie screenings are planned just after the holidays.
KinoGram will be based on the concept of a boutique cinema, i.e. a cinema where the latest multimedia techniques provide the top quality of the screening comparable to the world’s best multiplexes, but at the same time ensuring a cosy atmosphere associated with studio cinemas. There will be 7 screening rooms in the area of 3,400 sqm, thanks to which 620 people at a time will be able to enjoy the movies. The two smallest rooms can accommodate 47 people, and the largest one will sit even 111 cinema lovers. The cinema will be located on the +2 level above the historical buildings occupied by BioBazar and Food Hall.
The KinoGram’s program will include the latest movie premieres, together with independent, original productions from Europe and around the world. KinoGram will also become a thriving cultural centre, a space for dialogue between filmmakers and audiences, as well as a venue for important industry meetings. The cinema repertoire will be filled not only with movies but also with festivals, meetings with important industry representatives, movie premieres commented on by experts and retransmissions of important industry events, as well as discussion panels and regular educational lectures. There will also be events related to other fields of art – vernissages, art auctions, chamber music concerts, or opera and theatre performances. KinoGram will present works of art from the collection of the Flow Art House gallery, which will also operate in the Norblin Factory, in the cinema foyer.
“We want KinoGram to be a venue of meeting with culture in the broad sense of this word – primarily cinema, but also opera, theatre, music, painting and even sculpture. The fact that you will be able to meet the top Polish directors and actors in the cinema means that your visit here will be an exceptional experience. The impressive event calendar will attract every viewer expecting something more from the cinema and will make them feel at home. We believe that by introducing the concept of boutique cinema to the cultural map of Warsaw, we will add value to it, reaching a wide group of people who have been looking for a link between multiplex quality and the atmosphere of studio cinemas. The unique atmosphere will also be emphasized by beautiful, industrial architecture and a convenient location in the heart of Warsaw,” says Anna Zoll, a film director and scriptwriter, general director of KinoGram.
KinoGram is an original project that will be formally managed by a subsidiary of the Capital Park Group – the investor and originator of the revitalization of the Norblin Factory. A dedicated team, consisting of people with many years of experience in the film industry and culture, works on the strategy, promotion, repertoire and other substantive issues of the project.
“At the very beginning of creating the Norblin Factory as a new project, we knew that it was the culture that would play one of the key roles here. We could not imagine this place without an interdisciplinary cinema and we had a very specific idea how it should be like, so we decided to manage it ourselves. We are particularly proud that such recognized professionals with many years of experience in the film industry and the cultural sector have agreed to support us in this work. Thanks to this, we know that KinoGram is taken care of by a team of really passionate people, together with whom we will make a new part of the history of the Norblin Factory,” says Kinga Nowakowska, member of the management board and operational director of Capital Park, responsible for the revitalization project of the Norblin Factory.
A unique design will be a very important element of KinoGram. Its idea was to make everyone watch movies in the way they like the most. The armchairs will be wider than in ordinary screening rooms and will be equipped with wooden tables. The seats will be placed at a larger distance from one another, which is especially important for the comfort of watching, but also to maintain social distance. Apart from such seats, the screening rooms will be equipped with velvet, fold-out sofas.
In the foyer of the cinema, visitors will be able to admire numerous works of art or listen to live music. The professional bar, led by the World Champion Flair Bartender – Tomasz Małek, will serve exceptional drinks and cocktails, as well as fancy snacks and high-quality, healthy dishes from an original menu.
KinoGram will also have an absolutely new service in Poland – a professional waiter service, which during selected screenings will deliver the ordered dishes and drinks directly to the seat in the cinema room.
The Norblin Factory will provide its future users with 65,000 sqm of usable area, with offices taking up 41,000 sqm of space, and with the remaining 24,000 sqm filled with entertainment, culture, food, service and retail concepts. The retail part of the Norblin Factory will include e.g. BioBazar – the first market in Poland offering only organic products, a food hall with themed sections and 26 original restaurant concepts (3,200 sqm), and a number of restaurants. The office part of the complex will house also such tenants, as Allegro.pl (16,200 sqm) and the Global Business Services Center Japan Tobacco International (8,500 sqm). The revitalized space will also become a cultural destination, owing to such concepts as the abovementioned boutique cinema (3,300 sqm), the Piano Bar with live music, and a music and concert club set up in one of the historic halls. The first fully interactive and digital art gallery in Poland – ART BOX Experience – will take up the area of nearly 800 sqm there.
The planned completion date of the investment project is the third quarter of 2021.
Capital Park Group is the investor and initiator of the revitalization of the Norblin Factory. PRC Architekci is responsible for the architectural design, Warbud SA is the general contractor, cooperating with such companies, as Soletanche Polska, Maat4 and TKT Engineering. Monument Service supervises all conservation works on monuments.
