Farrell pitches underground cinema plan

A NEW home for the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Filmhouse could be built below one of the Capital's main public squares under plans drawn up by the city's design champion.

Sir Terry Farrell, the architect who designed the original phases of the city's financial district in the 1980s, is proposing a glass entrance to the film complex from Festival Square, which would also be used to house open-air film screenings.

Sir Terry, the council's so-called "design tsar," has said he wants the area between the Usher Hall and the Sheraton Hotel to become a new open-air piazza with pavement cafes and event spaces.

He said: "We've proposed a new cinema which would be set below ground, with a Louvre-type pavilion entrance, along with cafes on the square, offering the opportunity for outdoor film screenings.

"The most significant urban improvement is the connection of the Usher Hall with a wide pedestrian crossing to Festival Square, thereby linking a major cultural venue with the square itself."

Ginnie Atkinson, managing director of the Filmhouse, said the proposals were "very interesting."

But rival architect Richard Murphy said: "Having an underground cinema below Festival Square would do nothing for this area at all."