BFI IMAX
Britain's biggest cinema screen opened in 1999 at Waterloo's Bullring. It took just a year to transform the desolate roundabout at the end of Waterloo Bridge and within the first 12 months it is estimated that half a million people visited the new attraction.
Canadian-founded IMAX corporation has opened 180 cinemas but the £20m Waterloo IMAX, part funded by National Lottery money, has the most sophisticated motion-picture projection system yet. The 26mx20m screen is the height of five double-decker buses and the 482-seater auditorium has digital surround sound.
The London IMAX is part of the British Film Institute which screens feature films, shorts and television programmes to audiences at the nearby BFI Southbank.
Until 2006 the outside of the IMAX building featured a mural by Howard Hodgkin. Amid some controversy the building is now used as a giant advertising billboard.
Prices: Standard film prices £8.50, Concessions £6.25, Students £6.25, Children £5.25
News & features about BFI IMAX
- Lambeth Bridge, St George's Circus & Waterloo in cycle safety review (7 Feb 2012)
- Orpheus in the Underworld at the Young Vic (3 Dec 2011)
- Elephant, Waterloo and Vauxhall top the cycle collision league (20 Oct 2011)
- Events Academy provides training for Southwark young people (4 Sep 2011)
- Globe Mysteries at Shakespeare's Globe (11 Aug 2011)
- King James Bible anniversary celebrated at Lambeth Palace exhibition (5 Jun 2011)
- Once Upon A Wartime at the Imperial War Museum (11 Feb 2011)
- Dominic Dromgoole to stay at Shakespeare's Globe till 2014 (10 Feb 2011)
- Waterloo subway poem to be restored (18 Jan 2011)
- Shadows of the Wanderer sculpture arrives at St John's Waterloo (31 Oct 2010)
- Stamford Street closed eastbound until April 2011 (17 Oct 2010)
- Barclays to sponsor TfL cycle hire and superhighways (28 May 2010)
- Prince of Wales at BFI IMAX for Arabia 3D premiere (24 May 2010)
- St George in Southwark Festival 2010: pictures (25 Apr 2010)
- Fundraising campaign to restore poem to Waterloo subway (30 Dec 2009)
- Climate Camp activists 'swoop' near South Bank's Shell Centre (26 Aug 2009)
- Six new street trading pitches for Waterloo and South Bank (11 Aug 2009)
- Tate Modern reopens Robert Morris's controversial installation (22 May 2009)
- Fire brigade truck overturns next to BFI IMAX at Waterloo (19 Mar 2009)
- Topolski Century: hidden South Bank gallery reopens after £3 million makeover (16 Mar 2009)
- DSDHA wins Waterloo City Square competition (10 Mar 2009)
- New pedestrian plaza outside St John's Waterloo (7 Mar 2009)
- Under the Sea 3D at BFI IMAX (8 Feb 2009)
- Waterloo City Square plans now on show (2 Feb 2009)
- Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa at BFI IMAX (7 Dec 2008)
Forum discussions about BFI IMAX
- None supporting local boy David Haye this weekend then?
- Traffic Monday night
- Waterloo Brasserie
- We are lucky to have an IMAX in SE1
- Illuminated Advertising displays - planning consent
- Devon Mansions - Vertical Garden
- Waterloo City Square
- Dark Knight dilemma
- Police stopping and searching in Waterloo
- Did you vote for BFI Southbank - I did.
- Cheeky boys visit
- Empire Building Cable Broadband
- Suggests for the IMAX Cinema After Gathering
- Coin Street's revised plans for a tower of only 43 storeys - still a betrayal of their founding principles?
- SE1 Deal Cards
- London Eye 25 million celebration
- Homeless people and drugs problem outside St John's church, Waterloo
- Roadworks in the middle of the night
- Does Orange Wednesdays run at the Imax?
- This Life
Restaurants, pubs & bars close to BFI IMAX
- Film Cafe (20 yards)
- Arch One Bar & Grill (72 yards)
- Java Stop (74 yards)
- Royal House Cafe (78 yards)
- The Hole in the Wall (88 yards)
- Azzurro (100 yards)
- Smaland Coffee (130 yards)
- Pizza Express (162 yards)
- Chez Gerard (162 yards)
- Caprini Restaurant (162 yards)
- Chicken Cottage (164 yards)
- Waterloo Grill (168 yards)
- The Thames (170 yards)
- Fishcotheque (180 yards)
- Bagel Factory (188 yards)
- Etsu Cafe (190 yards)