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.
News & features about BFI IMAX
- 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)
- Interview: Canon Richard Truss leaves St John's Waterloo (9 Oct 2008)
- Waterloo City Square at IMAX roundabout: design shortlist revealed (28 Aug 2008)
- The Merry Wives of Windsor at Shakespeare's Globe (22 Jun 2008)
- St George in Southwark Festival 2008 in pictures (25 Apr 2008)
- Shine a Light at the BFI IMAX (15 Apr 2008)
- Othello at Pacific Playhouse (22 Mar 2008)
- Three Hours after Marriage at the Union Theatre (14 Mar 2008)
- Government offers lukewarm support for South Bank film centre (27 Feb 2008)
- U2 3D at the BFI IMAX (17 Feb 2008)
- 'Colour moods' come to Waterloo underpasses (18 Dec 2007)
- Waterloo City Square design contest launched (4 Nov 2007)
Forum discussions about BFI IMAX
- Traffic Monday night
- 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
- Stamford Street closed
- Little Dorrit Park: So annoying...
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)