Environmental improvements at the Picture House

The Picture House’s status as a Grade II listed building, and our desire to maintain its character, presents challenges and limits to what we can achieve in this regard. Nevertheless, we have done a lot to try and negate our environmental impact in both the physical attributes of the building and how we operate as a business, and we will continue to do so into the future. The wider organisation of Leeds Heritage Theatres has also committed to being carbon neutral by 2030 through a combination of energy saving measures and offsetting what we can’t cut. They have also set up a dedicated companywide environmental working group, with the power to streamline and expediate changes to working practice and policy.

At the very start of the project when putting together the team of architects, engineers and contractors we were keen to work with companies that shared our vision of good environmental practice and made it a core tenet of our tender.

We worked closely with these parties during the design phase to integrate as many improvements as possible to the building’s environmental impact. There was a lot to do and there wasn’t an area of the building that wasn’t addressed. 

Built in 1914, and without any major structural changes in its illustrious history, it’s fair to say that the building did not hold up well against modern standards for environmental impact.

During the refurbishment, we have greatly improved the thermal properties of the building. The roof has had much more and better insulation put in. Secondary glazing has been installed where practicable. Doors have been replaced and provide better seals. The old fan house that was built as an opening from the auditorium to the outside world has been encapsulated and heat exchangers put in along with improved air handling throughout. All lighting is now LED and we have much greater control on what is used and when. The heating has been replaced with modern efficient radiators. On an ongoing basis, we will be using energy monitoring through smart meters and conducting thermal assessment of the building to continue and try to make further improvements.

Operationally, we have new projection systems running at lower power. Content delivery is via the internet, if available, minimising the use of couriers. Where possible, all produce and services are sourced locally. We are also making environmental policy an important part of our decision making when choosing which companies to work with. The business is aiming for paperless working and uses cloud storage.

We will no longer be using disposable cups. We now have reusable Huskee cups in the cinema which we love so much that they will be available to buy from us. Small steps like crockery choices are helping us on the way to achieving our goal of eliminating single use plastics altogether. Ensuring we recycle as much as we can and look to eliminate consumables we can’t.

We try and instil environmental consideration and best practice in our employees and have clearly stated environmental policy. As a service industry, we also have to consider the environmental impact of our customers. We aim to promote the use of public transport/cycling for staff and customers and have planned the provision of improved cycle parking. We have clear guidance on sustainable ways of getting here on our Plan Your Visit page and we will use our digital screens throughout the building at the end of the day’s screenings to display bus and train times. Alongside this, we continue to support environmental groups, voices and stories in our programming. We're looking forward to working with UK Green Film Festival again this November.

There has been a lot of low hanging fruit that we were able to address during the refurbishment project. However, the process is by no means finished and we are committed to continually working towards a carbon neutral future.

- Mike Sharples, Projection & Facilities Manager