The restoration of the Regal Cinema in Highams Park has slipped by around six months, with the developer blaming this summer's heatwaves for stalling work on site. The expected opening has moved from autumn 2027 to spring 2028.
The reason is less about comfort than chemistry. "You cannot pour structural concrete above 32C without compromising its strength – we won't bake weaknesses into foundations meant to last another century," said Bal Chima, director of Mammoth Capital, the developer behind the scheme. "The same heat is punishing for the people on site, and stop-start working in those conditions is inefficient and unfair to them."
Chima was keen to frame the delay as absorbed rather than unplanned. "We've built slack into the delivery of this project in the case of extenuating circumstances such as this, so even if we complete in Spring 2028 that's still within the boundary of what we've allowed for in terms of slack," he said.
What is being built
The scheme turns the building into 33 flats, a café bar, and a restored art-deco cinema with two screens of 80 to 90 seats each, running from 8am to midnight.
That mix is doing a lot of work. The residential element is what pays for the cinema — the 33 leasehold apartments are priced from £350,000 up to roughly £750,000 for a penthouse — and the cinema is what justifies the intervention in a listed-in-spirit local landmark. Neither half stands on its own.
The ground has its own history
Heat was not the only complication. Excavation uncovered several different foundation types layered under the building, left behind by its successive lives as a cinema, a bingo hall, a snooker hall and a nightclub. Each occupant built for its own purposes; none of it matches the old drawings.
"The new foundation design has to respond to what's actually in the ground, not what the old drawings suggested," Chima said. "On a project of this scale, the work happening at the drawing board right now is what makes sure everything that follows is done once, properly, to the highest standard."
Preserving the 1935 art-deco frontage required an eight-inch reinforced concrete wall to be sprayed against the back of the original brick facade. "Doing this is what allowed us to safely demolish the remainder of the building behind it, with additional temporary propping added as an extra safeguard," Chima said. "The result is a wall that is stronger, safer and more durable than she has ever been."
Who will run the screens
The operator has not been settled. Mammoth Capital says it has received "three to four serious offers" from independent cinema chains. Castle Cinema, an independent filmhouse based in Hackney, put in a bid in April.
"Our vision is to bring the same community spirit, curated film programme, and welcoming bar space that we pride ourselves on in Hackney," the company said. "The selection process is ongoing, and whilst we are incredibly hopeful we know these things take time."
The site has been waiting a while already. The original Highams Park Electric Theatre opened in 1911 and stopped showing films in 1963. Another six months is, in that context, a short delay — though one worth noting for what caused it. A construction programme interrupted by temperatures above 32C is not a one-off risk in London, and it is unlikely to be the last project in the borough to price it in.
