Phoenix wins prestigious ProCon award for ‘2020’ expansion project
Phoenix’s expansion project receives prestigious ProCon Leicestershire award recognising the best new construction projects in the region.
We are delighted to announce that Phoenix, Leicester’s independent cinema and arts centre, has been recognised at the prestigious ProCon Leicestershire awards, winning the award for Medium to Large Non-Residential Scheme of the Year at the county’s largest celebration of the built environment.
The winners of the ProCon Leicestershire Awards 2024 were announced on 14 November at a glittering dinner and ceremony at King Power Stadium, attended by over 600 people, where Phoenix’s interim co-CEO Sarah Vallance and Mike Dalzell, Leicester City Council’s Director of Tourism, Culture and Investment were presented with the trophy.
The £8.5M capital expansion saw Phoenix double in size, and the venue now boasts four cinema screens, superb new galleries, and a stylish Café Bar, plus a fabulous roof terrace and more spaces for making and learning. The project saw the construction of a new extension, alongside refurbishment of existing areas, to provide state of the art facilities for the communities of Leicester to enjoy, learn about and celebrate a diverse range of locally curated film and art in an inspiring accessible environment.
The capital expansion project has enabled significant growth of Phoenix’s cultural programme – increasing our social and economic impact, and creating more opportunities to engage with local communities and businesses. Within five years, the expansion will double participation in digital arts, cinema and learning, and will also provide enhanced opportunities for local filmmakers, artists, and creative businesses.
Ali Sinclair, Phoenix Chair of Trustees, said: “We are delighted to have won this award for our capital expansion project, which has transformed Phoenix and will enable us to offer an enriched cultural programme, accommodate more visitors, increase our community engagement, and develop more partnerships with organisations and businesses – all of which are key to underpinning Phoenix’s future.”
“We are immensely grateful for the support of our capital funders – Arts Council England, Leicester City Council, Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership, European Regional Development Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation, The Foyle Foundation and the British Film Institute (BFI) – without whom the project would not have been possible. We’d also like to thank our delivery partners – architects Marchini Curran Associates, Willmott Dixon construction, and project managers Focus Consultants – who worked closely with the Phoenix team to create an exemplary accessible public venue that will serve Leicester’s diverse communities for many years to come.”