Movie magic

A Southern California sun pummels the desert city of Rancho Mirage, where year-round temperatures average close to 90 °F. What better way to escape the heat than to stroll into the city's Theaters at the River?

One needn't buy a movie ticket to enter the large, glazed, rotunda-shaped lobby with its luxury seating, theatrical lighting, hand-painted murals of Hollywood's Golden Age and walls of wood paneling, limestone and slate. With 12 big-screen options to choose from, though, it's hard to say which might be more entertaining—the action on film or loitering in the lobby.

"We wanted a place for people to hang out in and linger for hours," says Marios Savopoulos, principal in charge of Perkowitz + Ruth Architects' Newport Beach, Calif. office. The firm, based in Long Beach, Calif., designed the 68,000-sq.-ft. theater complex, which opened in Dec. 2001 as the centerpiece to The River at Rancho Mirage, a 30-acre mixed-use retail and entertainment development project conceived and built by the J. h Snyder Co., Los Angeles. The owner started building the theaters even before an operator had signed up to manage them. Just one month before opening, Krikorian Premiere Theatres, Redondo Beach, Calif., came on board as the operator.

Sipping cappuccinos from classical-style leather-seated furniture ("that could easily belong in a cafe in Milan or Paris," says Savopoulos), customers can take in the project's lake and outdoor amphitheater, as well as the nearby Santa Rosa Mountains.

"It's a place to gather and interact, not just pass through," says Deborah Loayza, AIA, associate and project manager with Perkowitz + Ruth. She points out the lobby's traditional concession stand, three plasma screens that show previews of coming attractions and two video game rooms.

As Savopoulos puts it, "It's 'grand old movie theater meets luxury hotel.'" Perkowitz + Ruth wanted to convey a hospitality in a resort ambiance that participates with its natural environment. The curved design of the theaters building itself works with the curve of the path leading up to it. The colors of the building (sandy tones with coppery glass) meld with the colors of the desert. There's no visual barrier between inside and out due to the expanse glass, so people can sit inside the lobby and have full visual access to outside, without actually being there. The theater responds to the blaring heat outside by offering a cool, comfortable place to be and yet still enjoy the outside environment. The architect firm also wanted the complex to stand out from its competitors by eschewing their overused and predictable neon and plastic.

The building's round shape also works as a pivotal point, playing off the curve of the path that leads up to it. "Rotundas and circles always create an emphatic sense of place," continues Savopoulos. "This one adds symbolic value for the community, serving as a magnet."

Inside, what first grabs attention is the large, round lobby area. Above the concession stand and box office, a ring of five full-color, oil-painted montaged murals evoke the spirit of monumental movie moments. Raised panels of decorative wood frame the murals, creating a type of proscenium. Off-white and cream, wood-molded and framed details "create a ledge concept for the murals to sit on," says Loayza. Spotlighting all of it are stage lighting fixtures with color gels that hang from the lobby's 60-ft.-high, copper-paneled ceiling.

Like a knife slicing a cake, two 18-ft.-high "wing walls" in beige with yellow-gold accents and 12-in. slate tiles bordered in limestone cut through the glass from the outside of the building and flank the box office. A limestone wainscot, with marble and glass mosaic-accented tiles, and painted tan and beige covers the remaining vertical surfaces of the lobby.

The wing walls' slate is also used as flooring at the entrance, along with limestone and granite, "for sophistication and wearability," says Loayza. The rest is Perkowitz + Ruth custom-designed carpeting, "for luxury and comfort."

The carpeting's classic geometric pattern-play of varying proportions and borders leads past cove lights, toward the theaters' control point where the staff accepts movie tickets. From here, sconce-lined, panel-molded hallways trail into the complex's gateways and into auditoriums, governed by state-of-the-art digital cinematic technology. Purple, copper and yellow-ocher colors dominate the 12 auditoriums that feature extra-wide stadium seating.

Speaking of the overall design of The Theaters at the River, movie theater magnate George Krikorian (who, as Krikorian Premiere Theaters, operates 42 other California screens) says, "We believe it adds another dimension to the movie-going experience that lots of other theaters don't offer. It reminds people of what it used to be like going to the movies, with the large, single house that seated 3,000 to 4,000 people. We wanted to recreate that grand experience. You don't see many theaters take the time or spend the money to build this kind of space."

The project has been highly successful. Even on week nights The River at Rancho Mirage promises two-hour restaurant line-ups and a teeming theater lobby. What a show!





PROJECT FILE

The Theaters at the River

The River at Rancho Mirage Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Developer/ Owner

J. h Snyder Co. Los Angeles

Jerry Snyder

Operator

Krikorian Premiere Theatres Redondo Beach, Calif.

Architects/ Designers

Perkowitz + Ruth Architects Newport Beach, Calif.

Electrical engineer

GLP Karjala Associates Costa Mesa, Calif.

General Contractor

Roel Construction Company San Diego

Carpet

Brintons U.S. Axminster Greenville, Miss.

Mural Artist

Marv Brehm Studio Newport Beach, Calif.

Signage

Superior Long Beach, Calif.

Stonework

MGT Anaheim, Calif.

Theater Seats

Irwin Seating Co. Grand Rapids, Mich.

Theater Walls

Premier Noise Concepts West, Inc. Chandler, Ariz.



Information in the Project File is provided by the retailer and/or designer.