At first glance, Porth Mawr looks like a medieval gateway set into a town wall… and that’s because it was. The building started in the year 1294, is over 730 years old, and during its life has been many things to many people.

Starting as a defensive feature and operating as the main gate into the town of Caernarfon, it quickly adapted into the King’s Treasury, later a Guildhall that oversaw local legislation and elections, before becoming a town reparatory theatre and subsequently a cinema known locally as the ‘fleapit’. The cinema closed in 1961, and the Victorian adaptations to the structure demolished leaving the building empty and unloved until just recently. 

Our role in the redevelopment was to tell this chequered life-story and make it accessible to a local audience who just about remembered its presence as a cinema. Tourists intrigued by the building would learn of this new history while staying in the two new holiday apartments next door.

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Backlit historical cinema posters advertised Porth Mawr through the ages. These 6 large lightboxes lit up the interior, while a magnificent red spiral staircase was created to evoke movie film canisters and projection rays. As visitors climbed the stairs, they passed modern theatrical lighting before arriving at the top floor confronted by a reconstructed internally lit cinema projector sculpture.

The roof deck, not only gave great views across the town, but also allowed for more interpretation in the form of mosaics set into the roof deck. The seven highly colourful and detailed mosaics allowed people to walk over them and explore the details but also linked to a town wall walk trail.

A local ‘Lorawan’ wifi network also added another digital layer of interpretation for people who wanted to discover hidden stories about the town and the making of the project and redevelopment of the building.