Key Things to Know
- Phenomena Experience completed a full renovation ten years after its inauguration.
- Instronic led the media and experience transformation, working with interior design studio 4Cadires.
- The project converted a single-purpose cinema into a multiformat venue for screenings, concerts, presentations, brand events and live broadcasts.
- Instronic mapped the visitor journey first, then engineered the technical infrastructure to serve it.
- The Hall brings classic film posters to life through AI-assisted animation, manual compositing and visual effects.
- The Nexus cocktail bar uses media systems built around a Blade Runner-inspired science-fiction theme.
- The screening room pairs Dolby Atmos for film with a separate live audio circuit for concerts and events.
- Three cameras and a centralized switch enable multicamera recording, live switching and real-time streaming.
- Programmable moving-head lighting includes fixtures synced to the movement of the screen curtains.
What Did Instronic Do at Phenomena Experience?
Instronic led the media and experience transformation of Phenomena Experience, Barcelona‘s most celebrated cinema, completing a full renovation ten years after the venue opened. The company worked alongside interior design studio 4Cadires. Together they converted a single-purpose cinema into a multiformat venue built for screenings, concerts, presentations, brand events and live broadcasts.
How Did Instronic Approach the Project?
Instronic began with the experience rather than the equipment, a departure from a traditional AV integration project. The team mapped the visitor journey: arrival, anticipation, social interaction and the screening itself. It then designed each space to change with every film, event or occasion. Only after that did Instronic engineer the technical infrastructure to serve the journey.
What Is Media Architecture?
Media architecture, as Instronic defines it, means technology designed with a space rather than added to it. The approach treats the original building as part of the composition, so displays, lighting and sound belong to the room instead of sitting on top of it. Because Phenomena’s architecture was never conceived around media systems, Instronic adapted elements of the building itself to fit that idea.
“For us, media architecture means the technology is designed with the space, not bolted on top of it. Space and media become a single composition and Phenomena is the perfect expression of that,” says Ignasi Call, CEO of Instronic.
What Was the Creative Brief?
The brief called for a renovation that spoke the language of cinema. Instronic drew on worlds ranging from “The Shining” and “Blade Runner” to the elegance of Art Deco theaters. Every system serves one purpose: to make the venue’s spaces transform for each film or event.
How Did the Hall Change?
The Hall now uses integrated media surfaces that adapt content for each film or event. Instronic kept the venue’s original classic posters rather than replacing them. The team brought the posters to life through a hybrid workflow that combines AI-assisted techniques, manual compositing, animation and visual effects.
What Is the Nexus Cocktail Bar?
Nexus is the venue’s new cocktail bar, where media systems act as windows onto a Blade Runner-inspired science-fiction universe. The design extends the cinematic theme beyond the screening room. Guests move through a space shaped by the same media architecture that guides the rest of the building.
What Changed on the Exterior?
The exterior reinterprets the venue’s analogue marquee through custom LED displays. The displays run continuous ambient brightness adjustment, so the sign responds to changing light through the day. The result extends the experience out to the street.
What Happened in the Screening Room?
The screening room carries the deepest transformation in the project. Three cameras and a centralized switch enable multicamera recording, live switching and real-time streaming across every screen in the venue. Dual audio systems keep Dolby Atmos dedicated to film, while a separate live circuit handles everything else. That live circuit includes scalable wireless microphones and a dedicated speaker system fed from a professional mixing desk, covering an on-stage conversation or a full concert.
How Does the Lighting Work?
The lighting runs on programmable moving-head fixtures that Instronic rebuilt for the space. Select units synchronize to the movement of the screen curtains, tying the lighting to the rhythm of each screening. Light, image and sound work together across every space in the cinema.
Why Does the Unified System Matter?
The unified system lets Phenomena shift from a cinema screening to a live broadcast to a brand experience without added equipment. Its three pillars, light, image and sound, adapt to each screening or event, and the range of possible combinations gives each occasion its own character. The setup gives the venue a level of customization that makes every event entirely its own.
