Millennium Point 18th Birthday Countdown – Stories from 2010/2011
With our 18th birthday on the horizon, we thought it might be nice to take a look back on some of our key events and highlights over the years so far.
This week has an entertainment focus, as we look back at the refurbishment of our IMAX and unique art installation.
2010 – Gunther Von Hagens – Body Worlds
The Body Worlds exhibits are one of the most successful travelling exhibitions in the world.
On display since 1995, they have attracted more than 50 million visitors in over 140 cities across America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.
We welcomed the unique works to Millennium Point in 2010, bringing a truly awe-inspiring and thought-provoking piece to Birmingham. The exhibitions were conceived to educate the public about the inner workings of the human body and to show the effects of healthy and unhealthy lifestyles. They aimed to inspire visitors to become aware of the fragility of their bodies and to recognize the anatomical individual beauty inside each of us.
This fascinating work is still on tour, for the latest news about this visit the official website.
2011 – IMAX Refurbishment
Slightly before it’s 10th anniversary the IMAX underwent a £400,000 refurbishment where it lost the titular branding and transformed into a state-of-the-art 4K cinema, the Giant Screen. Our IMAX screen had long been an attraction prior to its refurbishment. However, the transformation brought it up to date with evolving cinematic technology. It also meant the screen was no longer bound to the IMAX library (which was quite limited for releases at the time) and instead opened up this impressive space to a much larger audience, allowing a wider variety of content to be screened including more cinematic releases and major live events such as the Olympics.
While the Giant Screen would eventually close in 2015, both iterations of this groundbreaking cinematic experience are still remembered fondly by Brummies as part of Birmingham’s evolving cultural and technological progress at the turn of the century.
Their legacy lives on, however, in the Millennium Point you have come to know today. The foyer of the cinema on level 1 was transformed into the flexible open plan event space Platform. This space features an in-situ, fully licenced bar and slick audio-visual equipment including multiple HD repeater screens and PA system. The installation of a new white screen and 4K digital projector means that the former cinema, now known as the Auditorium, is still a key attraction for client events held at our multi-award winning venue. To this day, the quality of the auditorium remains outstanding and has become the home for major events in the region such as the Birmingham Film Festival and VSFighting.
The Auditorium is available for hire right now suitable for a wide range of great events from film screenings to product launches and live performances. Find out more by visiting the dedicated page or getting in contact with our friendly events team on 0121 202 2200 or [email protected]
Concerned about hosting events? Read Millennium Point’s Client Protection Plan which outlines everything we are doing to ensure the safety and well being of your people and ours to prevent the spread of coronavirus when delivering events in our building.
Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint.
Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.
