Ok. For those that don't know, Quad is the big strange looking building opposite the assembly rooms and the council house in Derby Market Place. The design caused a lot of anger amongst many people in the city but largely these moaners were people who would have preferred we stuck with horse & carts and think energy saving lightbulbs are the work of Satans minions.
The facilities are fantastic; two cinemas, a smaller box room for events, meeting rooms, Coors Cafe bar, a gallery, the BFI Mediatheque and probably some other stuff that I am not aware of.
The Cinemas: Great film listings. If you like cinema that isn't all hollywood blockbusters with predictable stories then this is the cinema for you in Derby, especially given the reasonable price of the tickets. They have cine kids screenings, afternoon matinees which are reduced price tickets and they do their own version of Orange Wednesdays 2-4-1 tickets but this is exclusive to EVERYONE on all screenings after 5pm. Good stuff!
BFI mediatheque: The only facility of it's kind outside of London. You have access to a huge archive of film from the British Film Institute and it's completely free. Book yourself in and log on. Brilliant addition which I personally would like to make time to use more often.
Gallery: It's a gallery. The exhibitions change and some people like the work and others don't. That's art for you.
The Coors Cafe: Ok, This should be brilliant. It's reasonably priced, they do Bass beer on draught and they sometimes have live performances. Sounds good. Well, yes, sort of. Since it opened I have repeatedly visited the cafe and on several visits I have had really bad service, from getting my food orders wrong and being charged incorrectly, to finding chunks (this isn't an exaggeration) of plastic in my food. I really want to like the Coors Cafe but each time I visit it seems like something else goes wrong.
I thoroughly recommend visiting Quad though. It's a great place to spend a few hours when you have nothing to do- just be prepared for less that perfect service in the cafe. read more