Owners find stadium seating worth the cost. (Media & Technology).

Unlike so many moviegoing trends, the stadium seating phenomenon has moved from East to West, with Los Angeles only recently catching the wave.

These new theater complexes, the lobbies of which more closely resemble a train station, can gobble up 25 percent more space than older theaters with traditional seating slopes, cutting into the number of screens exhibitors put up. Where multiplexes of a decade ago might have 30 screens, today's movie theaters have half that number.

"Seat counts are all driven by marketing," said Warwick Wicksman, a senior associate specializing in theater design in the Santa Monica office of architecture firm Gensler. "Operators today concentrate on the (minimum) seats they need to support a theater. Besides, why build a 30-plex when you can't sell out half of the theaters."

Stadium seating doesn't come cheap. The theaters require larger footprints, the ability to build higher and more building materials. Some architects estimate that building a theater with stadium seating can increase construction costs by as much as 50 percent.

Converting existing theaters to stadium seating venues can also create difficulties in dealing with city building codes, said Wicksman, leading to a series of required improvements to the rest of the theater that could make the upgrade economically unfeasible.

Even construction can be prohibitive at some sites, said Dave Williams, senior vice-president of architecture at Caruso Affiliated Holdings, the Santa Monica-based developer of The Grove at Farmers Market. He said other theater developers and operators have checked out The Grove's theater for ideas, but many have flinched at the cost.

Caruso used Hollywood set designers and local artists to create the interior finishes, which he described as "very economically done."

"If we had gone a standard route and hired an outside contractor," he said, "it would have been twice if not three times the amount we paid for everything."

For that reason, stadium seating has only begun to appear in L.A., with few sizable lots able to support the larger theaters. In other areas, stadium seating has been the norm for nearly a decade.

"There are no new spaces in the inner city areas of L.A.," Wicksman said. "And up until now people have been loath to renovate their existing theaters."

Operators are shying away from theaters designed to move large crowds quickly through lobbies every two hours, preferring to have patrons spend time lounging in the lobby.

"You have to make it into the grand experience of getting out of your house," said Marios Savopoulos, an architect in the Newport Beach office of Perkowitz + Ruth who specializes in theater design and who designed the Pacific Theater's complex at The Grove. "You have to raise the ante a bit."

Many incorporate amenities such as concierge services, ticket booths that resemble hotel check-in counters, and large train station-like signs where departure and gate information is replaced by movie names and theater numbers.

At The Bridge, located at the Howard Hughes Center in West L.A., the theater's lobby has the retro feel of a 1960s hotel, while at The Grove Stadium 14 the lobby and interiors are designed to evoke the grand movie palaces of the 1930s and luxury European hotels.

Indeed, the architects who created these complexes have extensive backgrounds in designing five-star hotels and luxury shopping centers. Playing off the "dinner and a movie" concept, many of the newer theaters also incorporate restaurants and full-service bars in their lobbies.

AMC's planned renovation in Century City will incorporate Italian countryside themes, according to Savopoulos, who said he is working on the project.

There could be four Venetian-like towers at each corner of the theater, he said, which would be updated with the newest projection and sound technology. He said the renovation may also incorporate softer lighting and colors to reflect the types of materials and designs used at manors found scattered across the Italian hills.