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Sydney Architecture
Images- Central
Business District Capitol Theatre |
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architect |
New Belmore Markets 1892-3 George McRae Hippodrome Theatre 1913-16 R.H.Brodrick Capitol Theatre Henry Eli White 1927-8 Lyric Theatre Peddle Thorp and Walker 1989-95 |
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location |
Corner Hay, Campbell and Pitt Streets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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date |
1927-28 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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style |
Inter-War Free Classical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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construction |
brick and terracotta | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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type |
Theater | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This building was designed by George McRae and built in 1892-93 as a fruit and vegetable market next door to older ones that had been on the site since the 1860s. Originally a single story building, it was rebuilt with an extra floor in the early twentieth century, and used as a circus venue, a cinema and a theatre. If you look up you will see that the terracotta pediment is decorated with fruits and surprisingly, choko vines. The humble choko has all but disappeared from our vegetable menu. By the 1980s the building had become very rundown. It was restored by Ipoh Garden for the City Council in the early 1990s. The exuberant 1920s interior, imported from the United States, is intended to evoke a romantic courtyard with a ceiling lit to imitate a star studded night sky. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Capitol Theatre seen today is the result
of a major redevelopment after a chequered history of rebuilding and
additions to the New Belmore Market building erected by Sydney City
Council. Completed in 1893, it soon fell out of use, and, after
languishing for years, was converted into a circus called The Hippodrome
in 1913.
Unfortunately, The Hippodrome was a commercial failure, and the operators soon approached Sydney Council to convert the use from a circus into an "atmospheric" theatre intended for silent movies and live performances. Henry E White, an experienced theatre designer in Sydney, toured the USA inspecting John Eberson’s atmospheric theatres to get ideas. Eberson provided White with a design along similar lines to his Riviera Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska. The interior was meant to create the illusion of sitting in a romantic courtyard under a brilliant night sky, with patrons dazzled by special climatic and lighting effects. In total, five atmospheric theatres were created in Australia before the Depression, and the takeover by sound cinema. The theatre was restored and extended jointly between the owners Sydney City Council and the developer Ipoh Garden for major musical productions. The adjoining site, including former Watkins Terrace and a new glass vault, was redeveloped by Augustine Chan as a hotel and retail complex. Information appearing in this section is reproduced from Sydney Architecture, with the kind permission of the author, Graham Jahn, Sydney architect and former City of Sydney Councillor. |
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The renovation of The Capitol Theatre was a labour of love by many dedicated and skilled people including architects, builders and subcontractors. This section provides a brief insight into what was involved in the renovation. • The Master Builders Association of NSW awarded its Restoration / Renovation and Outstanding Workmanship Awards to Fletcher Construction for their work on The Capitol Theatre. • Fletcher Construction worked closely with architects Peddle Thorp, the Heritage Council and Sydney City Council to ensure a balance was achieved between retaining the heritage significance of the 1927 atmospheric lyric theatre interior and satisfying the sophisticated requirements of modern theatrical productions. • The penetration of external noise into the theatre is controlled by the construction of a new roof mounted on the existing roof. This was built early in the works period to allow the time-consuming task of restoring and reconstructing the plaster statues to begin as soon as possible. • Other work in the auditorium included the demolition and reconstruction of the stalls floor, construction of balcony boxes, ceiling hatches and roof, re-configuration of the proscenium arch and the painting of the ceiling in a rich deep blue to create the desired effect of a Mediterranean night sky. • The circular boxes (balcony stalls) on each side of the dress circle were added to the original 1928 design. Andrew Andersons Talks - Architect, Director of Peddle Thorp Architects and overall supervisor of the restoration project. “We took in two bays of the Manning Building next door to fit in the new foyer and the working spaces – rehearsal rooms etc. But it was still pretty tight getting the detail planning right for the very specific interrelationships that are necessary behind the scenes in a theatre” “Though the decorations in the new lobby are quite different from the old, certain devices remain the same. The carpet flows through both, and there’s theatrical new bracket lighting, which is the same kind of device as the period brackets in the old part, but completely different in style and effect. The new ceiling is cobalt blue, but overlaid with a stainless steel mesh, as opposed to having those little twinkling stars, and the walls use the same rich earth colours: terracottas, ochres etc’ “The old part of the building is rich in decorative works, sculptural embellishments, and it seemed very desirable that the new area should have a memorable example of today’s art. Laurens Tan’s marvellous sculpture titled ‘Octogene’ has certain linkages with 1928. The enormous baroque frame is the sort of thing you might well have seen in a grand old cinema, but it’s entirely contemporary in execution, being out of galvanised steel sheeting. State of the art technology is used in the video art which is a principle component.” |
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Special thanks to www.capitoltheatre.com |
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WHAT IS AN ATMOSPHERIC THEATRE? "Imagine yourself seated in a beautiful, old world, Florentine garden. Above, the blue Mediterranean sky. Stars twinkle. Clouds float by as if in silent admiration of the beauty encased in those creeper-covered walls below. "Rare statuary half-hidden in the twilight, adorns the alcoves and niches. Copies of famed pieces from the Vatican, the Louvre, the Museum of Santa Maria del Fiore, tell a story of elegance. "Magnificent objects of art in beaten silver and gold and rich tapestries find a place in the gorgeous decorative scheme. White pigeons flutter to a resting place with love birds in the foliage of the cypress trees. Peacocks proudly display their brilliant plumage to the idler... "Staggering in its immensity, enthralling in its magnificence, as you enter the mighty portals of this treasure house you will be amazed at the glory of the panorama that unfolds itself before you. Never before such supreme comfort, such splendour, such startling reality in construction, decoration and musical and motion picture entertainment." [Capitol Theatre, Sydney, pre-opening advertisement, 1928] Fred Scholl introduced at the Capitol another novelty feature to Australian audiences: "The third [unit was] three organ numbers by Frederick Scholl, the most popular of which was 'Ain't It a Grand and Glorious Feelin'?' illustrated by comedy slides. Certainly - words and everything. The house took to the idea; and one of these days Scholl is going to work a miracle with an Australian audience. Under the gentle persuasion of his organ they're going to join in and sing as cheerfully as they do in the best Broadway houses when these novelties appear." [Everyone's, 8 August, 1928] Special thanks to http://theatreorgans.com |
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www.sydneyarchitecture.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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links |
http://www.capitoltheatre.com.au/index1.htm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The
Capitol Theatre, Sydney, was Australia's first example of what had become
known in America as the "atmospheric" style of auditorium,
intended to make patrons feel as if they were out of doors, with grottos,
statuary and a sky-like ceiling where stars twinkled and clouds moved
slowly across. This style of theatre had been popularised in America by
the architect John Eberson, and contrasted strongly with the traditional
"hard top" school. Atmospheric theatres were considerably less
costly to build than their traditional counterparts, and it was at the
Paradise Theatre, Faribault, Minnesota, that the oft-quoted instruction to
electricians was posted: "Please do not turn on the clouds until
the show starts. Be sure stars are turned off when leaving",
words, which, as the late Ben Hall observed, might well have come from the
Book of Genesis. [Ben Hall, The Best Remaining Seats, Bramhall
House, New York, 1961]