WellUrban

Personal reflections on urbanism, urban life and sustainable urban design in Wellington, New Zealand.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Playing favourites #6: The Hannah Playhouse


The Hannah Playhouse (home to Downstage Theatre) is rapidly emerging as one of the popular favourites on the Architectural Centre blog, and it's certainly been one of my favourites for a long time. It's got all that textural shuttered concrete to appeal to fans of Brutalism, and it's handled with surprising delicacy, but the chief glory is the roof.

Hannah Playhouse
It's hard to see from this photo, but it's a simple yet boldly faceted form that marks this important street corner in a very memorable way. When it's lit up at night, it's like a geological formation or ancient pyramid, standing out just enough from the rectilinearity of the urban grid. If only something like Courtenay Central had had the courage to express the forms of the various auditoria within, rather than hiding it all behind a box of cheap cladding, Courtenay Place would have had an architectural icon at its centre rather than an embarrassing interloper from suburbia.

The various restaurant conversions on the ground floor may have detracted from its original integrity to some extent, but they show how such a supposedly "introspective" building type as a theatre can have active edges and contribute to the urban environment (hello Circa, we're looking at you). It's an enduring delight that looks great in black and white, and it's a vital part of the city. More details and CAD plans are available on the wonderful VenueWeb.

2 Comments:

At 8:58 am, April 20, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Some notes on the architect of the building, Jim Beard, here.

 
At 9:15 am, April 20, 2007, Blogger Tom said...

Thanks Michael, I should have put that in the post (it's in the ZoomIn page that I linked to).

I should hasten to add that he's no relation :-)

 

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