The Opera House

Wellington Opera House, The Grand Opera House, The State Opera House, 109 Manners Street, 111 Manners Street, 113 Manners Street, 115 Manners Street

109-117 Manners Street, Te Aro, Wellington
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Image: Charles Collins, 2015
Image: WCC - Charles Collins, 2015
Extent: Cityview 2012
Extent: Cityview 2012
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  • Constructed

    1911 - 1914

  • Architect(s)

    William Pitt

  • Builder(s)

    Sanders Brothers

  • Note how this Edwardian Baroque building’s classical elements form a well-proportioned asymmetrical facade. The interior features a sumptuous decorative scheme in high-quality materials, workmanship and design.

    Thomas George Macarthy, an early Wellington Opera House Company director, landowner, and brewer provided finance for the building.

    J.C. Williamson Ltd, the international touring company, held the lease until they purchased the building in 1924.

    For the past 90 years, the venue has featured many notable national and international performers. 

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  • close History

    • The first purpose-built opera house opened in Wellington in 1878. It burned to the ground two years later and a new building was completed in 1886. This building, which occupied a site in Manners St, was also razed by fire, just two years later. Both were timber buildings. A new brick opera house was open within six months. This building - the Te Aro Opera House - later evolved into the Regent Picture Theatre, a landmark in Wellington until the 1980s. By the early 1900s the Te Aro Opera House was deemed unsuitable for grand shows.

      Arrangements were made to purchase land from prominent local Wellingtonian, Thomas George Macarthy, for approximately £23,000. Macarthy had made his fortunes as a brewer and property developer and was also a director of the Wellington Opera House Company. The land was located at the north side of Manners St, formerly the site of the famous Kebbell’s Mill and, from 1885, the Poneke Rugby Club Gymnasium. The transaction was complicated by Macarthy’s death in 1912 when his estate passed to the Public Trustee, and by the creation of a right-of-way to the west of the site that is now known as ‘Opera House Lane.’ Thomas Macarthy’s estate had an ongoing relationship with the opera house, and held a mortgage on the building until it was sold in the mid-1920s. T.G. Macarthy is now better remembered as a philanthropist and the Thomas George Macarthy Trust has since distributed over $60m in charitable donations in the former Wellington provincial district over the past 100 years.

      Construction work began in 1911 and the Grand Opera House, as it was known, opened in April 1914 at an estimated cost of £37,000. The architect was William Pitt of Melbourne and construction was supervised by his brother-in-law, the architect Albert Liddy. The builders were Sanders Brothers of Wellington and there were a number of other key contributors to the building, including scenic artist Harold Bevan, decorative artist G. Goulter of Sydney, and fibrous plaster decorator O. Wasohatz of Melbourne.

      The stage, when built, was one of the largest in Australasia, and the opera house interior was particularly notable for its fine decorative scheme carried out in lavish materials by skilled craftsmen. The lease for Wellington’s (earlier) opera house had been held by the touring company J.C. Williamson Ltd since 1908, this arrangement continued with the new opera house until Williamson purchased the building in 1924. It is likely that the internal decorative scheme was designed in collaboration with the touring company, as the plasterwork in the ceiling of the foyer is decorated with the signature design of the company – bands of Australian eucalypts, surrounded by a border of New Zealand wild flowers, which enclosed a cluster of English roses; the symbolic flowers of the three countries where the company operated.

      Williamson’s continued to own the building for the next fifty years until the company ceased trading in 1976. In 1977, in a bid to ensure the long-term survival of the theatre, State Insurance (then a Government-owned state enterprise) bought the building and refurbished it. In 1992 the orchestra pit was dug out and greatly increased in size.

      The theatre continues to host opera, ballet, drama and a range of other live performances, as it has done for over 80 years, performed both by touring international and local companies. Famous artists to have performed in the Opera House include Dame Sybil Thorndike and Marcel Marceau, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Yehudi Menuhin and Anna Pavlova.

    • Modifications close
      • 1912
      • Construction begins (00053:171:9449)
      • 1923
      • Alterations (00055:11:A1110)
      • 1924
      • Vestibule doors (00055:36:A3341)
      • 1935
      • Altered entrance (00056:154:B13718)
      • 1936
      • Shop front (00056:181:B15902)
      • 1944
      • Reinstate earthquake damage (00056:292:B23290)
      • 1953
      • Extensions (00056:459:B34863)
      • 1961
      • Theatre alterations (00058:175:C8109)
      • 1979
      • Upgrading opera house (00058:1188:C51047)
      • 1981
      • Strengthening (00058:1331:C55997)
      • 1992
      • Upgrade of orchestra pit (00059:561:E25734)
      • 1999
      • Improvement to access (00078:856:60354)
      • 2001
      • Conversion of existing shop tenancy to café (00078:654:75578) Alteration to seating layout (00078:815:80940) (00078:1743:80483)
      • 2003
      • Upgrade hospitality area, first floor of Opera House (00078:1804:105202)
    • Occupation History close
      • 1921
      • J.C. Williamson Limited
      • 1998
      • St James Theatre Trust
  • close Architectural Information
    • Building Classification(s) close

      Not assessed

    • Architecture close

      The construction of the building is in load-bearing brick masonry on concrete foundations and piles. The Manners Street facade has been designed in a simplified Edwardian Classicism, with restrained ornamentation. A pleasant balance is maintained in the building’s proportions between the vertical and horizontal elements, with an accentuation of the former. This is achieved by the use of slender Ionic pilasters, rising over two stories, centred on the ‘piers’ between the flat-headed windows. The brick spandrel between the upper and lower windows is treated as an inset panel, with a small decorative moulding in the middle. The eastern end of the building has been designed as a slightly projecting bay, with a large segmental pediment and a stepped parapet over the upper windows; this gives the facade an interesting asymmetry, as it is not matched by a similar bay at the western end. The entablature is comparatively plain. ‘State Opera House’ was moulded onto the frieze (today it reads ‘The Opera House’) and the cornice is ornamented with dentils. The fine parapet is balustraded, and steps up over the centre of the building.

      The interior of the building is its outstanding component. It was modelled on London theatres of the 1880s, with a lavishly decorated three-tier auditorium and a domed ceiling. The stage facilities are unique in Wellington, and may be unique in New Zealand and include a large stage fly tower some 22 metres in height. The fibrous plaster designs (Australian eucalypts, English roses and New Zealand wildflowers) represent the three countries in which the J.C. Williamson Ltd performing company traditionally operated. They are an outstanding feature of the interior and the primary reason for the building’s Category I classification by the Historic Places Trust.

    • Materials close

      Load-bearing brick masonry on concrete foundations and piles.

    • Setting close

      The Opera House is located on the northern side of the western end of Manners Street, opposite Te Aro Park. To the west Opera House Lane separates it from a modern multi-storey building. To the east a single storey building separates it from a double storey building. These separations help to define the building from its surroundings. The building can be seen from as far as Courtenay Place and the open space of Te Aro Park allows it to be clearly seen from Dixon Street.

      It can be seen as part of a ‘entertainment precinct’ that extends to the performance spaces and venues on the waterfront, to the Michael Fowler Centre and Wellington Town Hall in the Civic Square, the Opera House on Manners Street, the St James, Paramount and Downstage theatres on Courtenay Place, to the Embassy Theatre on Kent Terrace.

  • close Cultural Value

    The Opera House is a good representative example of a Classical building designed in an Edwardian Baroque style. The exterior is a careful composition of Classical elements that form a well-proportioned asymmetrical façade. The interior is outstanding, and features a sumptuous decorative scheme carried out in high quality materials, workmanship and design.

    The building has a historic association with well known Wellingtonian Thomas George Macarthy, who was an early opera company director, landowner, and provided finance for the building works. It also has a strong association with international touring company J.C. Williamson that operated in the UK, Australia and NZ in the 19th and 20th centuries.

    The building is a well known local venue that has featured many notable local, national and international performers and performances over the past 90+ years.

    • Aesthetic Value close

      • Architectural

        Does the item have architectural or artistic value for characteristics that may include its design, style, era, form, scale, materials, colour, texture, patina of age, quality of space, craftsmanship, smells, and sounds?

        The Opera House is a good representative example of a Classical building designed in an Edwardian Baroque style. The exterior is a careful composition of Classical elements that form a well-proportioned asymmetrical façade. The interior is outstanding, and features a sumptuous decorative scheme carried out in high quality materials, workmanship and design.

      • Group

        Is the item part of a group of buildings, structures, or sites that taken together have coherence because of their age, history, style, scale, materials, or use?

        The building can be seen as part of a group of nearby performance spaces that include the Michael Fowler Centre and Wellington Town Hall at the nearby Civic Square, and the St James, Paramount, Downstage on Courtenay Place, and the Embassy Theatre on Kent Terrace.

      • Townscape

        Does the item have townscape value for the part it plays in defining a space or street; providing visual interest; its role as a landmark; or the contribution it makes to the character and sense of place of Wellington?

        The building defines the edge of Te Aro Park, and this open space allows the building to be viewed at a distance from Dixon and Manners Street and beyond. The building is a local landmark for its function as a performance space, and for its location and architectural style.

    • Historic Value close

      • Association

        Is the item associated with an important historic event, theme, pattern, phase, or activity?

        The building is a well known local venue that has featured many notable local, national and international performers and performances over the past 90+ years.

    • Scientific Value close

      • Archaeological

        Does the item have archaeological value for its ability to provide scientific information about past human activity?

        The building is located in the Central City archaeological site reference NZAA R27/270 and there was known pre:1900 human activity on this site.

    • Social Value close

      • Identity Sense Of Place Continuity

        Is the item a focus of community, regional, or national identity? Does the item contribute to sense of place or continuity?

        The building has had few intrusive modern alterations or additions in the past 90+ years and contributes to the sense of place and continuity of Manners Street and Te Aro Park.

      • Public Esteem

        Is the item held in high public esteem?

        The building is held in high public esteem, and this can be seen from the efforts to save the building when it was threatened with closure in the late 1970s.

      • Sentiment Connection

        Is the item a focus of community sentiment and connection?

        The building has is likely to be a focus of sentiment and connection to the performing arts community of Wellington.

    • Level of Cultural Heritage Significance close

      • Authentic

        Does the item have authenticity or integrity because it retains significant fabric from the time of its construction or from later periods when important additions or modifications were carried out?

        The façade of the building has largely retained its original appearance since its initial construction.

      • Importance

        Is the item important for any of the above characteristics at a local, regional, national, or international level?

        Because of its status as Wellington’s Opera House the building is important on a regional level.

    • Local / Regional / National / International Importance close

      Not assessed

  • close Site Detail

    • District Plan Number

      16/ 200

    • Legal Description

      LOT 2 DP 2987 & PT SEC 213 TN OF WGTN

    • Heritage New Zealand Listed

      1/Historic Place 1432

    • Archaeological Site

      Central City NZAA R27/270, Maori site of significance

    • Current Uses

      unknown

    • Former Uses

      unknown

    • Has building been funded

      No

    • Funding Amount

      Not applicable

    • Earthquake Prone Status

      124 Notice

  • close Additional Information
    • Sources close
      • Bowman, Ian. ‘Conservation Plan: Opera House, Wellington’, draft Conservation Plan, 2013.
      • ‘Charitable Trust Celebrates its Centennial – Public Trust’, Public Trust Website accessed May 2013
      • CT vol 125 folio 224; CT vol 55 folio 218; CT vol 125 folio 223; CT vol 100 folio 256; CT vol 226 folio 172
      • Langmore, Diane. 'Pitt, William 1855–1918.’ Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Accessed 30 July 2012.
      • Lawlor, P. ‘The Evolution of Wellington’s Grand Opera House.’ In NZIA Journal. August 1974.
      • New Zealand Historic Places Trust. ‘Buildings Classification Committee: Citation for reclassification of the State Opera House, Wellington.’
      • New Zealand Historic Places Trust. ‘Buildings Field Record Form: State Opera House.’
      • Wellington City Council. “109-117 Manners Street.” Wellington Heritage Building Inventory 2001: Non-Residential Buildings. Wellington City Council, 2001. MANN2
      • Whyte, R. ‘Up from the Pit.’ In Listener. October 24, 1992.
      • Newspapers: BIG THEATRE DEAL. Auckland Star, 11 November 1922, Page 11
      • Newspapers: Evening Post. Volume LXXXVII, Issue 38. 14 February 1914. Page 6
      • Newspapers: Evening Post. Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 7. 8 July 1914. Page 8.
      • Newspapers: The Grand Opera House. Free Lance, 21 March 1914, Page 15
      • Newspapers: WELLINGTON OPERA HOUSE. Hawera & Normanby Star, 11 February 1908, Page 5
    • Technical Documentation close
    • Footnotes close

      Not available

Last updated: 6/22/2017 9:42:14 PM