About

New Zealand's only surviving Edwardian theatre, restored to a working modern stage for major touring productions and orchestras.

Isaac Theatre Royal

Location

Christchurch

Sector

Civic & Cultural

Status

Completed 2014

Client

Isaac Theatre Royal Charitable Trust

Service

Management

The Isaac Theatre Royal had been Christchurch's grand stage since 1908, the only Edwardian theatre left in the country, when the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes left its structure and much of its historic fabric at risk. The Isaac Theatre Royal Charitable Trust wanted it back as a fully modern venue, able to take the biggest touring productions and orchestras and to reopen as the first major stage in the central city, a sign that Christchurch's cultural life was rebuilding.

RCP was appointed as the design and project managers and Engineer to the Contract. The rebuild had to bring together heritage conservation, full compliance with current earthquake standards and a stage fit for major touring shows, all on a fast-track programme. To strengthen the building, the ornate 11 metre auditorium dome was lifted out whole on a steel cradle, restored, and lowered back on a carbon-fibre shell believed to be a world first, its painted ceiling preserved.

Meeting the fast-track programme meant running the job as a staged release of 15 design and consent packages and 56 trade packages, letting design, consenting and construction overlap rather than run one after another. The team built the business case for a new multifunction performance space, added mid-construction to widen what the theatre could host and earn from.

The theatre reopened in 2014 at 100 percent of current building standards, with a 1,292 seat auditorium, improved sightlines and acoustics, lift access to every level and a modern back of house. As the first major venue back in the central city, it helped restart Christchurch's cultural life and anchor the performing arts precinct.

Awards

2017 New Zealand Commercial Project Awards, National Category and Gold Award Winner, Heritage and Restoration
2015 Property Council New Zealand Property Industry Awards, Best in Category, Heritage and Adaptive Reuse, and Education and Arts
2015 Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Awards, Colour Award, Public and Institutional Spaces