Regent Theatre & Plaza, 191-197 Collins Street, Melbourne
Butler, Graeme1985
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Title:
Regent Theatre & Plaza, 191-197 Collins Street, Melbourne
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Date of work:
1985
Reference number:
BIF-CITY 109417
Level of description:
Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)
Type of materials:
Graphic materialsTextual material
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Series: Central City (BIF-CITY)
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UnrestrictedOpen access.
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UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.
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RESEARCH ADDED BY GRAEME BUTLER 2023:__________________________________________________DATES: 1929, 1947;ASSOCIATIONS: Thring, Frank Snr.;DESIGNERS: Ballantyne, Cedric H & Associates (1929), Cowper, Murphy and Appleford 1947;BUILDER: James Porter & Sons 1929,Style: Neo-RenaissancePeriod: Inter-WarVHR Number: H690__________________________________GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYStatement of SignificanceHistoryBefore the Regent's coming, Wilson's `Argus' and `Australasian' office once occupied part of the Regent's site and noble journals like `Australian Farm and Home' issued from next door. The Dairymen's and Victorian Fruitgrowers' Associations both had offices in the same building.It was the `Argus' which prophesied the `...vastness...and architectural grandeur' of the new auditorium and foyer before the Regent's opening in March 1929. Sydney, Adelaide and Perth Regents had already opened as a national building program by Hoyts Theatres Limited on the advent of sound. Of these, the Adelaide Regent was also to the design of Melbourne architect, Cedric H. Ballantyne and Associates but only Charles Hollinshed's later Brisbane Regent (November 1929) was of a comparable internal scale (3250 seats) or decorative richness, the latter resembling closely that at Melbourne. Melbourne's street elevation was however superior to all and its seating capacity (3500 seats) second only to Melbourne's State Theatre until its division into the Forum and Rapallo cinemas. Brisbane's Regent has also since been divided and renovated.Melbourne's Regent was also one of the largest in the Commonwealth and, although built as a cinema, its stage was still able to cater for extravagant live performances. It too was also the largest in Australia. Another claimed distinction for the cinema was that it may have been the world's first twin cinema. Under the Regent's vast volume was the more intimate Plaza which housed a mere 1200 persons and opened in May 1929. Only part of the Spanish flavoured ceiling of this cinema has survived, as an adjunct to the city square.Atmosphere rather than strict adherence to period was pursued in the Regent's interior. Groined Gothic ceilings over the foyer stood atop travertine marble columns and spanned to similarly finished walls, spiced by veigned Australian stone. In, contrast to the foyer's Medieval mood, French Second Empire filled the auditorium and framed the screen. Giant Corinthian and Ionic orders manfully supported intricately moulded plasterwork. The disastrous 1945 fire and faithful reconstruction reduced this grandeur by only a fraction when it re-opened in 1947.DescriptionExternally the Regent appeared like a Roman triumphal arch (Janus or Constantine) with its tall central portal and flanking Ionic colonade in the serlian manner. More commonly seen in Palladio's work the serlian motif was revived and embellished for the French Second Empire and again for the coming of Regent sound cinemas. Foliated cement ornament to spandrel panels, balustrading at the parapet and the lounge balcony augmented the more austere parapet. Two urns once rested here next to the, theatre's name.By comparison, only the Victory Cinema, St. Kilda (Ballantyne, 1921) approaches the Regent within its style group.External IntegrityExternally, the parapet has been altered and the urns removed; the parapet balustrading is incomplete, a neon sign sympathetic to the period added and the west wall altered in construction of the city square. The Plaza has been gutted excepting part of the ceiling.Internally: inspection required.StreetscapeTerminating element of a group of individually important buildings, related by scale, used of period ornament and siting.SignificanceThe largest cinema in Australia, it is the best surviving of the Hoyts' national Regent groups; it was built at, and representative of, the zenith of Australian cinema building after sound (1929) when Australia was second in the world on a cinema seat per population ratio and it is superior, architecturally within its style group (French Second Empire).____________________________VICTORIA HERITAGE REGISTER H0690Statement of SignificanceLast Updated: 08/10/1999What is significant?The Regent Theatre was designed by Cedric Ballantyne and built by James Porter & Sons, and opened in 1929. Ballantyne combined Spanish Gothic and French Renaissance styles to produce one of Victoria's largest and most lavish cinemas in the inter-war period. The auditorium, surmounted by a domed ceiling and flanked by colonnades, provides a handsome spectacle in which, because of careful detail, the large scale of the enclosed space is not immediately apparent. The foyers and promenades are decorated in exaggerated styles, reflecting the ostentatious nature and romanticism of the cinema industry at that time, although they combine to enhance the splendour of the auditorium. The basement-level Plaza Theatre, replete with references to Spanish Baroque and medieval styles, was originally intended to be a Cabaret and was built with side promenades for dining and drinking and with a large central dance floor. But the failure to obtain a liquor license led to its conversion to a cinema. The main auditorium of the Regent was destroyed in a fire in 1945 and rebuilt in 1947 under the direction of Cowper, Murphy and Appleford, architects. The re-creation of the plaster mouldings was the work of James Lyall. Such a large cinema became increasingly costly to run and in 1970 it closed its doors, having been sold to the Melbourne City Council to be redeveloped as part of its City Square project. What followed was 25 years of deliberation and conflict over demolition or restoration plans, before the fully refurbished theatre, resurrected by theatre entrepreneur David Marriner and Allom Lovell and Associates, was re-opened in 1996. The Plaza became a function venue, and the main auditorium a major live theatre venue.How is it significant?The Regent Theatre is of historical, social and architectural significance to the State of Victoria.Why is it significant?The Regent Theatre is of historical significance as evidence of the character of popular entertainment and culture in Melbourne in earlier decades of the 20th century. Although the theatre no longer hosts films, its grandeur and extravagance are tangible reminders of the excitement of the cinema-going experience in the early years of the cinema industry. Such elaborate theatres made going to the cinema more than just a matter of passively watching a film. The atmosphere and décor of the building was part of the enjoyment, as was the music provided by the Wurlitzer organ, and the Regent soon became one of the most popular social and entertainment facilities in the city. Its popularity was such that after a disastrous fire in 1945 that destroyed the auditorium, the State Government lifted post war building restrictions to allow it to be completely re-constructed, almost as originally designed.The Regent Theatre is of historical significance because of the major role it played in the development of the cinema industry in Victoria. The Regent was the flagship of the nation-wide Hoyt's cinema chain, which consisted of large, palace-style 'Regents' in every capital and large country town. With the second, separate Plaza cinema in the basement, it was the first, and for many years the only, double cinema complex in Victoria. The Plaza was the first cinema in Australia to install the wide screen Cinerama in 1958. The complex also served as an administration centre for the Hoyt's chain, with the building including offices and a small private viewing cinema.The Regent Theatre is of historical significance because of its associations with Frank Thring Snr., who established the nation-wide Hoyt's cinema chain in the 1920s and in the early 1930s created 'Efftee Films', Australia's major film production company of the era.The Regent Theatre is of social significance because of its involvement in the conservation battles of the 1970s that contributed to the creation of Victoria's historic buildings legislation, the first in Australia. The theatre's popularity led to it becoming the subject of Melbourne's longest running conservation debate, when, after closing in 1970, Builders Laborers Federation bans prevented its demolition as part of the development of a long-sought city square. The Regent then remained empty for over 25 years as debate raged over its future and the design of the square. The Plaza was incorporated in the square development, but it wasn't until 1996 that the Regent was reopened after extensive restoration work. The long preservation battle over the Theatre provides an interesting tale of changing attitudes to heritage protection. Originally not considered architecturally significant enough to be incorporated on the Historic Buildings Register in the 1970s, greater acceptance of 20th century buildings and of the concept of social and historic significance as distinct from architectural significance, led to the registration of the theatre in 1988. The heritage battles that were fought over the Regent and other historical buildings in the early 1970s forced the State Government to introduce a system to register and protect historic buildings in 1974.The Regent Theatre is of architectural significance as one of the best surviving examples of an inter-war period picture palace in Australia. Its imaginative combination of styles and sumptuous and spectacular interior spaces are a fine example of cinema architecture, providing an early 20th century example of architecture purely in the service of entertainment.________________________GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDYBUILDING IDENTIFICATION FORM cites source 78,3;Victoria Illustrated: 442-3._______________________________________VICTORIAN HERITAGE INVENTORY H7822-1818, 1993Fels, M., Lavelle, S. & Mider, D., Melbourne Central Activities District: Archaeological Management Plan (8 volumes), OCC. RPT, 1993, Report Number: 102,Third land sale 1838, Block 6, part Allotment 15, Thomas Walker; part Allotment 16, Charles Nicholson. Subdivisions, lanes by 1840. 1850 and 1855 - building. 1877 - six buildings and yards, Argus Office, timberyard, warehouse, printers and shops. 1888 - six buildings; Argus Printing Office, two warehouses, three shops. 1905 - six buildings; warehouse, Argus Printing Office, three shops.cites HISTORIC BUILDINGS COUNCIL -STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE:DESIGNED BY MESSRS CEDRIC H BALLANTYNE & ASSOCIATES, ARCHITECTS, BUILT BY MESSRS JAMES PORTER & SONS, AND OPENED IN 1929, THE REGENT THEATRE BECAME ONE OF VICTORIA'S LARGEST CINEMAS IN THE INTER WAR PERIOD. IT IS ONE OF THE BEST REMAINING INTACT PERIOD EXAMPLES OF THE PICTURE PALACE IN VICTORIA, ALTHOUGH IT WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED AS A LIVE THEATRE. THE REGENT IS PERHAPS AUSTRALIA'S BEST EXAMPLE, IN BOTH ITS INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR ASPECTS, OF COMBINED SPANISH GOTHIC AND FRENCH RENAISSANCE REVIVAL STYLES AS APPLIED TO A TWENTIETH CENTURY THEATRE. THE AUDITORIUM, SURMOUNTED BY A DOMED CEILING AND FLANKED BY COLONNADES, PROVIDES A HANDSOME SPECTACLE IN WHICH, BECAUSE OF CAREFUL DETAIL, THE LARGE SCALE OF THE ENCLOSED SPACE IS NOT IMMEDIATELY APPARENT. THE FOYERS AND PROMENADES ARE DECORATED IN EXAGGERATED STYLES, REFLECTING THE OSTENTATIOUS NATURE AND ROMANTICISM OF THE CINEMA INDUSTRY AT THAT TIME BUT EACH COMBINE TO ENHANCE THE SPLENDOUR OF THE AUDITORIUM. THE WHOLE CAN NOW BE SEEN AS FALLING BETWEEN THE 'ATMOSPHERE' THEATRICALITY OF THE THE STATE AND THE MODERNITY OF THE CAPITOL, THE TWO OTHER MAJOR CINEMAS OF MELBOURNE. IN 1945, THE CINEMA WAS BADLY DAMAGED BY FIRE AND THE RE-BUILDING CARRIED OUT UNDER THE DIRECTION OF MESSRS. COWPER, MURPHY AND APPLEFORD, ARCHITECTS. THE RE-CREATION OF THE PLASTER MOULDINGS WAS THE WORK OF MR JAMES LYALL. THE RESTORATION LEFT LITTLE VISIBLE EFFECT ON WHAT WAS GENERALLY A FAITHFUL RECONSTRUCTION. THE REGENT THEATRE IS ALSO IMPORTANT FOR ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE IN MELBOURNE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. THE THEATRE IS IMPORTANT AS A MEMORIAL TO FRANCIS WILLIAM THRING (D. 1936) WHO ESTABLISHED THE CHAIN OF REGENT THEATRES THROUGHOUT AUSTRALIA, INCLUDING THIS BUILDING. IT IS A NOTABLE FACT THAT THE REGENT SERVED AS AN ADMINISTRATION CENTRE FOR THE HOYTS CHAIN. THE BUILDING COMPRISES OFFICES AND A SMALL PRIVATE VIEWING CINEMA WHICH IS IMPORTANT IN DESIGN TERMS AND IN ITS SCALE; ALSO FOR WHAT IT REVEALS ABOUT THE WORKING HABITS OF CINEMA EXECUTIVES AND THE CINEMA INDUSTRY GENERALLY. POSSIBLY NO OTHER BUILDING HAS EXPERIENCED QUITE THE SAME EXTENT OF DELIBERATION AND ATTENTION AS HAS THE REGENT THEATRE. IT HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF TWO MAJOR INQUIRIES AND AT LEAST THREE SEPARATE SCHEMES FOR REDEVELOPMENT WHICH HAVE ENVISAGED VARYING DEGREES OF DEMOLITION AND ADAPTIVE REUSE. THE REGENT HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF CAMPAIGNS SPONSORED BY LEADING CITIZENS, THEATRICAL IDENTITIES AND THE NATIONAL TRUST. SENTIMENTS FAVOURING ITS RETENTION REMAIN STRONGLY HELD IN THE COMMUNITY.
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Research and reports
Record number:
1264605
| Type | Reference No. | Extent | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 109417 | 1 PDF : 2,621 KB ; A4 | Group of Items (May not be issued, may not be reproduced) |