This one should have been easy to spot. We’re talking about the (dilapidated) grand ole dame of Brisbane cinema architecture here. One of only five ever constructed in Australia. A genuine 1930s picture palace. From the quick glimpses I used to steal from the road every time I drove past, the Paddington Antiques Centre sort of looked like an old shed with street cafes out the front. One of those places where I’d think “Gee I really must visit sometime”… only to forget about it until the next time I drove past. I’d love to say that as soon as I did get up close, the light bulb went off. I had no idea. It wasn’t until my third visit that a (much more observant) friend with me remarked, “Hey doesn’t that look like a stage?”. True enough, once I looked past the rows and rows of antique stalls, past the cabinets of knick knacks and vintage dresses pouring out into the aisles, past all the other treasures stacked up everywhere, I could kind of make out a little balcony at the other end.

It reminded me of my old school plays. Was this an old hall perhaps? I looked to the walls either side of me and noticed the elaborate cornicing just above head height. wooden garage doors coventry …then I looked up. liftmaster garage door motorThe ceiling was bright blue!door for sale in pampanga Strangely it’s not the first thing you notice in this hoarder’s delight, where everything sort of camouflages together. auto glass repair fountain hillsI felt like I was standing in the sacred bones of something special. timber front doors manchester

What was this place? There were only five atmospheric theatres ever constructed in Australia, and I had just stumbled across one by pure chance. car glass repair nashville Research has failed to uncover the name of the architect***, but we do know the Paddington Plaza was built in 1929 by John Hutchinson (founder of Hutchinson Builders) for Associated Theatres.french door refrigerator good housekeeping It is a rare example of an early 20th century ‘atmospheric’ picture palace in Queensland – a style of architecture made popular in the 20s and 30s, where a theatre’s interior would emulate an outdoor venue. Well, that explained the bright blue ceiling! It was done that way to resemble the night sky, with those side niches and painted barley-twist Roman columns depicting a Spanish courtyard.

As you can see in the pictures above, a large Spanish style proscenium arch is heavily decorated with mission tiles and plaster scroll-work and includes the original textile valance embossed with the theatre’s name. Of the original five, only two other atmospherics still exist: Sydney’s Capitol (1929) and Melbourne’s State theatre (1929 – now the Forum), both of which have been remarkably conserved. The other two, Perth’s Ambassador’s Theatre and the Empire Theatre (later the Odeon) in Goulburn, have since been demolished. The picture palace movie theatre was a short-lived phenomenon. It was, perhaps, an accident of history – two events being combined by a catalyst. The first event was that in the 1920s, silent motion pictures had developed a high technical quality and sophistication that made them the most popular mass entertainment medium. The second was that architecture was in its death throes of stylistic, but popular eclecticism, before being overcome by the puritanism of the Modern Movement.

The catalyst that brought the two together was a particlar type of management: entrepreneurial showmanship. – The Dream Palaces Part One: The Atmospherics All of the Aussie atmospherics were built as cinemas but the grander Melbourne, Sydney and Perth theatres (owned by Union Theatres) also had stage presentations on their program with ballet girls and an orchestra, plus a famed Wurlitzer organ. Another atmospheric theatre of note is Auckland’s Civic Theatre in New Zealand, touted as the largest surviving atmospheric cinema in Australasia (1929). Movie buffs might remember this cinema was used by Peter Jackson in his remake of King Kong, when it stood in for a New York theatre. Finding out all of this background info really peaked my interest in the Plaza. What I find really curious is that the Plaza was built in the suburbs at all. Most suburban theatres at this time were rather plain, especially Brisbane suburban theatres, because of the heat. Queensland only had one atmospheric, and instead of being in the more glamorous heart of town, like Sydney and Melbourne’s were, they made an atmospheric with an unassuming exterior in the streets of Paddington… why?

The Plaza is also the only atmospheric to use suspended, wooden cut-out clouds that moved back and forth on tracks on the ceiling, which were apparently lit from behind to simulate the moon behind the clouds (other ceilings achieved the moving clouds effect by using projected lighting I think.) Together with lights twinkling like stars, theatregoers could imagine they were seated outdoors. In any case, it was extremely popular. Popular films could attract anywhere from 1200 to 1500 at a single session. On Saturdays, trams would wait outside until the film finished to take people home. The theatre was open seven days a week, apparently with serials shown on Monday and Tuesday nights, and feature films and newsreels on other nights. A matinee was also shown on Sunday afternoons. Until the 50s, the tenants along the Latrobe Terrace frontage included a milk bar, grocer, barber, drapery and chemist. Today the theatre foyer and eight retail shops remain, with large glass windows framed in silky oak, pairs of recessed entry doors and lower wall sections tiled in glossy black tiles remain.

After the Plaza Theatre stopped operating as a cinema in 1961, a flat level floor was installed over the original sloping one (which I believe still exists underneath) so that the building could be used for indoor basketball, of all things! But noise complaints eventually put a halt to this, and the centre was even used as a venue for X-rated films (!) until its closure in 1977. Since 1985, it has happily been home to the antique retail centre. I’d love to know any of your other favourite old cinemas in Brisbane! Leave a note below in the comments section if there is one you want us to find out about 🙂 ** Special thanks to everyone at Cinemas and Theatres of Australia for all of the awesome info about atmospheric theatres, and for Steve Maggs of the Cinema And Theatre Historical Society of Australia for lending me his copy of The Dream Palaces Part One: The Atmospherics by Les Tod and Kevin Cork (Australian Theatre Historical Society). *** (READER UPDATE: Thanks to Steve Malone from the Cinemas and Theatres of Australia who got in touch to clarify that the architect of the Plaza Paddington was Richard Gailey Jnr: “Gailey Jnr was a co-architect of the Regent theatre in Queen Street. T