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The Jewels in Her Majesty’s Theatre’s Crown

Following the recent redevelopment of Her Majesty’s Theatre is the completion of the venue’s two newest offerings – The Ian and Pamela Wall Gallery and Pickard Terrace.

The new Ian and Pamela Wall gallery will become the designated home to the Adelaide Festival Centre’s Performing Arts Collection, opening this month with the ‘Making of The Maj’ exhibition. The exhibition features the historic images, memorabilia, architectural plans, and décor that celebrate the refit of Adelaide’s oldest continually operating performance venue.

COX Director, Zoe King

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to both Ian and Pamela Wall, and Gordon Pickard, for their belief in Adelaide’s performing arts scene. Without them, we wouldn’t have been given this fantastic opportunity to add the jewels to Her Majesty’s Crown.

The Performing Arts Collection was established by Premier Don Dunstan in 1979 with the aim to preserve, record and display the significant contributions South Australians have made to theatre, opera, music, dance, musical theatre, film, and circus. Over the last forty years the collection has evolved to become one of the most important and comprehensive performing arts collections in Australia and now comprises over 100,000 objects from artworks, to design, architecture, textiles, archives, and event files dating back to 1858.

Adelaide Festival Centre Senior Exhibitions Curator, Charissa Davies

With over 100,000 items and memorabilia in the collection there is no shortage of material for a year-round program of exhibitions in this wonderful new space. We hope patrons enjoy the view.

Once a stale, corporate space, the Ian and Pamela Wall Gallery has transformed the rooftop into an exciting multi-faceted venue to be enjoyed by not only performing arts lovers, but all Adelaideans.

The gallery’s design take inspiration from the rich, traditional aesthetic of the theatre space, carrying on the craftsmanship and detail but with a lighter, fresher aesthetic. The stone, timber and leather seen throughout the theatre are also present in the gallery, tying the two spaces together but in their own unique application.

In a celebration of the space’s past, the gallery showcases the heritage brick of the front façade, peeling back the plaster to let them shine as a design feature.

Just as it was important in the redevelopment of Her Maj, it was integral for the two new spaces to also enshrine craft and its traditions. Local trades that helped restore the theatre to its former glory also played a part in the gallery, including John Reuther Cabinetmakers, Alan Waldron Upholstery, and Peter Buckley from the Buckford Group. Also working on HMT and now the gallery, the expertise of Hansen Yuncken and Aurecon ensured a perfect result.

Ensuring no space is wasted, the Pickard Terrace is the perfect partner to the new Ian and Pamela Wall Gallery. Housing the venue’s third bar, the terrace is a space with a difference. With a manoeuvrable bar, the private function area can be configured in a multitude of ways – suiting different party sizes and purposes.

Large picture windows frame the bustling west side of Adelaide’s city, with distant picturesque views to the coastline. The diagrid framed glass allows the public to see into the venue from the streetscape, and for those lucky enough to enjoy a drink on the Pickard Terrace, they can look back, admiring the beauty of Grote Street from the rooftops.

The Ian and Pamela Wall Gallery is free to visit and will be open to the public before and during performance times and for special exhibitions during major festivals.

The Pickard Terrace can be enjoyed by patrons, pre-shows and during intervals and is available to hire for private functions.

Currently, the Ian and Pamela Wall Gallery is showcasing, ‘The Making of the Maj,’ an exploration into the Tivoli Theatre’s past.

Her Majesty’s Theatre Redevelopment | Interiors

Adelaide

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Sydney

Her Majesty’s Theatre Redevelopment

Adelaide, South Australia

Georgina Nefiodovas

Zoë King