St James Theatre on Wellington’s Courtney Place is an iconic Category One Heritage Listed Building. Built in 1912, the theatre and complex are also home to the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Major seismic strengthening and renovation work began in 2019, and the theatre re-opened in early 2023. Works included seismic strengthening to the complex, modernisation and repaint of the ground-floor foyer café and bar, first-floor gallery, stage, and auditorium. Alongside the many intricate finishing touches required to bring life back to Wellington’s shining star of venues.

Carefully colour-matched heritage paint colours

Every detail of the heritage building was carefully maintained or replicated with a focus given to colour-matching the heritage paint colours, inspired by early drawings of the heritage-listed building and working closely with Heritage New Zealand and conservation architects Shand Shelton. The 1970s mustard yellow, heavily used in the interior, which many Wellingtonians may be familiar with, was replaced with a new palette of soft pinks, velvety reds, and pale pear greens in a deliberate nod to the original 1912 scheme.

“A lot of time was taken to learn about the original detailing, piecing together details from old photos," says Chris Kooge, Project Manager, Maycroft Construction. "The intention is to create a soft, comfortable atmosphere, the best way to describe it (the colours) is romantic."

Paying tribute to the heritage look of the building with functional, modern-day requirements was critical to the project, and while getting the colour palette correct was paramount, understanding how those colours interact with one another under low, incandescent, theatre lights was also key.

An extensive project brings together the Dulux family of brands

Dulux has been manufacturing in New Zealand since 1939. Readily identifiable with creating better homes, Dulux also plays a critical role in protecting and improving the spaces and infrastructure we see every day, and the St James Theatre is no exception. Multiple products and brands from the Dulux family were included in this extensive project, including Dulux, Dulux Protective Coatings, Dulux AcraTex Textured Coatings and Porter’s Paints.

The well-known exterior façade received a facelift as part of the project. One of the more challenging aspects was gently removing the years of paint off classical detailing and cornices before re-applying a custom colour created by the Dulux AcraTex team.

The main entrance doors were recoated, ready to welcome audiences into the newly renovated space. Specified in Dulux Protective Coating Acrathane IF with Dulux Flattening Base for a semi-gloss finish, this coating was selected with durability in mind.

Dulux Wash&Wear has been used as the block base in the auditorium, foyer and heritage hall. And, in the connecting ballet building heritage colours have again been matched and painted in Dulux Wash&Wear and Aquanamel.

Dulux Protective Coatings Luxathane HPX was chosen for the damper frames most obvious across the main windows on Courtney Place to provide tough, hard-wearing, anti-corrosion protection to the newly installed steel framework, part of the earthquake strengthening requirements. DuluxLuxathane provides UV resistance to withstand Wellington’s tough weather conditions allowing the windows to be opened wide for patrons to enjoy on summer days and offers a high-end high gloss finish.

Hard to see in the now completed project is the work to create ‘seismic gaps’ undertaken by the team at Maycroft Construction, removing concrete connecting the theatre and neighbouring buildings. Protecting the 17-metre left exterior wall flanking Commonwealth Walkway is a base of AcraTex Elastomeric.

The magical colours on the theatre's pillars and balconies were achieved by layering an undercoat with three layers of paint, followed by a protective sheen. Often, a few different products and colours were mixed creating a marbling effect and stone finish.

A very special interior

Working alongside theatre specialists Shand Shelton Architects, heritage architect consultant Ian Bowman, painters Frame Contracting, and local artist Tina Rae Carter on the theatre’s Rococo-styled interior has been a highlight for the Dulux Specifications and Colour teams.

Specifying a complex palette and prioritising investment in artisans to execute the intricate colour scheme has achieved optimal authenticity and light balance for theatre conditions. These artistic effects enhance the intricate plasterwork within the auditorium, while blushes of rich colours and metallics strategically accentuate the proscenium-arch and stage. Dulux Rosewood, Dulux Waiau Bay Half and Dulux Trentham were used throughout. The foyer spaces adopt a neutral colour scheme to emphasise the building’s materiality, with feature colours reserved for focal points.

The highlight of the project is the way that speciality finishes have been used on the interior plasterwork. Cupids, floral elements, masks and the central dome have been meticulously painted by hand. Custom mixed colours in Porter’s Paints Duchess Satin and Dulux Gold Vintage have been used to full effect. If you look closely at the pillars what looks like marbled texture is hand-painted detail. Tina and the team have shown beautiful skill in recreating such precise detail, using colour to create depth, texture and tone

The central dome is extremely special, handcrafted original plaster and paint finishes come together to tell the story of a sunburst, spreading light from the central rose and chandelier to the blue skies filled with graceful cherubs. Meters of scaffolding were in place to aid the strengthening work but also to allow the applicators access and space to work. Up close two cherubs on either side of the dome are impressively large.

Shand Shelton and the St James Theatre project was recognised as the New Zealand Grand Prix Winner at the Dulux Colour Awards in 2023, recognised as the outstanding New Zealand project and commended in the Commercial Interior – Public and Hospitality category.