Henry Eli White

Henry Eli White (21 August 1876 – 3 March 1952), also known as Harry White, was a New Zealand-born architect best known for the many theatres and cinemas he designed in New Zealand and Australia in the 1910s and 1920s. Many of the major surviving historic venues in the two countries are White designs, including the St. James Theatre, Wellington, St. James Theatre, Auckland, the Capitol Theatre and State Theatre in Sydney, and the Palais Theatre and the interiors of the Princess Theatre and Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne. He also designed the City Hall and the attached Civic Theatre in Newcastle, New South Wales.

Personal life White was born on 21 August 1876 in Dunedin, New Zealand, son of English migrant parents Joseph Eli White and wife Susanna. Joseph Eli White established himself as a bricklayer then a builder and contractor, and by the 1900s he had built many major landmarks in Dunedin, and been elected Councillor and Mayor of the municipality of North East Valley.

Henry appears to have left school at an early age, and probably joined his father's contracting business then established his own business as a builder in 1896. He married Margaret Hallinan at Dunedin on 24 December 1900 and they had four children.

In 1903 he relocated himself and his family to Christchurch where he worked as builder and manufacturer of building supplies and equipment, and moved into engineering. He was the builder or contractor for the Royal Exchange Building and The Press Building, both large projects on Cathedral Square (and both now demolished). His activities in the next few years, other than owning a farm near Hamilton, are unknown. By 1935 he was back in Sydney at his (heavily mortgaged) Point Piper house, which became a reception centre managed by Claire Whitcombe from New Zealand, who supplanted his wife. Though replacing his car with an older one, he kept his yacht, sailing and winning races in 1936. He proposed a 9-storey block of flats for his houses' garden in 1937, but this was rejected by Woollahra Council. He had reputedly earned over £1 million in architectural fees in his heyday, but after 22 years with no architectural work, his probate was only valued at £1147. This is probably an exaggeration, but many more theatres and 'picture theatres' (early ones also had stages suitable for live performances) soon followed both in New Zealand and in Australia, with seven in 1916 alone, many for Fullers. The 1910s was something of a high point for theatre construction, with increasing leisure time and just before cinema boomed in popularity, especially in New Zealand where even quite small towns had at least one live theatre.

With the death in 1918 of William Pitt, who had been the premier theatre architect in Australasia from the late 1890s, Henry Eli White became the premier theatre designer in Australia and New Zealand. He not only designed entirely new theatres, but theatre design often involved the creation of new or renovated auditoriums in existing theatres, of which he did three in Melbourne and at least three in Sydney, as well as various minor alterations.

The architectural styles White used were generally typical for their eras. His early theatres had restrained classical or Edwardian Baroque exteriors, and Rococo or Louis XV interiors with lush plaster decoration and gilded highlights. Elements were often repeated in different designs in different cities, such as the tiers of paired side boxes, with columns and caryatids, seen at His Majesty's, Wellington and the Grand Opera House/Adelphi in Sydney (dem). Some of his earlier designs had Spanish / Mediterranean style exteriors, notably the 1913 Tivoli in Brisbane, and four smaller theatres now all demolished (Everybody's, Gisborne, The Cosy, Masterton, the Grand, Petone, and the Majestic, Brisbane). executed in sandstone.

White is said to have “...designed over 130 theatres.", ). As well as the two major cinemas that were essentially Eberson designs (but whose involvement was downplayed at the time), the State and Capitol in Sydney, his major projects in the late 1920s were certainly overseen by his staff rather than White, and may have been designed by them as well. Eric Heath, who left in mid-1928, went on to design the elaborate Spanish style Plaza Theatre, and George Newton Kenworthy, who left in 1929, went on to design a number of theatres and cinemas in the 1930s, notably the Cremorne Orpheum. 1912 His Majesty's, High Street, Blenheim, New Zealand (demolished 1970s) 1915 Hastings Municipal Theatre (now Hawke's Bay Opera House), 106 Hastings Street, Hastings, New Zealand. 1916 Palace Theatre, 30 Bourke Street, Melbourne (new auditorium and lobbies for the 1912 Brennan's Amphitheatre). White redecorated and altered the boxes in 1923. Proscenium removed 1955, converted to nightclub 1980s, all decoration removed 2016. 1916 Everybody's Theatre, Gisborne, New Zealand (demolished). 1919 National (Amphi-)Theatre/ Fullers, 73 Castlereagh Street, Sydney (interior rebuild of National Amphitheatre, rebuilt Art Deco style 1934 and renamed Mayfair Theatre, demolished 1984). 1921 Theatre Royal, 100 King Street, Sydney (interior rebuild, demolished 1972). 1922 Princess Theatre, 163 Spring Street, Melbourne (new auditorium and rearranged lobbies). 1924 Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne Athenaeum, 188 Collins Street, Melbourne (construction of theatre within existing hall). 1925 Wintergarden, East Street, Ipswich, Queensland (demolished 1979). 1925 Wintergarden, Alma Street, Rockhampton, Queensland (closed 1974, auditorium demolished c2005, rest demolished 2013). 1926 St James Theatre, Elizabeth Street, Sydney (demolished 1971). 1927 Star Theatre, Bronte Road, Bondi Junction, Sydney (demolished 1981) 1927 Wintergarden, Sturt Street, Townsville, Queensland (demolished 1991). 1928 Wintergarden, 622 New South Head Road, Rose Bay, Sydney (demolished 1987). 1928 St. James Theatre, Auckland (originally His Majesty's), 314 Queen Street, Auckland (closed since 2007). 1929 Newcastle Civic Theatre, 375 Hunter St, Newcastle, NSW.

Cinemas 1913 Alhambra (later Tivoli), 11 Karangahape Road, Auckland (demolished c1980). 1917 Strand Theatre (later the Plaza), Cathedral Square, Christchurch, New Zealand (demolished) 1922 Regent Theatre, 124 Little Malop Street, Geelong (only very altered exterior survives). 1927 Palais Theatre, Lower Esplanade, St Kilda, Melbourne. 1927 Capitol Theatre, Campbell Street, Haymarket, Sydney (interiors only, designed with US theatre architect John Eberson). 1929 State Theatre (designed with US theatre architect John Eberson, and includes the attached high rise State Shopping Block, now offices), 49 Market St, Sydney.

Other designs

1913 Wonderland Amusement Park, Dominion Exhibition, Auckland (demolished). 1925–29 Bunnerong 'A', Bunnerong Power Station, Matraville, NSW (demolished 1987). 1926, Law Court Chambers, 191 Queen Street, Melbourne (demolished) 1929 Hengrove Hall (medical suites), 193 Macquarie Street, Sydney. 1929 Stanton House offices, Pitt Street, Sydney (demolished) 1930 St James Building office block, above the lobby of the earlier St James Theatre, Elizabeth Street, Sydney (demolished 1971).

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