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Design Review: Volume 1, Issue 5 (February-March 1949)

Local Hall for a Small Country Town

page 6

Local Hall for a Small Country Town

Hundreds of small towns throughout New Zealand are raising money to build War Memorials in the form of Community Centres or Village Halls. Most of them have been conceived as classical halls with the emphasis on exterior monumentality rather than for the best use of the community.

This design attempts to break away from the stereotype, and lets its character evolve from the honesty of its approach towards human needs. This appears to us the meaning of the widely subscribed idea of a ‘Living Memorial’.

This building has been designed for use as a hall (Flower Shows to Protest Meetings), a theatre (Macbeth to Les Sylphides if you wish), and a dance hall.

While ballet and some plays will take place within the ‘stage box’, the majority of productions can be produced upon the large apron stage projecting into the audience. This intimate audience-player contact is evident through the whole design, and backstage and auditorium are no longer two self-contained entities. The wings are small but there is a large area behind. Most plays have little need for drop scenery, and the modern use of drapes and lighting will be found to be less expensive. The rooms marked ‘Dressing’ and ‘Props.’ may be partitioned by curtains to suit different requirements.

Site Plan for a Local Hall

Site Plan for a Local Hall

page 7
The outdoor stage, on opposite page, enables the court to be used for outdoor acting. For dances, the chairs are stacked underneath the stage and the doors to the court are thrown open. This makes the court either a sitting-out area or, if floodlit, an extension of the dance floor. The orchestra can be mounted on either stage. A portion of the court forms a quiet corner which provides the memorial aspect of the building.

The outdoor stage, on opposite page, enables the court to be used for outdoor acting. For dances, the chairs are stacked underneath the stage and the doors to the court are thrown open. This makes the court either a sitting-out area or, if floodlit, an extension of the dance floor. The orchestra can be mounted on either stage.
A portion of the court forms a quiet corner which provides the memorial aspect of the building.