Designer: Warren & Mahoney

In 1996 the first refit of the James Hay Theatre at the town hall was completed, followed by the Auditorium two years later. At the time, the theatre was rated as the fifth best acoustically sounding theatre in the world. With 1006 seats in the James Hay theatre & 2330 in the Auditorium, this project was by no means a simple feat. With the fate of this iconic piece of architecture still in question, the memory of many wonderful evenings of opera & ballet within these stunning spaces will be hard to forget for the people of Christchurch.