Plaza Theatre, Art Deco movie theater on Hay Street, Perth, Australia.
The former Plaza Theatre stands at 650–658 Hay Street in Perth, its narrow Hay Street facade built in the Inter-war Art Deco style with a central rendered bay projecting above the flanking painted brickwork bays. The facade creates a stylised skyscraper effect, with tall strips of windows and a vertical sign that curves back into a ziggurat roof form. The ground floor of the building holds the Plaza Arcade, about 40 convenience shops, while the former cinema auditorium sits above.
The building opened in September 1937 and was the first structure specifically designed as an Art Deco cinema in Perth. It emerged during a period when cinema as mass entertainment was growing and new standards for comfort and design were being established.
The Plaza opened on 17 September 1937 with the film Lloyd's of London. Its 1960 Todd-AO sound system run of South Pacific set a Perth record of 45 weeks. After closing in 1984 it briefly became a youth disco, and the arcade below now holds 40 convenience shops.
The cinema is accessible from the rear and generally straightforward to find, though the facade appears narrow along Hay Street. When visiting, allow time to explore the surrounding shopping arcade, which is part of the same building.
The vertical sign on the Hay Street facade rose above the roof and curved back down into a stepped ziggurat roof form, as described by architecture historian Ross Thorne. The building was classified by the National Trust of Western Australia on 3 December 1990.
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