Condition Survey

Date February 2009 - October 2009

Event ID 609102

Category Recording

Type Condition Survey

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/609102

NO 1172 2370 Perth Theatre is a Category B listed theatre in the centre of Perth built 1898–1900. Constructed as a showpiece for Perth, it was built during the boom period of theatre-building across Britain in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It was designed by Dundee architect William Alexander and opened on 6 September 1900. It is an important regional theatre and a very good example of a compact, late Victorian auditorium design with a good decorative scheme, despite repairs following a fire in 1924, changes in ownership, alterations to the overall theatre and numerous programmes of redecoration.

A Conservation Plan was commissioned by the managers of the Perth Theatre to inform future repair and restoration of the theatre’s auditorium and as part of an application for Heritage Lottery Funding. This work, undertaken February - October 2009, involved a condition survey of the building, an analysis of its historical development and an assessment of significance of the building as a whole as well as of its elements. In particular, it allowed us to determine the remaining original fabric throughout the theatre following extensive alterations in the 1980s.

Documentary and physical research was carried out, with key drawings found at the Perth and Kinross Council

Archives. The theatre is unusual in that it does not have a prominent street presence. It was discovered that the

tenement building fronting the High Street was designed and begun before the design and construction of the theatre. The tenement designs were approved in 1897 and the designs for the theatre in 1898. It would appear that construction of the two buildings was undertaken in parallel and the tenement design was modified to fit the theatre behind and provide access through a pend and shop fronts from the High Street.

Archive: Simpson and Brown and Perth Theatre

Funder: Horsecross Arts Ltd

Jen Austin, John Sanders, Tom Addyman and Tom Parnell – Simpson and Brown Architects