Rialto Cinema, Dunedin


The Rialto Cinema is a multiplex cinema located in the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It was opened in 1998.
The Rialto's location is a historic building in Moray Place, some 200 metres southwest of the city centre. The building was designed by noted architect Edmund Anscombe, and was first opened in 1916 as the Empire Theatre. With a 2,000 seat capacity, it was for a while New Zealand's second-largest cinema under its current name in 1998, at which time it became part of the Rialto Cinemas group. The new renovations by Walker Cinema Architects saw the restoration of much of the original interior including the starry ceiling in the main theatre, as well as the uncovering of several of the Moorish styled interior arches and wrought iron work.
The building is listed as a Category I historic place in the registry of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. In the trust's registry it is noted for its elaborate interior features, and as a rare example of a surviving "atmospheric theatre". Several technological features or historic note are also listed. In its notes on its status as an Atmospheric Theatre, the trust indicate its "use of exotic historic architectural design themes to create the illusion of a romantic courtyard or amphitheatre, and... use of special concealed lighting effects to further the illusion... by creating a night sky effect on the ceiling of the auditorium. The illusion of the courtyard/amphitheatre was cleverly done by creating in plaster the design features of a pergola, such as classical or eastern columns with entablatures or architraves, and blind arcades, again in either classical or exotic eastern architectural forms.... a ceiling of smooth plaster painted electric blue, and curved from behind the side walls without interruption or blemish. Onto this ceiling the illusion of a night sky was projected."