The Royal New Zealand Ballet has studios and offices in the ‘Ballet Building’ adjacent to the St James Theatre in Wellington, both recently strengthened to meet current seismic criteria.

Moller Architects has completed a comprehensive refurbishment of the RNZB facilities to achieve a vibrant and functional suite of spaces over two floors, interlinked with the St James Theatre building.

The design work has included dance studios with new sprung floors and lighting; dancer change facilities, greenroom, costume studio, resource rooms, office work zones, production offices, technical facilities, and an internal café for RNZB breakout use. 

Substantial work has been carried out on building services, insulation, lighting and related infrastructure, together with attention to acoustics and to air quality.

A fresh colour palette, responding to the creative environment of dance, permeates all the interiors, using an analogous and contrasting palette to create a vibrant series of colour ‘touchstones’ throughout, along with the placement of substantial trees through the work zones, to enrich the workspace.