Princess Theatre

About the Project

Queensland’s oldest-standing theatre has undergone a meticulous restoration; the Princess Theatre is a state-of-the-art venue featuring an auditorium, stage mezzanine and gallery for live music and performing arts.

Across 1,475m2 and two storeys, the Princess Theatre features a performance auditorium designed for a standing capacity of 920 and a seated theatre capacity of 520. It hosts four bars, a public café, private event spaces, a rehearsal room, a co-working creative office and workshop space, and an outdoor courtyard.

Designed and built as a theatre in 1888, the Heritage-listed Princess Theatre has a colourful history. A true survivor, the theatre has come close to destruction by fire, as well as demolition. It has hosted vaudeville, political meetings, tableaux vivants, magic lantern shows a draughts contest, roller skating and amateur boxing. At other points in its life, the Princess Theatre has also been a clothing factory, a World War 2 logistics base and a Church.

Sister venue to another Brisbane icon, The Tivoli, live music is where the Princess Theatre’s heart truly lies; it is set to become the hub of Woolloongabba’s burgeoning entertainment and lifestyle precinct.

As new immersion experiences start to trend in entertainment and leisure venues, Omnii’s designs continue to reflect versatile venue usage. We understand that a venue caters to different audiences, different purposes, different human behaviours, and different resource consumption both independently and synergistically.

Our design journey puts us in the shoes of venue-goers to maximise the user experience whilst ensuring life safety remains paramount.

Location: Woolloongabba, QLD
Client: Wilvest
Architect: JDA Co.
Services: Fire Engineering

Top image credit: Max Wenke
Sources: The Princess, Highgate Hill History

Princess Theatre Fire Consultant
Image credit: Mitch Lowe
Image credit: Mitch Lowe

We were privileged to work on a project that is grounded in over 130 years of history.

Princess Theatre Fire Safety
Image credit: Somefx
Princess Theatre Egress Design
Image credit: Somefx