Embassy Park redevelopment for the Waikato Regional Theatre
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Embassy Park redevelopment
for the Waikato Regional Theatre
A Discussion Document
By Mark Servian, March 2021.
From: The Riff Raff Public Art Trust & Embassy Park Working Group.
To: Hamilton City Council, Momentum Waikato, Waikato Regional Property
Trust, RDT, Jasmax, Foster Group.
The Riff Raff Public Art Trust, as of March 2021 Mark Servian – Chair Peter Dornauf Graham Haines – Treasurer Antanas Procuta Vanessa Williams. Embassy Park Working Group, as of March 2021 Mark Servian – Chair Graham Boswell – neighbour, Snapshot Graham Haines Colin Hancock – neighbour, Trek n’ Travel Andy Mannering – Hamilton City Council Community Development Antanas Procuta – PAUA Architects Antoinette van der Weerden – Wintec Landscape Design program Vanessa Williams – Hamilton Central Business Association. Associates Paul Bradley – Creative Waikato, mural artist Aaron Chesham – ACLX lighting Shane Hobson – Riff Raff Cam and screen events Greg Locke – electronic installations Matthew Quinn – web support Leafa Wilson – Riff Raff Statue curator, Waikato Museum Marti Wong – metal sculptor.
Contents Executive Summary 5 1.0 Introduction 6 2.0 Parameters 7 3.0 What Riff Raff and Embassy Park mean for Hamilton 8 3.0 Riff Raff and Embassy Park in the economy of the CBD 10 4.0 A queer space 12 4.0 A playful space 13 4.1 Skateboarding and wheeled play 14 5.0 A park of two halves – street to river, theatre to laneways 15 5.1 Street to river 15 5.3 Theatre to laneways 16 6.0 Rocky Horror and Embassy Theatre decorative theming 17 6.1 Rocky Horror iconography 17 6.2 A Time Warp back to the original Embassy Theatre 19 6.3 Explaining Riff Raff via ‘The Late Night Double Feature Picture Show’ 20 6.4 A whole-space decorative steelwork design 21 7.0 Park configuration and decorated surfaces and infrastructure 22 7.1 The Pavilion container and the provision of public toilets 22 7.2 Event and activation infrastructure 22 7.3 Lighting and audio visual 24 7.4 Shade and shelter 25 7.5 Paving, tiling and cribwalling 26 7.6 Street Furniture 27 7.7 Gardens and water features 28 7.8 Embassy Theatre bricks and foundation remains 29 8.0 Existing Rocky Horror decorative elements 30 8.1 ‘Frank’s Lab’ gadget box improvements 30
9.0 New artistic, decorative and interactive elements 31 9.1 Proscenium Arch 31 9.2 ‘The Late Double Feature Picture Show’ classic cinema signage 32 9.3 Interactive toys 33 9.4 Swings and adult play equipment 33 9.5 Live feedback functions 34 9.6 Augmented Reality 34 10.0 The role of The Riff Raff Public Art Trust 35 10.1 Funding the placemaking redevelopment 35 10.2 Redevelopment cooperation principles 35 10.3 Placemaking project steps 36
Executive Summary The Riff Raff Statue and Embassy Park are key elements in Hamilton’s identity and the CBD’s economy. Embassy Park should continue to be playful and welcoming to everyone. Riff Raff and Embassy Park has been controversial and may be again. As a queer space, it’s design should affirm inclusivity and safety for all. The new Embassy Park can be decoratively divided into two halves. The street- end ‘Riff Raff Square’ continues to celebrate Rocky Horror and the old Embassy theatre, while the new river-end terraces acclaim and connect to the Waikato River below, which requires a partnership with mana whenua. The block to the north of Embassy Park will ideally evolve into a laneways zone, but however it develops, access north needs to be factored in. The design concept for the rework of the Park’s Rocky Horror themed decoration should calibrate the use of iconography, explain why the Riff Raff Statue is there by more readily celebrating ‘The Late Night Double Feature Picture Show’, and use a ‘Time Warp’ effect to memorialise The Embassy theatre. This single unified design concept would be realised with a decorative steelwork plan taking in edges and surfaces, street furniture, shade devices and other elements. At the least, the redevelopment requires a review of the appearance and utility of each element in the current Park, including the fate of current Rocky Horror decorations. At the most, there are ample opportunities for new public art pieces, decorative treatments, interactive and multimedia interfaces, and event and temporary art installation facilities that would all add to the Rocky Horror environment and set up Embassy Park to be alive and activated for years to come. The Riff Raff Public Art Trust and its Embassy Park Working Group have proven we can deliver a city landmark with minimal funding. We now want the opportunity and resources to create an even quirkier and appealing space that has the scale and quality deserving of the new Waikato Regional Theatre.
1.0 Introduction
Embassy Park, the home of the Riff Raff statue in the South End of Victoria Street, is to be redeveloped
again due to the upcoming construction of the Waikato Regional Theatre next door.
The Riff Raff Public Art Trust (RRPAT) and its Embassy Park Working Group (EPWG) are committed to
continuing our Hamilton City Council-mandated role as the placemakers of the sponsor-funded Park.
We will do this by maintaining and progressing the Rocky Horror-decorative theming at the street-end
of the site, and the ongoing activation of that space through events, spot performances, temporary
art installations and general tactical urbanism.
This report lays out why Riff Raff and Embassy Park matter and what we see as the factors to be
considered and the opportunities to be realised in the redevelopment.
It has been written following our first consultation meeting with the Hamilton City Council (HCC),
Jasmax and RDT on their initial plans and proposals for Park’s new basic configuration.
One of the models at HCC Embassy Park public consultation led by David Engwicht, August 2013.
Embassy Park Working Group draft plan, drawn by PAUA Architects, June 2015.
Embassy Park in Jasmax’s draft Waikato Regional Theatre Landscape Plan, October 2020.
2.0 Parameters In broad terms, what needs to be kept in mind in the discussion ahead? Meaning and identity – What do the Riff Raff statue and Embassy Park say about Hamilton and its CBD? How can the Park contribute to the vibrancy of the CBD and it’s connection to the river’? Context and locality – How will redeveloping Embassy Park contribute to the success and accessibility of the Waikato Regional Theatre and the prosperity and attraction of the Hamilton CBD? Character and texture – What is the overall aesthetic impact of Embassy Park’s decoration? How does the ambience fluctuate over 24 hours and 52 weeks? What vistas does it offer? How does an uninitiated visitor feel? How does it differ from typical and conventional public landscape design? Flow and pause – How do you get into and through Embassy Park? What draws you in and makes you linger? Does everyone feel safe at all times? How do the Park’s connections and zones work? Activation and placemaking – How can the ongoing activation of Embassy Park be enabled? What sorts of events, incidental performance and temporary art installations could occur? What does a constantly vibrant space look like?
3.0 What Riff Raff and Embassy Park mean for Hamilton
What would Hamilton be like without Riff Raff and Embassy Park?
The existence of a statue of a man in high-heels-and-suspenders on the main street tells the nation
and the world that Kirikiriroa-Hamilton-The Tron aspires to be an inclusive, diverse and socially
progressive city. That Embassy Park now celebrates its famous resident amplifies this effect.
The irony that Rocky Horror was gestated in this cow town is a manifestation of the tension between
cosmopolitanism and provincialism that defines the cultural life of this place.
As US theorist Richard Florida has asserted “metropolitan regions with high concentrations of
technology workers, artists, musicians, lesbians and gay men, and a group he describes as "high
bohemians", exhibit a higher level of economic development.” In other words, to attract innovative
talent, the city needs to actively celebrate its cultural and progressive credentials.
In the sixteen years this bronze effigy of Richard O’Brien has been standing there, Riff Raff has wormed
its way into the psyche of Hamiltonians. Our own little chuckle-to-ourselves that either dismisses or
justifies the city’s cultural cringe, depending on how cynical you are.
Most importantly, as demonstrated by the pictures below, Riff Raff has been become an icon of the
city, a central cultural touchpoint in our collective identity and an integral part of the stories that
Hamiltonians tell about their home town.
The Queer and the Quirky belong here, get over!
Hamilton Central by Monsta Cartoons / Lodge Rentals car.
HCC staff shirt / Kirikiriroa Non-Fictions at Waikato Museum / Rocky Horror bus / Hamilton Zinefest.
Paula Southgate election billboard / Aaron Christiansen's comic 'Poor Justice - The Greatest Movie
Ever Made in Hamilton’.
WEL Networks power box / Hamilton East School playground mural
Riff Raff Cam view – www.riffraffstatue.org.
3.0 Riff Raff and Embassy Park in the economy of the CBD
Riff Raff and Embassy Park are an essential element of the CBD economy and
can be a multiplier for the impact of the new Waikato Regional Theatre.
The Riff Raff statue is the only ‘international attraction’ in the Hamilton CBD – the number of hard-
core Rocky Horror fans making the pilgrimage from overseas was not huge pre-Covid, but the statue
is the one thing that will prompt passing local and international tourists to detour to the South End of
Victoria St.
The CBD and South End would benefit more from its longest-range drawcard by giving these particular
visitors more reasons to linger.
Pork Pie Charity Run visits Riff Raff
Making it easier for tour buses to stop nearby would put Riff Raff on the itinerary of tour parties and
potentially markedly increase the number of visitors overall.
At the same time, redeveloping Embassy Park needs to also give the city’s own residents more reasons
to visit and hang around the South End. Ideally visitors from further afield would be stepping into a
buzz created by the locals.
In particular, unlike any other space in the CBD, Embassy Park works best at night when it is under
lights, in keeping with its decoration being a celebration of cinema, theatre and a story set after dark.
Riff Raff Statue’s 15th Birthday, November 2019More can be done to make the space and its surrounds welcome and pause people at any time of the day or night. Careful and creative development of the Park’s evening offering will augment the experience of the new theatre and can boost the night economy of the entire inner city. The new lay out could allow a café to go in opposite the statue. Saturday street markets could be workable, with the river end maybe suiting waterside event-based retail of the sort seen, for instance, at the Catalina Bay market in the new Hobsonville Point in Auckland – see below. Access to the north behind the current dairy would be a key element of any effort to create laneways for small retail and venues between there and Victoria on the River (see 5.3). The new Waikato Regional Theatre (below) will be bringing thousands of people to this location and Embassy Park will be its front door step, so should be seen as having the potential to be an even greater economic driver for the South End and CBD.
4.0 A queer space The Rocky Horror Show was a vanguard cultural product for queerness when it came out in the 1970s. Today it is still a vehicle for people around the world to safely play with their sexual and gender identity, to dabble in the transgressive. Unsurprisingly, moral conservatives opposed the erection of the Riff Raff statue in 2004. It continues to bother some writers of ‘letters to the editor’, but these days the original controversy seems quaint. Now there is a different source of potential objection to Riff Raff, arising from diverging views on gender fluidity and transphobia amongst queer and feminist commentators. The Embassy Park team currently only includes cisgender folk and we are therefore not qualified to debate this matter, so the following only reflects our own perspective and limited understanding. Rocky Horror has itself come into question due its haphazard use of gender-related terminology and stereotypes, but then it also features acts that could be interpreted as rape, cannibalism and incest, so arguably it should always be viewed through the prism of black humour. A greater potential challenge comes from disaffection caused by Richard O’Brien’s public comments on gender fluidity, most recently at the end of a generally revealing article in The Guardian in November 2020. While Richard identifies himself as transgender, his stated views on moving between genders have been interpreted as transphobic, including in comments on the Riff Raff Statue’s Facebook page. It would be foolish and pointless to try and accurately predict how this debate will pan out in the cultural consciousness in the years to come, however in keeping with our agenda from the outset of redeveloping Embassy Park, and in order to answer any questions before they are asked in future, we want to express the most inclusive position in how Embassy Park is decorated. Therefore, where appropriate and with no need for any fanfare, it would be worthwhile incorporating the new ‘Progress Pride Flag’ into the design of the park in an appropriate way. A precedent for this is Auckland City Council’s recent move to paint the flag on Karangahape Road.
4.0 A playful space Embassy Park should continue to be playful and welcoming for everyone, both in its own right and as the doorstep of the Waikato Regional Theatre. A goal of the first Embassy Park redevelopment was to draw people into the Park and give them a reason to linger. This was partially achieved via interactive installations, most notably the ‘Frank’s Lab’ gadget box on the container Pavilion and was a reasoning for the planned Proscenium Arch as a frame and gateway to the lower Park (see 9.1). What we’ve seen over four years of activation events in the Park is that children experience it as one of the few places they can play in the CBD. They clamber all over Riff Raff and the planters and will thrash the gadget box levers if allowed. Given that children readily play on public art and street furniture when allowed, it is not surprising that “for the new guard of playground design, the boundary between play equipment and public sculpture is blurring” (‘Playgrounds grow up’ in The Guardian, February 2021). Rocky Horror is NOT a suitable stage show or movie for children, but generally kids love many of its elements when they experience them in isolation – bright colours, fun dances and larger-than-life characters. (Similarly, they love drag queens precisely because they don’t see the *sexualised* reading that some adults impose on gender fluidity.) But then Rocky Horror continues to liberate and inspire teenagers and adults alike, and the enjoyment of hands-on kinetic experiences of any kind is fairly universal. So, while it would be inappropriate to create a ‘Rocky Horror playground’ that is overtly aimed at children, it would be a worthwhile to consider how to encourage physical play in the Park for people
of all ages and ability. This could take the form of more objects to climb, further interactive elements
and occasional actual play equipment suitable for people of all sizes, as per below (see 9.0).
4.1 Skateboarding and wheeled play
Skateboard and scooter tricks are a common form of play in the urban streetscape.
After Embassy Park was first redeveloped, skaters would ride and grind the corners of the planter
boxes and beds, which prompted the HCC’s usual response of installing studs on the long edges.
This was totally at odds with the stated intent of the Park’s redevelopment, which sought to
counter anti-social behaviour by drawing people in, rather than driving them away.
Those skate-able edges should therefore have been sheathed in steel or some other robust
material, rather than interrupted by studs. And/or the Park’s design and materials could have
allowed kids and others to try out skating in the park, while being too simple and boring for hard-
core tricksters.
The new ravine-like downhill section of the Park will be an inviting slope for skaters and scooters,
so our preference is that they be safely, quietly and effectively accommodated, as a function of the
Park’s inclusive activation, rather than being met with designed hostility.
Combined with performance spots suited to breakdancing and other street-skill performance,
safely and effectively accommodating skateboarding in the Park would draw in a sector of the
population usually discouraged from sharing public space, contributing to the overall inclusivity of
the Park.
Skate ramp art by Juan Chavez, Chicago.5.0 A park of two halves – street to river, theatre to laneways
5.1 Street to river
Our proposal is that the river end of Embassy Park be decorated to celebrate
and connect with the Waikato River, a prospect first raised at the HCC’s 2013
Embassy Park public consultation.
Culturally engaging with the awa requires a full creative and project
partnership with the mana whenua, Waikato Tainui and/or Ngāti Wairere.
Kirikiriroa in the early 19th century: Stantiall Studio & HCC.
This coincides with the view of the theatre developers Momentum Waikato and the Waikato
Regional Property Trust, who envision a Maaori decorative treatment for the new building.
We are happy to step back from close involvement with the decorative design of the river end of
the Park, as a partnership of the theatre developers, the HCC and mana whenua is the appropriate,
sufficient and practical way to proceed there. We would nevertheless still want to be in the loop
for progressing the underlying intent of the proposals in this report across the Park.
This will also mean it is clear to all that our role as The Riff Raff Public Art Trust is to focus on the
Rocky Horror theming and general activation of Riff Raff Square at the street-end half of the Park.
Raising up a slice of the river-end of the Park will dilute the clear delineation between the zones
currently provided by the crest of the slope. The project teams working on the two halves will need
to work together to realise a coherent and tidy transition between the Rocky Horror and River
decorative theme areas.
We have suggested in the preliminary discussions with the HCC, Jasmax and RDT that the large tree
at the back of the upper Riff Raff Square area be retained or at best replaced as a barrier that
provides a green backdrop, sound barrier and wind break for activity in the square.
However, on further thought, the boundary between the two zones and the backdrop effect could
perhaps be achieved with the ‘Proscenium Arch’ outlined below (see 9.1), instead or as well as thelarge tree in question or new plantings. We can see advantages in both approaches so simply
present them here for later consideration.
5.3 Theatre to laneways
The Riff Raff Public Art Trust opposed the proposal to create a large park by demolishing most of
the buildings between Embassy Park and Victoria on the River, making submissions to that effect
to the HCC’s Long Term Plan hearings in 2018.
We believe such a wide-open space would simply duplicate Garden Place and its activation
challenges and, with the riverbank apartments retained, would fail in its stated intention of
widening the successful and sufficient ‘connection to the river’ created by VOTR.
The best strategy for the block between these two key inner-city spaces will
be well-designed laneways that create opportunities for innovative art,
entertainment and hospitality businesses and the creation of a buzzing little
‘boho district’.
Melbourne’s laneways are major drawcard for the city.
The design of the new Embassy Park, particularly the configuration of its northern boundary, will
need to facilitate the flow between the new theatre and the Riverbank Laneways, while not
compromising the Park’s function as a space to linger and be engaged.
Imagine coming out from seeing an international act at the theatre, pausing to see the local buskers
in Embassy Park, and then continuing on to a jazz bar down a crowded and decorated alleyway!6.0 Rocky Horror and Embassy Theatre decorative theming To date our approach to decorating Embassy Park with Rocky Horror-themed decorations has been largely shaped by the requirements and opportunities emerging from the practical demands of the space and the mission, rather than a particular unity of design or concept (beyond the colour palate). There are some aesthetic echoes – for instance Jeremy Shirley’s Transmission Burst mural on the south wall expands on the cut-off RKO Tower that forms the Riff Raff statue’s base. However overall, the Park is a collection of distinct Rocky Horror decorations, rather than a single unified conceptual setting. The new redevelopment is therefore an opportunity to introduce greater coherence to the story and concept of the space’s overall design. The Park should continue to have a diverse range of discrete references to different parts of the Rocky Horror story, as these give its fans something to discover and in-jokes to get, but the overarching themes for communicating to the casual visitor could be constructed as follows. 6.1 Rocky Horror iconography Firstly, some consideration needs to be given to the use of Rocky Horror iconography in the Park, of which three logos/icons currently stand out – ‘the Red Lips’, ‘the Zap’ and ‘the RKO Tower’. At present they all have a similar weighting in the overall aesthetic effect of the Park, which does not properly reflect their actual relative importance in the Rocky Horror narrative and culture. The Red Lips image is the central, traditional and most popularly recognised Rocky Horror symbol, as it appears in the opening frames of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and on many posters over the decades. As such, the Lips should be the predominant singular icon in the space, which with the large example already in place on the north wall, could simply mean demoting the RKO Tower as the competing large-scale icon in the space, which will happen anyway when the south wall mural goes. Ideally further large Red Lips could be added to a few select spots and be more deeply embedded, such as a mosaic in the paving (see 7.5), especially given the north wall may also eventually go.
The Zap, which has become a symbol for Embassy Park and its redevelopment, is already well used in many small-scale appearances, and could be more numerous in the same size, especially as part of the ‘Time Warp’ proposal below (see 6.2). This three-pronged zig zag only appears briefly in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, as a black-on- white flag flying over the Frankenstein Place as Brad and Janey approach, seemingly as the symbol of the alien Transylvanians. Weta Workshop put the Zap front and centre on Riff Raff’s base, so it was an obvious and easy element to replicate on surfaces elsewhere in the Park. If it continues to be a simple motif through the space, being no larger than the one on Riff Raff’s pedestal, it would not compete with the Red Lips as the primary icon. The RKO Tower features in the movie as a backdrop to the final stage show and as a means for Rocky and Frank to re-enact King Kong climbing the Empire State Building. The south wall mural in the Park will of course disappear with the former restaurant building, so given the proposal above to focus on the Red Lips, we do not intend to reinstate the RKO Tower as a central image. (This wouldn’t preclude re-using Marti’s RKO Tower grate, as it can become one of the smaller Rocky Horror concepts referenced throughout the Park, as suggested above (see 6.0).
To summarise then – the Red Lips as the central icon, with the Zap as a repeated small-scale motif, and no replacement of the RKO Tower image after the southern mural goes. 6.2 A Time Warp back to the original Embassy Theatre An intended sub-theme of the Embassy Park redevelopment to date, again as envisioned at the original 2013 public HCC-driven consultation, is the celebration of The Embassy/Theatre Royal theatre-cinema that stood on the site from 1915 to 1994. The image of the Edwardian Theatre Royal version in the south wall Transmission Burst mural by Jeremy Shirley, which will soon be demolished, and the bronze plaque in front of the statue (see next page). But the Embassy Park has it is remembered, and where Richard O’Brien hung out, is nowhere to be seen in the Park. The other intended reference to the former cinema was to be the combination of the Chandelier, which alludes to the theatre’s foyer, and the yet-unrealised ‘Proscenium Arch’ at the back of Riff Raff Square (see 9.1).
Can the new decoration of the space somehow create an encounter with the old Embassy, akin to experiencing a Time Warp? This is a question for briefing an adept designer, but an approach could be murals and/or steelwork that offers glimpses of the old theatre via a visual distortion or illusion. However this is achieved, while both versions could appear, the later modernist Embassy Theatre should be the primary version represented, as it is the facade in living memory and was there when Richard O’Brien was working and watching the movies on the site. 6.3 Explaining Riff Raff via ‘The Late Night Double Feature Picture Show’ Embassy Park’s design should explain WHY the Riff Raff Statue and the Rocky Horror theming are there in that location; why the site claims to be ‘the Birthplace of Rocky Horror’. Richard O’Brien’s association with the cinema and the barber shop are spelt out on a bronze plaque by Riff Raff (above), but the Park’s wider decoration does not currently explain the critical mythic link – that ‘The Late Night Double Feature Picture Show’, the opening song in Rocky Horror, tells the tale of Richard’s teenage experiences right there in The Embassy theatre.
Ideally this lyrical association between the figure and the space should be suggested to visitors by
art and decoration in the Park.
As well as providing the missing narrative link in manifesting Richard’s story in the site’s decoration,
referencing The Late Night Double Feature Picture Show also amplifies why The Embassy is also
being celebrated, so can cross-pollinate with the Time Warp concept suggested above (see 6.2).
Some of the decorative elements suggested below (see 9.0) aim to address these questions, and
further suggestions to these ends are most welcome.
6.4 A whole-space decorative steelwork design
A feature of the current Embassy Park is the steelwork art designed and produced by Marti Wong,
an adept local metal sculptor.
As well as the Chandelier (above) and Frank’s Lab as central pieces, Marti also produced a number
of decorative versions of utilitarian items that the Park required, namely the Zap railings, the RKO
Tower grate and the Gas Box covers.
For the new Embassy Park, a coordinated whole-space steelwork plan would
spectacularly realise the Rocky Horror themes and stories spelt out above.
This could take in decorative edgings and panels, street furniture, gates, utility covers etc. The ideal
local creative team would be Marti Wong, Longveld Engineering and Paua Architects.
Decorative steelwork by Longveld Engineering.7.0 Park configuration and decorated surfaces and infrastructure 7.1 The Pavilion container and the provision of public toilets This upcoming rebuild is an opportunity for the HCC to review whether the South End’s public toilets need to continue to be located in Embassy Park. Can a reconsideration of the public toilets’ location be a ‘blank-slate exercise’ that weighs up all the potential sites on their current and future merits, giving no inherent priority to the status quo for its own sake (as was effectively done with the selection of the theatre site itself)? Note the Pavilion container is currently in a compromised condition, with the automatic toilet doors being confusing and unreliable to the public and the roof having a persistent leak in heavy rain that is probably damaging its floor. It is not ideally positioned – the tree behind the container was retained at the then-neighbour’s preference, which put it closer to the street than intended and, as predicted, created a ‘dead space’ where men urinate (including when frustrated by the toilet doors) and assaults can be unseen. If public toilets have to be anywhere on the theatre’s doorstep, the container would therefore need to substantially upgraded or replaced. Any new building should be architecturally designed, either as a conventional block that can be exotically decorated, or ideally as an entirely new Rocky Horror themed novelty structure, such as a miniature ‘Frankenstein Place’ castle or clad in pink tiles like Frank’s Lab in the movie turned inside out. Removing and not replacing the container in that location would allow the adjacent wall to be opened up for a café or similar enterprise, as per both generations of proposed designs (see 1.0), which would help activate the street-end space. If the public toilet function is entirely removed from Embassy Park, some sort of weatherproof cabin or shed will still be needed for the event and activation functions currently provided by the container’s Green Room (below), namely as a lighting and tech hub, storage space (incl. seats), power points and changing room etc. 7.2 Event and activation infrastructure Beyond the Green Room, much more could be done to make it easier to hold events and activate Embassy Park.
Could a new ‘Green Room’ be built under the section of Park being raised for the theatre, such that it is a big concrete box rather dirt behind a retaining wall? A covered performance stage in the upper space and a ceremonial space at the bottom of the slope were on our agenda for the first redevelopment, but such structures are likely to be impractical in the new Park due to the flows of people in and out of the theatre. Nevertheless, defined ground-level flat performance spaces should be factored into the design, at the least via a simple approach like coloured paving, with backdrop trees or structures for sight and sound definition. Whatever happens, we will still want to be able to face musicians, street theatre and projection screens west towards Victoria Street. There may also be opportunities for buskers’ pitches or break-dancers’ jams facing south towards the front door of the theatre, and down the steps and on the new boardwalk at the river end. Thought should also be given to how to make it easier to bring the space to life for events and activations through temporary decoration and art installations of all kinds. This could include small things like lugs for attaching bunting on high edges, or anchor hoops in the paving for gazeboes or inflatable art, through to specific design elements such as buttresses and slabs intended to frame and facilitate environmental and installation art applications. Seasonal temporary placemaking kit could include bean bags bought out in summer and benches in winter, with large umbrellas year around – which will require storage and staff time. Our unrealised intent has been to pursue a ‘tactical urbanism’ approach to activating the space through the temporary appearance of bespoke art installations, interactive contraptions, exotic street furniture, seating and the like. Gapfiller from Christchurch are the most world-famous-in-NZ exponents of such activity, being dedicated to bringing empty post-quake spaces back to life through low-cost interactive installations such as their cycle-power cinema, Dance-O-Mat (above) and Pallet Stadium. Community groups could be invited to come up with temporary infrastructure of all kinds, as a test bed for ideas and relationships that can then be applied elsewhere in the CBD.
Inflatable sculpture would also work well in Embassy Park, either short-term shows like the recent
Shrooms in Garden Place, or more semi-permanent pieces designed to last a few months. A
program of changing out such elements could run over several years.
Can the design of the new park help facilitate its activation? How much nearby
storage and preparation space can be factored in? Can the positioning of
defined bays, walkways, anchors, lugs and power points more readily enable
subsequent temporary installations AND performances?
7.3 Lighting and audio visual
As noted above, Embassy Park is well suited to night activity and could be a driver of the CBD’s
night economy.
Riff Raff Statue’s 15th Birthday, November 2019
Lighting design needs be factored in early in the planning of the new Embassy
Park, the lights and their supporting tech and the surfaces and shapes
illuminated.
Ideally this means ACLX, who designed the current lighting set-up, coming to the table soon.As a night-time space, installed or temporary audio-visual screen displays would also have an
impact.
The large painted square at the river end of the current Transmission Burst mural was intended to
be a projection screen, playing images most of the time. This was never realised due to the cost
and reliability of a permanently installed projector, and the container’s landing up not being aligned
as a mounting.
Original Embassy Parking Work Group night concept pic, by Paua Architects, 2015
Can the new Park include video screen panels in various locations, beaming content promoting the
theatre, city and Park?
7.4 Shade and shelter
There is a lack of shade and shelter in Riff Raff Square at present, and the intended removal of the
current foliage will similarly open up the river-end of the Park to the sun and rain if not replaced in
some way.
Can shade and some shelter be achieved with Rocky Horror versions of these sorts of structures
from the Wynyard Quarter playground in Auckland above?In Rocky Horror, Janet uses a newspaper to keep the rain off her head, a move mirrored in the classic audience participation, with water pistols providing the shower. Can the rain shelter be some sort of giant newspaper version of this umbrella walk above in Japan? For cooling the space, as suggested by the Wintec students proposed lower Park designs, can a stream of water run down the new notch in the hill, alongside the steps or ramps? 7.5 Paving, tiling and cribwalling Can the paving in Embassy Park include Rocky Horror-themed decorative brickwork or a mosaic?
Having the Red Lips front and centre of the street-end of the new space would embed it as the central logo of the Park, as advocated in the Icons section above (see 6.1). It would also be more durable and perhaps longer-lived than the north wall mural. If any surfaces in the new Park require or suit tiling, then light-pink tiles as per Frank’s Lab in the movie would be ideal. In the River/mana whenua zone at the river-end of the Park, if a new retaining wall is required (and the Green Room proposal at 7.2 above is not pursued), it would be an opportunity to apply the sort of tukutuku design seen in various modern public spaces and works, such as the new Ohaupo Rd roundabout or Kopupaka Park in Auckland (below). 7.6 Street Furniture It is assumed that the current Lightning Bolt rubbish bins, which are stencil-painted standard boxes, and the planter box-seats, which were produced for the current site configuration, will be replaced in the new Embassy Park. The new items will surely be higher quality and wherever possible should include cut-steel and paintwork designed to be a part of the space’s overall decorative effect – as per the unified steelwork design proposal above (see 6.4). For the rubbish bins, this can be a ‘Zap’ version of the standard Victoria St bins, which are a drum within a decorative cut-steel casing (below).
What sort of seating will perform the function of the current planter boxes, in terms of providing seating and eye-level garden beds, AND blocks of colour and decoration in the middle of the space? Ideally new seating blocks would serve a range of activity in the Park, including daytime hanging out, street-facing events and temporary installations. Rocky Horror bike stands have always been on our wish list, with some designs developed by Marti Wong (below) as part of an unrealised city-wide proposal. 7.7 Gardens and water features The gardens in Embassy Park’s upper space were put together by HCC’s Parks and Open Spaces department using design elements formulated by a class of Wintec landscape design students (example next page). Their maintenance has been sporadic and the lightning bolt in the round garden in particular has been allowed to degrade. However the new garden beds are configured and arranged in the new Park; the current ‘alien’ planting aesthetic should continue. What if the Hamilton Gardens had an ‘Alien Garden’, but it just happened to be beamed into Embassy Park? Can Wintec students and the Gardens staff both be engaged with a view to such a design collaboration? Can the gardens include fake alien plants, designed by a local artist and perhaps made from ceramic and/or metal, coordinated with the overall steelwork design suggested above (see 6.4), to add to the overall effect?
7.8 Embassy Theatre bricks and foundation remains The brickwork that lines the path at the bottom of the slope in the current Embassy Park is the remains of the foundations of the original Embassy Theatre. Most of the Embassy bricks went to the Hamilton Gardens, where they were used to build the Piazza there in the mid-1990s. In 2016 the Gardens gifted the remaining bricks to The Riff Raff Public Art Trust for use in Embassy Park, which were collected and palleted by volunteers, and are now stored at the Taitua Arboretum until that opportunity arises. Both the stored and still-in-situ Embassy bricks are an opportunity to memorialise The Embassy theatre. We had envisioned using them in gabion cages around our unrealised performance stage, and such an application would still seem to be a practical and appropriately commemorative use for them. Perhaps then can also be incorporated in other non-structural roles, such as garden edging or small planters?
8.0 Existing Rocky Horror decorative elements Our preference is for the existing Rocky Horror Show elements in Embassy Park to be ultimately retained and enhanced. In some cases, items may need to be removed during construction work, but our hope and expectation is that the subsequent storage and reinstallation will all be done carefully and respectfully. Such processes however have a cost, who will pay for this, HCC or the theatre developers? 8.1 ‘Frank’s Lab’ gadget box improvements The ‘Frank’s Lab’ gadget box attached to the Pavilion container has taken a pounding from public use over nearly five years and shortcomings in its design and manufacture, especially for access for maintenance, have become apparent. The electronic game software that runs the audio responses is becoming less reliable and the screen function has never continuously run as originally envisioned. Regardless of where this popular interactive element eventually lands up in the Park, the redevelopment is an opportunity to pull it out and get it serviced and rebuilt.
9.0 New artistic, decorative and interactive elements
As well as the decoration of functional objects and surfaces in Embassy Park,
what specific new art pieces in the space could achieve the concepts and vision
outlined above?
In particular what interactive and/or kinetic elements can be added to make the Park a place to play
and hang out? Beyond Riff Raff, what Instagram-able spots can be created?
New ideas for the space could be sought from city artists and/or the public, or it can be kept to the
project partners. Either way, here are some discussion starters.
9.1 Proscenium Arch
The great unrealised element of the original Embassy Park redevelopment plan was the
‘Proscenium Arch’, which would have been a tall goalpost-like structure at the back of the upper
square, intended (with the Chandelier) to commemorate the Embassy Theatre and be a gateway
attracting visitors to the lower park.
Embassy Parking Work Group concept pic with Proscenium Arch at rear, by Paua Architects, 2015.
Ideas for its decoration included:
● images of characters from the movies in ‘The Late Night Double Feature Picture Show’ song
– e.g. Fay Wray and King Kong, Flash Gordon, flying saucers, a triffid etc, although this may
carry copyright issues;
● silhouettes or other visual effect taking in the two original frontages, the Edwardian
Theatre Royal and the modernist Embassy cinema;
● actual recreation of a classic theatre Proscenium Arch.Our brief discussions with Mesh Sculpture Hamilton on approaching the Arch as a contemporary public art piece indicated a high cost for such a large structure. Subsequently (and coincidentally, it must be said) Mesh then commissioned Te Tatau ki Kirikiriroa at Victoria on the River, which is an arch serving a similar gateway role, and avoiding a nearby duplication is an argument for not now pursuing this concept in Embassy Park. Conversely, the point above concerning a clear demarcation between the Rocky Horror and River halves of the Park would argue for such an Arch (see 5.1). 9.2 ‘The Late Double Feature Picture Show’ classic cinema signage For all the reasons flagged above (see 6.3), a lit old-style cinema sign (as above) would be an effective way to say ‘The Late Night Double Feature Picture Show’.
Lightboxes with Rocky Horror cinema posters could also be put around the space.
These could also double as ‘What’s On’ noticeboards for events in the Park.
9.3 Interactive toys
Seeing the success of the Frank’s Lab gadget box for getting people to
physically interact with the Park, can more interactive Rocky Horror toys be
added?
One idea, there could be many others.
X
9.4 Swings and adult play equipment
Gap Filler created the crooked frame swings in Christchurch (below), so that idea is taken, but ‘art
swings’ of some sort would be the ideal way to make Embassy Park even more playful, kinetic,
friendly and attractive for folks of all ages.9.5 Live feedback functions Can visitors leave their ‘Likes’ manually in the Park? And/or can the Riff Raff Statue’s social media feed be live in the Park, along with a working screen showing the Riff Raff Cam feed? Riff Raff Cam – www.riffraffstatue.org – is a popular online toy, people would interact with it more if they could see themselves on a nearby screen. 9.6 Augmented Reality Talks with two different providers happened over 2017-18 around launching augmented reality tags in the Park that would push video to visitors’ phones of Richard O’Brien telling stories of his experiences in the old Embassy theatre. This is still worth pursuing but Richard is not getting any younger. Or are there other augmented reality opportunities that interlock with objects, lighting or screens in the Park?
10.0 The role of The Riff Raff Public Art Trust A mission of The Riff Raff Public Art Trust's is to further celebrate the Riff Raff Statue by augmenting and activating Embassy Park around him, with its Embassy Park Working Group also being founded to make the Park a positive inclusive and sociable public space that welcomes anyone and everyone. This can only be achieved in partnership with the Hamilton City Council as the Park’s owner, now along with the Waikato Regional Property Trust as the owner of the new neighbouring Waikato Regional Theatre. We would engage in public consultation as is viable and appropriate, and will gift the finished works back to the Council. Our relationship with the Council was first formalised by resolution of the elected members in May 2014 and was most recently updated by the signing of an MOU between The Riff Raff Public Art Trust and Hamilton City Council in September 2020. Our primary focus is on the decoration, theming, activation and placemaking of the street-end ‘Riff Raff Square’ space, and we are engaged in discussions on the overall parameters of the new Embassy Park to serve that purpose. 10.1 Funding the placemaking redevelopment A critical question is whether the Hamilton City Council’s budget for the theatre-driven redevelopment of Embassy Park includes funds for the decorations that we organise? How much will The Riff Raff Public Art Trust have to fundraise to realise the Park’s potential, and who is going to help us? A key clarification. A major reason the first redevelopment of Embassy Park was so low cost, approximately $420,000 over 2014-2016, was that members of the Embassy Park Working Group donated or heavily discounted their professional services to the project. This was fine and fair for an unproven group and concept, but both are now well established so we are of the view that any future professional work by our members should be fairly compensated. This does NOT apply to their voluntary governance, commissioning and fundraising activities for the project (as per 10.3 below). The division of labour between voluntary governance and professional and technical services for the upcoming Embassy Park redevelopment should be discussed and agreed by all parties. 10.2 Redevelopment cooperation principles The following four broad principles for cooperation in Embassy Park were proposed in shorter form by The Riff Raff Public Art Trust (RRPAT) to the HCC in October 2019. One - wherever possible and desirable, keep the current Rocky Horror elements. Two - so, any Rocky Horror elements moved during the theatre or the new Park’s construction get put back where they came from afterwards, and if not, they are re-purposed elsewhere in the Park.
If no place can be found in the Park for any intact element, it is to be re-used by the HCC or gifted back to the RRPAT. Three - new Rocky Horror and Embassy theatre public art and decorative elements can be added, ideally in time for the Waikato Regional Theatre’s opening, but continuing afterwards if required. Four - that the RRPAT has input into the decision-making on the treatments of the new space, as in the pavings, railings, street furniture etc, with a view to achieving an integrated aesthetic. 10.3 Placemaking project steps The Riff Raff Public Art Trust envisions that the Embassy Park placemaking and space redevelopment process will follow these broad steps below. Project Governance and Agency Public Consultation (depending on process and scale) Commissioning and compliance Design process Fundraising Production Management Site and Installation Management Those steps we see as requiring professional services are underlined (refer 10.1) – based on Mesh Sculpture Trust’s division of labour between their voluntary board and their hired project and program managers. Thanks for getting this far, let’s chat! The Riff Raff Public Art Trust and Embassy Park Working Group Chair: Mark Servian. mark@mcgillicuddy.org.nz - 021 888 469.
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