70 Marine Parade, Napier South, Napier, Napier City

Sound Shell

Napier City Community Halls

Image Credit: Sabrina XavierPhotographer

One of the most iconic attractions of the Napier Waterfront is the Sound Shell. Not only is it created in the Art Deco style of much of the town, it holds pride of place on the beach area and has hosted many an event since it was designed by local architect JT Watson and constructed in 1935. It was a cornerstone project of the "Thirty Thousand Club" a group of Napier business people who got together in 1913 with the aim of increasing the population of the city to 30,000. One of their first moves towards this was the installation of lighting on the waterfront in 1914 as soon as Napier 'went electric' and their first post-earthquake project was the commission of the SoundShell.

Heritage New Zealandhas seen fit to list the the shell and skating rink in 1982. A similar seven sided shell graced Tauranga's foreshore from 1954 until it lost popularity and was demolished in 1985.

Right next door to the Information Centre, the Sound Shell has it's own atmosphere, emanating from it's shell-like shape, facing towards the Pacific Ocean, the forecourt front and centre, and the colonnade surround. Events are hosted here from the small community events right up to visiting international music acts.

"It was the Thirty-Thousand Club that funded the Sound Shell, dancing area and colonnade. The Art Deco Sound Shell was the first to be built in the country and it trumpeted Napier's intention not just to rise from the rubble and ashes of the earthquake and fires, but to reinvent itself in the process. Not from Brighton Beach did this design come - but, from tinsel town, from Hollywood. And with it went the Veronica Sun Bay, a colonnade, three grand arches - including the so-called 'New Napier Arch' and, most daring of all - an outdoor dancing area. The citizens of Napier paid for the later by 'purchasing' individual paving slabs. Napier was being restyled as a modern city of the future, a place for fun and pleasure."

Extract from: Cultivating Paradise Aspects of Napier's Botanical History - Dr Robin Woodward

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  • Pergola
  • Bench

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