George Newton Kenworthy
Born1885
Manchester, United Kingdom
Died28 October 1954 (69 years)
Lindfield, New South Wales, Australia
Alma materUniversity of Liverpool School of Architecture
OccupationArchitect
SpouseFlorence Kenworthy
ChildrenHerbert Kenworthy
Practice
BuildingsCremorne Orpheum Theatre (1935)

George Newton Kenworthy FRAIA, also known as G. N. Kenworthy or "Kennie" (1885 – 28 October 1954), was a leading Sydney architect and Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects best associated for his work in partnership with Henry Eli White and for his building designs (particularly theatres) in the Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, Functionalist and Spanish Mission styles.

Early life

Kenworthy was born in 1885 in Manchester, England and was first educated at Trinity Grammar School and the Victoria School of Arts in Lancashire.[1] He studied architecture at the University of Liverpool School of Architecture and qualified as an architect in 1906. First articled to Francis Redfern, Kenworthy worked for several leading architectural firms in England before starting his own practice in 1909 in Southport.[2]

Practice in Australia

In 1911 Kenworthy moved to Sydney, Australia, taking up a position in the New South Wales Government Architect's Office, where he remained until 1923, having risen to be Architect-in-Chief, Secretary's Department, Theatres and Public Halls Section. From 1914 to 1922 he was also a part-time lecturer in Architecture at the Sydney Technical College.[2] Until 1951 an examiner for the Board of Architects and the Sydney Technical College, Kenworthy was made a Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, having also served on the Institute Council and Education Committee.[1]

In 1923, Kenworthy left the NSW Public Service and became a partner in the firm of Henry Eli White, where he worked on many significant projects in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand, including fourteen theatres such as the State Theatre, Sydney, Newcastle Civic Theatre, St. James Theatre, Auckland, Hengrove Hall, Macquarie Street, Chalfont Chambers, Phillip Street, St Kilda's Palais Theatre and the Melbourne Athenaeum.[1] He left White's firm in 1929 to start his own practice at 105 Pitt Street, Sydney, where he stayed until his death, working all manner of works though theatres were most prominent as "a recognised authority on the design and construction of theatres and auditoria generally", including the Cremorne Orpheum, Mudgee Regent, Hurstville Savoy, Bankstown Regent and the Port Macquarie Ritz.[2][3] At a speech to the Institute of Architects at Science House in 1933, Kenworthy observed that the modern theatre building "should be designed for both stage plays and talking pictures, and entrances and foyers should be spacious, and not cluttered up with soda fountains and confectionery counters."[4]

On his death at his Lindfield residence at age 69 in 1954, he was described as "a man of brilliant brain and kind heart ... He deeply loved Australia and never returned to England—not even for a holiday—and, to use his own words, has left his mark on the skyline of Sydney."[2][5]

List of works (incomplete)

  • Alterations to the Rialto Theatre – The Corso, Manly (1932–1933; Demolished 1960).[6]
  • Spanish Mission style house – Vaucluse (c. 1933).[7]
  • "Parthenon" house – 7 Robertson Road, Centennial Park (1934; Extant).[8]
  • State Ballroom and State Coffee Lounge (in the basement of the State Theatre and in the style of the theatre above), Market Street, Sydney (1934, Demolished)[9]
  • Cremorne Orpheum Theatre – 380 Military Road, Cremorne (1935; Extant, now Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace).[10]
  • Spanish mission style house – 81 Shirley Road, Roseville (1935; Extant).[11]
  • W. R. Angus Residence – 1163 & 1161 Pacific Highway, Pymble (1935; Extant).[12][13]
  • Regent Theatre – 5-7 Church Street, Mudgee (1935; Extant).[14]
  • Addition of Ballroom and Supper Room to the Paragon Cafe – 63-69 Katoomba Street, Katoomba (1935; Extant).[15]
  • "The Vanderbilt" residential flat building – 2 Ward Avenue, Elizabeth Bay (1936; Extant).[16][17]
  • Strand Theatre – John Street, Singleton (1937; Demolished).[18][19]
  • Savoy Theatre – 14-16 Ormonde Parade, Hurstville (1937; Demolished 1995).[20][21][22][23]
  • Ritz Theatre – 22-28 Horton Street, Port Macquarie (1937; Extant, but altered internally and renamed Majestic).[24]
  • Remodelling to the Royal Hotel – 232 Lords Place, Orange (1937; Extant).[25][26]
  • Alterations to the Enfield Savoy Theatre (1938; Extant).[27]
  • "Olympus" house – 12 Cliff Drive, Katoomba (c. 1940; Extant).[28]
  • Remodelling of Majestic Theatre (renamed Bankstown Civic Theatre) – 299 South Terrace, Bankstown (1940; Demolished 1970)[29][30]
  • "Ozone" Flats and Cafe – Corner Beach Street and The Esplanade, Ettalong Beach (1941; Demolished).[31]
  • 2UW Radio Theatre – 464 George Street, Sydney (1944; Demolished but Globe Theatre building extant).[32][33]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Who's Who Among the Designers - G. N. Kenworthy, F.R.A.I.A". Decoration and Glass. Waterloo, NSW: Australian Glass Manufacturers. 1 (1): 36. 1 May 1935.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Death of G. N. Kenworthy". Construction. New South Wales, Australia. 8 December 1954. p. 36. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "ARCHITECTS' MOVE". Evening News. No. 19409. New South Wales, Australia. 9 September 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "MODERN THEATRE". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 29, 876. New South Wales, Australia. 4 October 1933. p. 7. Retrieved 6 September 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 36, 460. New South Wales, Australia. 29 October 1954. p. 22. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "Buildings and Works Approved". Construction And Real Estate Journal. Vol. XLV, no. 1276. New South Wales, Australia. 14 September 1932. p. 2. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "SPANISH STYLE AT VAUCLUSE, SYDNEY". Construction And Real Estate Journal. Vol. XLVI, no. 1295. New South Wales, Australia. 25 January 1933. p. 9. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "House "Parthenon" Including Interior and Grounds". NSW State Heritage Inventory. NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  9. ↑ Lumby, Roy (Autumn 2016). "Modern and Sumptuous: The Paragon Restaurant in Katoomba" (PDF). The Twentieth Century Heritage Society of NSW Inc. The News. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  10. ↑ "Cremorne Orpheum Theatre". Catholic Freeman's Journal. Vol. LXXXV. New South Wales, Australia. 21 November 1935. p. 44. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ Rieth, Kathie (March 2012). "Built Heritage - 81 Shirley Road, Roseville" (PDF). Newsletter. Gordon, NSW: Ku-ring-gai Historical Society Inc. 30 (2): 5.
  12. ↑ "Item". NSW State Heritage Inventory. NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  13. ↑ "Some Architecture of 1935". Construction And Real Estate Journal. Vol. XLVIII, no. 1448. New South Wales, Australia. 2 January 1936. p. 10. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ "Regent Theatre". NSW State Heritage Inventory. NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  15. ↑ "The Paragon". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01959. Retrieved 2 June 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
  16. ↑ "THE VANDERBILT, ELIZABETH BAY, SYDNEY, N.S.W." Construction And Real Estate Journal. Vol. XLVIII, no. 1467. New South Wales, Australia. 13 May 1936. p. 6. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ↑ Lumby, Roy (Autumn 2016). "Modern and Sumptuous: The Paragon Restaurant in Katoomba" (PDF). The Twentieth Century Heritage Society of NSW Inc. The News. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  18. ↑ "SINGLETON THEATRE TO BE REBUILT". Newcastle Morning Herald. No. 18, 802. New South Wales, Australia. 16 January 1937. p. 18. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ↑ "PROGRESS OF THE NEW STRAND THEATRE". Singleton Argus. New South Wales, Australia. 2 July 1937. p. 5. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ↑ "HURSTVILLE'S NEW THEATRE". The Propeller. Vol. XXVI, no. 1342. New South Wales, Australia. 26 November 1936. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ↑ Wayne, Michael (29 July 2014). "Opening Night at the Hurstville Savoy, 1937". Past/Lives of the Near Future: Revealing traces of a former Sydney. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  22. ↑ Trembath, Murray (12 April 2019). "Flashback Friday: Hurstville's Savoy Theatre - which became the Mecca - entertained and enthralled". St George and Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  23. ↑ "Theatre at Hurstville". Decoration and Glass. Waterloo, NSW: Australian Glass Manufacturers. 3 (6): 23–25. 1 October 1937.
  24. ↑ "Ritz Theatre Complex". NSW State Heritage Inventory. NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  25. ↑ "TENDERS AND CONTRACTS". The Daily Telegraph. Vol. II, no. 109. New South Wales, Australia. 27 July 1937. p. 14. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  26. ↑ "Opportunities for Business". Construction And Real Estate Journal. Vol. XLIX, no. 1525. New South Wales, Australia. 23 June 1937. p. 17. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  27. ↑ Roe, Ken. "Hoyts Savoy Theatre in Sydney, AU - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  28. ↑ "K068 : Olympus". NSW State Heritage Inventory. NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  29. ↑ Roe, Ken. "Hoyts Civic Theatre - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  30. ↑ "Tenders Accepted or Received". Construction. Vol. LII, no. 1672. New South Wales, Australia. 17 April 1940. p. 13. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  31. ↑ "Ozone Flats & Cafe". Building: The Magazine for the Architect, Builder, Property Owner and Merchant. Sydney: Building Publishing Co. 68 (3): 25. 24 March 1941.
  32. ↑ "2UW RADIO THEATRE, SYDNEY". Construction. Vol. LV, no. 1891. New South Wales, Australia. 28 June 1944. p. 3. Retrieved 25 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  33. ↑ Roe, Ken. "Globe Theatre - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
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