Best seats in the house: Cork Opera House interiors revamp

Eve Kelliher talks to the creative team who raised the curtain on the theatre's new-look spaces 

Cork Opera House CEO Eibhlin Gleeson and EZ Living Interiors director Gavin White. Pictures/interiors: Patrick Hobbart

Is this one of the best people-watching perches in Cork? The foyer, bar and hospitality areas at Cork Opera House are stealing the limelight thanks to a revamp.   

You might have first filed into the theatre as a ballet-loving tot to be dazzled by Swan Lake. Maybe your initial trip was when you were corralled into the auditorium among a throng of teen students to watch the Shakespeare play on the exam curriculum. 

But if you’re fortunate, like Cork native Laura O’Keeffe, your earliest memory of the grande dame of Munster’s cultural scene might be a little more magical. “My first association with Cork Opera House was being onstage there as one of the little extras in the pantomime,” Laura says.

 “I’d say I was about eight years old, and I was only ever in the one panto, but the memory has stuck with me. I will always remember being backstage and feeling like the most glamorous person around.”

Lucky then Laura was one of the key members of a team that joined forces with Cork Opera House when its hospitality spaces needed a revamp. Laura has worked with another Cork company since she left college, EZ Living Interiors whose director, Gavin White is a fellow Leesider. 

Gavin reveals he was on the other side of the footlights as a youngster as he recalls making the annual pilgrimage to the venue to watch the pantomime with his parents. Continuing the tradition with his own family, it was while attending last year’s production he says he noticed the furniture in the hospitality areas looking what he describes as “tired”.

By coincidence, Cork Opera House CEO Eibhlín Gleeson was planning “an overhaul long overdue and needing proper investment”, she says.

Later when Cork Opera House asked EZ Living Interiors to sponsor its Half Moon Café’s summer mini-concert programme it proved serendipitous.

"We furnished the space with new chairs and bar stools, which led to a conversation about a possible revamp of the bars,” Gavin says. “We’re often contacted by different companies looking to collaborate with us but as a company founded and headquartered in Cork, and with the necessary products, knowledge and interior design skills, we really wanted to do it.”

Laura Noonan, Cork Opera House's partnerships and development manager, was key to this conversation. "Cork Opera House is central to the cultural identity of the city," she says. 

"Over its almost 170-year history, it has continued to feature in our collective discourse as a place of significant legacy and tradition. Being from Cork myself, this deep affiliation guides my day-to-day work."

Enter the design team: EZ Living Interiors’ creative manager Emma Murphy and stylist Sarah Commane took the lead on the interiors revamp of the Blue Angel and main theatre bars in response to a brief from the venue’s CEO Eibhlín.

Initially, the team had provided bar stools and chairs for the Half Moon Café located in the venue’s entrance foyer, where the public and arts community are encouraged to drop in for coffee, and where art exhibitions are hosted.

Working closely with the venue’s team, Emma and Sarah produced 3-D virtual floor plans for the bars with various layout and furniture options.

Positioned at the front of the building with floor-to-ceiling windows, the bars interact by day with the public plaza outside and riverside city views. By night, a concern for the venue was how the huge windows took on the look of black walls.

Emma and Sarah addressed this by turning alcoves into inviting snugs and designing armchair and sofa groupings to facilitate conversation.

The result is a reimagining of the bar areas in an up-to-date style, with hints at the building’s 1960s design, referenced in mid-century modern furniture features.

Heritage paint colours, meanwhile, are a nod to the Victorian origins of the old Cork Opera House which once stood on the site. “We approached the project with the sole purpose of giving the Opera House bar areas that did the building justice,” according to Emma.

“Cork Opera House is an iconic part of Cork City’s landscape and holds a special place in so many people’s hearts. We knew it needed a top-to-bottom revamp with fun, comfort and style in mind. Delighting people with beautiful furniture and making them feel comfortable is our aim every day.”

The colour scheme leans towards deep shades and includes Farrow & Ball’s Green Smoke.

Warm shades like saffron yellow together with soft greens and pinks in chair upholstery, and metallic accents and biophilic design give these open bar spaces a sense of intimacy and opulence.

Sculptural brass feature lighting mitigates the glare of overhead lights, and rich tan leather sofas and bar stools add comfort and style and a wine-bar vibe in the main theatre bar, while upstairs in the Blue Angel bar, organic-form blue velvet banquette seating is accented with tan leather bistro chairs, gentle pink upholstery pops and relaxing armchairs. 

But it’s a metallic, copper-based wallpaper choice that perfectly illustrates the collaborative nature of the project.

They didn’t have to travel far for inspiration. “We went across the road from the Opera House to The Drapery Haus and pored through book after book of wallpaper, editing as we went,” Emma says.

“When Eibhlín pulled out this particular design, Karakusa in Copper by Designers Guild, we immediately knew it was the one. It has character, worked perfectly with the Green Smoke paint and had a light metallic finish to it that gently reflected the light.” 

The Bowl armchairs in saffron yellow were chosen by Eibhlín. These were brand new and had sold out immediately “so it took two months for us to get our hands on them”, says Emma.

They were worth the wait. “We also included some of my absolute favourite pieces —the Scott leather sofa which we use for so many projects,” adds Emma. “It has a timeless quality that was perfect for the space. We mixed in green velvet sofas and tan leather and metal bar stools. 

"I love the mix of materials. It offers interest and keeps your eye moving around the space.” 

This is the first phase of a revamp of the hospitality spaces, with the Elbow Room suite scheduled for similar treatment. 

Eibhlín adds: “People are delighted with it. It has elevated the building. The public feels it has ownership of the Opera House and they’re always delighted to see it being looked after.”

Meanwhile, the café downstairs is “the best people-watching spot in the city”, adds Laura O’Keeffe, EZ Living Interiors. 

Cork Opera House.