East Street, just off Karangahape Road, can feel a little forgotten – one of those side streets that you wish had one more street lamp or two. But there's more happening there than first meets the eye. East Street Hall, with its peach, purple and blue interior is often the place to be on a Friday, Artspace Aotearoa's secondary space The Kit is accessed through the carpark at number 8, up on the corners there's Tautai and Coastal Signs, and now, behind a brick façade, Silo Theatre has a new space.

It was originally a Methodist Church that opened in 1909, by Mr. and Mrs. A.C Caughey (yes, of Smith &). In the years since, it has been used not just as a church, but as a theatre, a gallery, and for various events. From the outside, one can assume, it looks more or less as it did then: a brick facade, a rustic little gable, and large windows letting in plenty of natural light.

Now, it serves as the new home of Silo Theatre, who intend to use the space as their offices and rehearsal space. They also intend to open it up for community use and as a venue. Its name? Silo Hall.

“We’ve been looking for ages,” says Sophie Henderson, Silo Theatre’s artistic director. Over the past two decades, the theatre company has moved around the CBD. From being resident at Basement Theatre, to offices down on the Waterfront, on Ponsonby Road, in Mt. Eden, and most recently, in Samoa House on K’ Rd. For years, everybody who has been in leadership positions, including previous artistic director Sophie Roberts and executive director Jess Smith, have been trying to find another space that was as ideal as the Mt. Eden one.

“With the Mt. Eden place, it was the first time in my history with Silo that we had a rehearsal space with our office, and it was because it had been marked to be demolished for the City Rail Link,” explains Tim Blake, Silo Theatre’s executive director. “So much of Silo history is that we’ve been in places that are affordable to us because they might be marked for being sold”.

Ella Mzrahi, creative producer at the K’ Road Business Association, was the one who found this space for them. Michael Lett Gallery had just vacated the space after being resident there for some time, and it was empty. She was scoping out leases for the business association, which works to activate the CBD’s buzziest road in vibrant ways, and she had already used the space for various events, including a series of short films, and a drag queen-led screening of The Wizard of Oz.

“While I was packing in, I could feel how special the space was, and was immediately deeply protective of it,” she says. “There was such potential to the hall I knew it had to go to someone who could put energy into the space.”

Mizrahi grew up in the theatre world, and has a deep love and respect for Silo. When the company started talking about moving out of their Samoa House offices, and therefore likely out of K’ Road she wasn’t a fan. “When this space came up, I said to the landlord that I was thinking about Silo and he was really keen on getting them in,” she says.

“Now they are in there, it’s like they were made to be in there forever and ever.”

What does the new space provide them? Not only does it have everything that one would expect of an office and rehearsal space, it also carries the undeniable warmth of a space that, as described, has historically been used as a place of gathering. It also, perhaps unsurprisingly, resembles an early 20th century church. There are pews upstairs (somewhat guarded by railings), and little offices existing off the main space, with its wooden floors and walls. Until recently, a massive white wall split the space in two, now it flows freely.

“In the artistic sense and the wellbeing sense, as someone who works in arts administration, you want to be around the art,” says Blake. “You don’t fall into this industry to figure out budgets and spreadsheets.” Throughout the rehearsals for their latest show, DRAG (Dressed Resembling A God), a drag-fuelled extravaganza, he was often in the adjacent office space. “It’s joyful to actually hear the thing you’re a part of being made.”

He also points to how the space lends itself to operational ease. The staff are able to pop in and watch at any time, instead of dragging themselves across town to whatever rehearsal space might’ve been available for their season. “Another factor of being in this industry that means so much to me is the connections you make, and it means so much when you’re able to build a relationship with a company face-to-face.”

Henderson points to other aspects of the space – the team is not able to not just sit in and watch rehearsals from a pew, but they have a writer’s room at the other end of the building which also holds Silo’s formidable library of plays. “The space is so full of life,” she says. “When me and Tim are typing yet another funding proposal, we get to remember why we do what we do. To be close to the actual making of the art is pretty special.”

They’re even doing one of the shows in their 2026 season, Playfight by British playwright Julia Grogan, in the venue. After a hit run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the no-holds barred play about girlhood and growth makes its New Zealand premiere in this space, before touring to schools in Auckland.

“I fought for that,” says Henderson. “This is a venue that’s free for us, so it meant that we could do an extra play. It’s a play that we want to tour so it feels right to make something that’s stripped back and pure.”

The location of the space is also important to Silo, who have always been more or less walking distance from the venues they’ve presented their work in – Basement Theatre, Q Theatre, several spaces at Auckland Live, even the Watershed Theatre. “We were born in the Central City,” Blake says. “We’ve always been on the Te Waihorotiu stream, and now we’re on the top looking down into it. The proximity to our history feels important.”

In the month since they’ve had the base it's been busy. There’s been set building, music gigs, playreadings, and other theatre companies like Auckland Theatre Company and Nightsong have already used the space. Blake is conscious of what it feels like for companies when they need a space. “I was always worried about rehearsal rooms closing, and needing to find another one. It’s really stressful. I hope we’ll alleviate some of that for the industry.”

“We’ve promised that we’ll share it,” says Henderson. “I think it feels really flexible, open and full of possibility. Like theatre, you know."