 Atmospheric cinemas were popularised in Australia in the late 1920s and early 1930s after the architect for Sydney-based Union Theatres, Henry White, travelled to the United States to study picture theatre design.He looked in particular at the work of American architect John Eberson, who specialised in atmospheric cinemas themed and appropriated from Byzantine, Persian, Spanish, Moorish and Egyptian architecture, which extended theatrical illusion from screen to venue.While the Paddington Plaza was not of the same scale and opulence as the great Australian atmospheric theatres such as Sydney's Capitol (1928 – seating capacity 2900), Perth's Ambassadors (1928 – seating 2000) and Melbourne's State (1929 – seating 3300), the design incorporated the essential elements of the "atmospheric", in that the interior decoration simulated an outdoor venue.