ArchitectureAU – Hospitality

Conservatory, Melbourne

Freya Lombardo — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:00:00 +0000

Where would you take Marie Antoinette for lunch? It’s a question not often asked, but it springs to mind when visiting Melbourne’s Conservatory. With its grand proportions, opulent finishes and bespoke detailing, there is something distinctly regal about this space.

Sydney-based architecture and interior design firm Blainey North and Associates’ work for Conservatory comes on the back of its extensive engagement with Crown on other projects, including the Crown Towers Villas luxury suites, the Crystal Club members’ lounge, and accommodation and restaurants at the Crown Metropol in Perth.

Urban Coffee Farm and Brew Bar

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 04:23:02 +0000

The bright young things of Hassell Melbourne have concocted the Urban Coffee Farm and Brew Bar for this year’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival . Their temporary landscape, representing a terraced coffee plantation and abstract jungle, can be seen along the Red Stairs in Queensbridge Street Square, on the Yarr’s edge.

A Victorian-grown tropical garden has been installed by Warner’s Nurseries, who have supplied over 1200 trees and plants (around twenty-four different species) including 125 coffee trees, demonstrating that it’s possible to achieve a tropical landscape in the Victorian climate. Adding the “hard” landscape elements to the installation are shipping containers, packing crates and pallets used for terracing, seating and sheltering the temporary bar and kitchen facilities.

10 years of AIDA: Hospitality

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 04:03:32 +0000

The Australian Interior Design Awards recognize excellence in interior design across seven key categories: Retail, Hospitality, Workplace, Public, Installation, Residential Design and Residential Decoration.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Australian Interior Design Awards, we asked Andrew Parr, a former judge of the awards, the interior design director at SJB Interiors, and a DIA Fellow to reflect on the relevance of these awards for the profession. “The Australian Interior Design Awards have evolved into a recognized world class program. The level of design quality that has emerged over the past decade sets Australia as a major design force on the world stage,” says Parr, whose hospitality projects include Sydney’s St Margaret’s, The Establishment and MG Garage, Adina Hotels (throug Europe), Medina Treasury Adelaide and The Royce Hotel (Melbourne), to name a few.

Caffeine-fuelled design

Elana Castle — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 02:42:00 +0000

In Italy they do it standing up. In America they do it with great regularity and a preference for oversized couches. In Australia and New Zealand, we place a huge emphasis on quality. And we certainly aren’t afraid to experiment. When you contemplate global coffee culture, there is no doubting Australia’s prowess and international standing. Melbourne, in particular, is renowned for its sophisticated coffee market, setting the stage for a region-wide obsession.

“It’s not about handing a cup of coffee over the counter,” offers Lachlan Ward, a beverage technician and manager at Sensory Lab, an innovative, Melbourne-based specialty coffee company. “It’s about educating customers about our beans, roasts and unique brewing methods.” Sensory Lab’s dedication to sharing and experimentation is underscored by its design sensibility. At it’s cafe Plantation, and its Little Collins Street flagship store, the brewing stations – complete with halogen lamps, Bunsen burners and bubbling syphon filter beakers – take centre stage. At the latter, there is also a designated testing area, where staff, decked out in lab coats, offer a range of single-origin coffees brewed four ways.

Hepburn at Hepburn

Cameron Bruhn — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 10:00:00 +0000

A country escape is a great way to get away from it all. We love the idea of swapping Saturday morning errands and queuing for a table at our favourite breakfast establishment for a walk in the countryside and a home-cooked start to the day. But there are some things we don’t want to leave behind when we head for the hills. A lack of mobile phone reception can be liberating, but spending the night amid an explosion of chintz and doilies takes many of us far outside of our comfort zone. The patterned-cell interiors of country hotels are often terrifying. Hepburn at Hepburn by 8Hotels is a country hotel that eschews the cloying sentimentality of the country bed and breakfast.

Nestled into the valley site, the accommodation at Hepburn at Hepburn is configured as a series of interlocking duplexes clad in black-stained timber. In their arrangement and orientation these self-contained pods respond to the cultivated and natural qualities of the landscape setting. David Hicks has brought his deft touch and attention to detail to the interiors of these simple box-like pavilions, creating a luxurious hybrid between hotel room and private villa.

People’s Market pops up

Peter Salhani — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:51:00 +0000

In July 2012, Steven Vidovic and Kristina Taranto won the People’s Market and Flea design competition in Melbourne. The brief for this national competition came with fairly specific requirements about the use of sustainable materials and adaptable built elements in turning the 1100-square-metre site (a disused car lot) at Stanley Street, Collingwood into a multifunctional community market/art space with a lifespan of about six months.

Despite the inevitable pressures of budget, time and site logistics, many of the aspirations of Vidovic and Taranto’s original design have come to fruition: shipping containers have been recycled as cafes and art spaces, and the theme of Recycled Garden is artfully carried through, with recycled materials and found objects intertwined with living greenery. Some interesting expressions are the use of milk crates and PVC piping balustrades atop the shipping containers, and the way existing graffiti on the site has been augmented with murals commissioned by local artists.

Bridge Hotel

Toby Horrocks — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 09:00:00 +0000

The view of the transformed pub from Bridge Road is like looking into a movie set. It is a highly orchestrated image: illuminated signs indicate the presence of different businesses, all fake. In fact, they refer to different zones within the new Bridge Hotel, in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond. The old hotel presented an unbroken facade to the street. By demolishing a section of the ground floor, Techne Architects has turned what was little more than a back-of-house service area into what looks like a laneway. If you were taken there in a blindfold and told you were in a lane in Melbourne’s CBD, it would be entirely convincing.

The new lane is a dead end, terminated by a double-height concrete wall – a wall that was mandated by the local council to mitigate sound transfer to the suburban houses next door. In the manner of a theatrical backdrop, Techne has mediated this potentially abrupt termination with the addition of a billboard, set at an arbitrary angle off square, and complete with real access gantry. It even has an advertisement for Corona on it, except the image was reversed (with the company’s permission) downplaying the logo and emphasizing the tropical-island-at-sunset image.

Rosetta opens at Crown

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Rosetta Italian restaurant opened at Crown Melbourne on 23 October 2012. With opulent interiors by Iain Halliday of BKH, it is the latest culinary venture by the Rockpool Group with Neil Perry as the creative force behind it. “Iain and I wanted Rosetta to be classical, luxe and to reference all the important ‘Italianisms’ that we aspire to. From the punched tan leather reception desk (resembling a Ferrari interior), to the vintage Fornasetti screens, antiques and gilded pieces, everything has been painstakingly researched and sourced to create a highly individual, beautiful restaurant.”

Amid the plush burgundy velvet banquettes, mahogany parquetry walls and chandeliers, are contemporary references like the Andy Warhol-inspired digital print Last Supper by Six Hands hung in the private dining room (for twenty), and a portait wall of Italian legends from stage and screen. “The references can be read by those who recognize them, but can remain ‘below the surface’ to many; it doesn’t matter. They’re all Italian in origin and definitely contemporary in the way we’ve executed them – so it balances out what could be an almost literal traditional interior,” says Halliday.

Hell of the North

Mark Scruby — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:10:33 +0000

In an age where people collect new and socially notable food experiences like footy cards, and don’t bat an eyelid at crossing town to line up for a posh burrito, there’s something refreshing about a new restaurant that isn’t a “destination” but, rather, is pitched at locals. That this restaurant is nestled in a quiet spot just off Smith Street, the unofficial epicentre of inner-Melbourne’s foodie start-up culture, and serves delicious but decidedly off-trend French bistro fare, only adds to its refreshing, zeitgeist-flouting aura. Peoples of Fitzroy and Collingwood, bienvenue à Hell of the North – your new local!

In the days before Smith Street pulled on tight jeans and grew a moustache, Hell of the North was Lambs Go Bar – a place years ahead of its time in embracing craft beer but underwhelming in terms of interior architecture. The transformation effected by architect Lucas Chirnside and artist Bianca Looney, partners in multidisciplinary design firm SMLWRLD, is startling; a dingy, compartmentalized urban bolthole has become a sophisticated, welcoming bar and bistro.

Super Whatnot

Shane Thompson — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Brisbane, the most suburban of Australia’s major cities, has struggled to develop an inner-urban lifestyle that is true to its history and culture. Apart from isolated pockets in New Farm and West End, there has been no tradition of higher-density living, which in Sydney and Melbourne has led to the culture of small bars and cafes. Previously in Brisbane, the mass exodus to the coast on the weekends and strict liquor licensing laws had spawned the suburban swilling barns of the 1960s and 1970s, and more recently the “gastropub” phenomenon. This has meant that opportunities to reclaim the forgotten corners and leftover spaces of the city for smaller bars and cafes have only recently emerged, with changes to liquor licensing laws making it cheaper and easier to open more intimate venues.

Super Whatnot is a tiny bar, conceived by a young businessman/entrepreneur returning to Brisbane after years abroad and in Melbourne. Aware of the new licensing laws and the relaxing of Brisbane City Council’s planning requirements to promote the activation of the city centre’s forgotten laneways, a search for a suitable space uncovered the old loading dock and storage area of the venerable Gardams fabric store, an institution in Brisbane for dressmakers but now relocated to the suburbs. The space was more recently, and briefly, the home of a beauty school. Located in Burnett Lane at the southern part of the city centre, it is immediately to the west of the popular Queen Street Mall, the epicentre of the city’s retail precinct.

Reuben Hills

Marcus Costello — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:00:33 +0000

Scanning the dense crush of attractive faces, my eyes fell on a nose coloured brown with coffee grind. Instantly I knew this to be the face of Reuben Hills co-owner Russell Beard – a man constitutionally devout to the science and the art of coffee. As he does every Friday, Beard was preparing for a free public cupping (a practice a bit like wine tasting) in the purpose-built space above his cafe.

In the back-of-house area at Reuben Hills there is no mirror by the door in which to catch sight of a coffee-smeared nose before greeting patrons. This is because there is no back-of-house at Reuben Hills. Beard’s philosophy of transparency and his passion for community engagement and connoisseurship is reflected in the design of an establishment that makes a feature of what is customarily hidden from public view.

South Wharf

Toby Horrocks — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 09:00:00 +0000

The South Wharf Promenade has begun to address some of the shortcomings of Melbourne’s Docklands. The first ten years has resulted in large buildings that neglect the ground level, creating windswept public spaces, and a world of “new” on a site that was once rich with maritime history. The designers of this hospitality precinct have found ways to infuse the “new” with history and bring back some of the legitimately “old.”

Technically, the South Wharf Promenade is in South Wharf, not Docklands – it’s an extension of the Southbank Yarra River waterfront development that began in the early 1990s. The developer is the Plenary Group, and the South Wharf Promenade is the final stage of its project, which began with winning the bid for the city’s new convention centre in 2005. As well as providing the state with this facility (and maintaining it until 2030), Plenary purchased the rights to commercially develop the area (subject to state government approvals). Plenary added complementary programs such as the Hilton Hotel, a large shopping centre, extra car parking and, now, restaurants, cafes and bars on the waterfront. The original timber piles and beams of the nineteenth century shipping wharf have been replaced with a concrete structure, and the deck level has been raised by thirty centimetres. To make the promenade hospitality precinct, several historic cargo sheds were taken out of storage, purged of contaminants like asbestos and lead, and reinstated. Some of the old structure looks decidedly new after this process. “There is an element of ‘my grandfather’s axe’ about it,” admits Mark Healy of Six Degrees Architects, the firm that designed the Boatbuilders Yard (“I’ve replaced the handle, and the head, but it’s still my grandfather’s axe,” as the story goes).

2012 Eat-Drink-Design Awards: Best Restaurant Design

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Exotic, atmospheric and transformative of its Crown complex shell, Spice Temple exemplifies the best of high-end dining, where a sense of occasion bordering on fantasy is called for. The experience and finesse of Neil Perry’s Rockpool dynasty is evident in the accomplished match between food and place. Focusing on the regional cuisines of Sichuan, Yunnan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi and Xinjiang provinces, Spice Temple orchestrates synergies between the warmth and spiciness of the food, and the moody comfort and density of the various dining areas. Deliberate darkness and veiled drama in the design do not compromise the operation or ease of the place, or represent Asian sensibility and richness as stereotypical motifs. Earl Carter’s glowing photographic portraits shift the scale of spaces, and inject idiosyncrasy and long vistas into these otherwise introspective spaces. Evoking an imaginary journey through a Shanghai speakeasy, Spice Temple is a consummately theatrical, sexy and sensory eating space.

Spice Temple Melbourne is immediately adjacent to Rockpool Bar & Grill, completed around four years ago. The design has been influenced by street hawker food markets and greatly complements the menu, which draws inspiration from the cuisines of several Chinese provinces. Rawness and simplicity reverberate throughout the understated fitout, and there is an emphasis on comfort and experience rather than a particular theme decor or iconic statement. Spaces have been made intimate and the seating fairly dense to enhance the atmosphere and create a sense of relaxation. The dramatic theatrical lighting and screening devices create a sense of personal space and privacy.

2012 Eat-Drink-Design Awards: Best Restaurant Design

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:00:00 +0000

With its pared back aesthetic and respectful handling of the existing architecture, The Apollo represents a welcome direction in Australasian hospitality design where the offer of food and drink is made without elaborate guise or spectacle. Recognising the good ‘bones’ of the architectural shell, the designer selectively and incrementally removed extraneous layers, to reveal the inherently strong structural, spatial and luminous qualities of the 1930s building. These have been amplified with an inspired equilibrium between rawness and repair. Dusky stripped back surfaces, with their palimpsest of wear and use, harmonise with a subtle colour and textual palette of new natural materials. Introduced elements are handled with robustness, and cognisance of dining traditions, so that, like the modern Greek food and wine of the menu, the dining experience is familiar culturally, yet potent and contemporary. This is the 21st century version of ‘Less is more’, where clarity of purpose and sensitivity to site work to inspired effect.

The Apollo concept aims to capture the inherent Mediterranean character of the building to create a space of uncontrived simplicity. The materials selected emulate the muted palette typical of the rocky Greek island landscape. The volume of the dining room is maximized by the arched facade windows and the exposed ceiling structure and is enhanced by the low and long proportions of the dining bar. The existing restaurant site dictated that the kitchen was isolated from the dining room and our response was to exaggerate the size of the dining bar and create a focal point in the room. The existing kitchen was rethought and a chef’s table was added into the same footprint as the previous kitchen.

2012 Eat-Drink-Design Awards: Best Cafe Design

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:17:00 +0000

Third Wave Cafe translates the stereotypical Australian beach kiosk into an architectural icon, without pretension. Striking and uncompromising siting ensure the building stands out on the shore line, yet the predominant use of Core Ten steel allows it to blend visually with the landscape, and continue to weather sympathetically with it. The shape and surface suggest, but never mimic, maritime references, or worn found objects from a coastal stroll. Structure and function have been handled integrally, so that the additional ablution facilities sit unobtrusively, giving prominence to the ‘welcome’ of the kiosk servery. The robustness and strength of the concept aligns well with its offer of beachside fare, strong flavours and artisanal coffee. This project understands the directness of our love affair with the beach, its grainy patina and simple pleasures. It is a singular project, exemplifying the best of the Australian ethos of fresh food in a natural location.

The brief was to design a new public facility at Torquay Surf Beach that included a cafe, toilets and change rooms. The facility needed to be open year-round, service an assortment of recreation users and provide an important beachside destination. Due to its high level of local, regional and international use throughout the year, together with its visual prominence along this section of coastline and the fact that it is situated on Crown land, the design needed to adequately service community recreation and tourist requirements while sensitively integrating and respecting the local coastal environment and adhering to the Victorian Coastal Strategy.