2013 Eat-Drink-Design Awards: Best Retail Design

Best Retail Design
Spring Street Grocer by KGA Architecture

Jury comment

This sexy little corner shop is aptly named, as it brings a sense of spring, bounce and freshness to an otherwise hard street corner. A playful vocabulary of references has been employed to make sound urban moves, opening the cafe and gelati bar ante space to the footpath as an “absent” Doric column, and activating the side lane with vigorous Scarpa-inspired windows and sliding screens. The place exudes an irresistible “come-to” invitation at all times of the day and night, its bold forms and colours spilling out to the city like a funky cornucopia of produce and hospitality. The modest footprint and volume have been worked hard to accommodate not only a delicatessen, a grocer, a cafe and a cool, glazed-brick cheese cellar, but also flexible space for exhibitions and functions. A circular tactic in graphics, stair and other design elements holds these together with a tight, lively dynamic. There is a robust, pragmatic richness to the materiality and construction of Spring Street Grocer – nougat terrazzo, orange peel steel balustrade – supporting the ethos of a local providore of convenience, conviviality and longevity. This is radical postmodernism, but with taste and constructional gusto.

Design statement

This project captures the new urban essence of small-grain urbanism where the relatively hidden activities of Melbourne’s lanes become manifest on main streets. The architectural form-making is driven by immediate local references. Local materials have been chosen for their longevity and durability, sustaining and inspiring local craftspeople and thereby encouraging the local economy, for example by using recycled timbers and local aggregates sourced from nearby quarries, minimizing transportation and ensuring low maintenance. The glazed bricks and cheese cellar are constructed with family-owned Euroa Bricks.

Spring Street Grocer
157 Spring Street
Melbourne Vic 3000
springstgrocery.com.au