Kinglake Hotel project is a project that is in the very heart of Kinglake. The town was devastated by bushfires 2 years ago and is now slowly rebuilding itself. This project at the surviving hotel is designed to attract tourists to a new Provedore and bottleshop offering whilst still maintaining the original country pub for locals. Designed to be big, rustic and bold – the tower element will be a symbol of Kinglake’s continuing resilience. Currently the project is in town planning and we hope to see the building being built in the new year. This project continues our work in creative re-use; we were able to advocate the retention of the old bottle shop as a viable retail outlet for the new Provedore section.

tags: bar, commercial, rural

We are currently working with Matilda Bay Brewing Company to develop a tasting room.

In keeping with the workmanlike image of the brand, our approach is to fit out the space as if it were a canteen for the brewers themselves.

tags: bar, commercial, industrial

Kinglake Hotel project is a project that is in the very heart of Kinglake. The town was devastated by bushfires 2 years ago and is now slowly rebuilding itself. This project at the surviving hotel is designed to attract tourists to a new Provedore and bottleshop offering whilst still maintaining the original country pub for locals. Designed to be big, rustic and bold – the tower element will be a symbol of Kinglake’s continuing resilience. Currently the project is in town planning and we hope to see the building being built in the new year. This project continues our work in creative re-use; we were able to advocate the retention of the old bottle shop as a viable retail outlet for the new Provedore section.

tags: commercial, hospitality

Architectural design – whether residential, retail or industrial – must not only respond to specific current requirements but also allow for flexibility and change as the use of a building evolves over time. This, and the ‘need for speed’, characterised our approach to the creation of a retail space, Melba Food Hall, in West Brunswick.

The goal was to re-imagine space, converting a motor mechanic’s workshop into a market-style food hall in just six weeks. The project needed a mark of quality: Melba Food Hall needed to get noticed, attracting custom not only to itself but also to the somewhat worn-out precinct. A flexible layout was needed; as a new business, the owners wanted to be able to readily adapt the space to different product ranges as they grew to understand their customers’ needs.

Starting with what was essentially an empty warehouse, our approach included the use of shaped, floating panels. This avoided the time and cost to fully line the building. Careful selection and use of lighting, a subdued palette and the use of native timbers created light and space and allowed Melba’s fresh product to show itself off.

tags: commercial, creative re-use, retail

One of our passions is the creative re-use, and in particular the blending of modern thinking with period design elements. Decca Bar, in Queen St, Melbourne, is a good example of the application of this approach to a commercial environment.

The goal here was to help the nightclub reinvigorate itself and attract a new clientele. The owners were struggling to imagine any improvement without a large investment. But we saw immediate possibilities to combine images from the famous record label after which the bar is named with the style of the 1930s art deco building in which it is housed.

We drew inspiration from the tendency of later art deco designers to favour bold colours and patterns. A deco-influenced update of the furniture and bar gave it a retro but modern feel. Images of Decca artists were used on the walls and on timber and glass panels. The panels divided the space and created a sense of activity, even among a small number of patrons. The overall effect was the creation of a sense of glamour and occasion for this nighttime venue.

tags: bar, commercial, creative re-use

This project for Scribe Publications embodies ideas that are close to our heart – including creatively re-using buildings for new purposes, implementing practical sustainability measures and integrating daylight design into interior spaces. See our FLICKR site for more images.

The project was the major conversion of a 1970s steel portal warehouse, in an industrial part of Brunswick, into office space for a publishing house.The project involved retaining much of the existing fabric and carefully integrating new components to harmonize with the shell and facade; very little was changed on the facade other than use of a slightly more vibrant red on the fascia than the original colour. Indeed, we treated the work on the facade more like a restoration project than the ‘announcement’ of a new occupant.

The interior was a different story. The interior treatment is deliberately enlivened with red linear light fittings, gorgeous timbers, patterned carpet tiles and sculptural ceilings, all in contrast to the stoic and industrial 1970s brown brick exterior. The interior acts as an element of surprise, enthusing both visitors and employees.
This contrast between exterior and interior was central to our thinking. Our aim was to stimulate feelings similar to those associated with entering the enriching world of books, spending time with people who love books and garnering the ideas that flow from books. It was our way to pay homage to the joys of opening the cover of a book and being drawn into its delights.

We designed new editorial and meeting rooms, created general office workspaces and an archive area, and designed new lunch and toilet facilities. We thermally sealed and insulated the shell of the building, re-using existing air conditioning facilities and materials wherever we could. The new editorial rooms are significant: we carefully inserted new sculptural skylights between existing roof purlins in order to bring daylight, colour, air and sky views into these otherwise landlocked rooms. These rooms are at the core of the enterprise; they are calm spaces, conducive to editorial work yet connected to the outside through the subtle play of natural light.

This building now has a new beginning and represents a new chapter for this very ‘Melbourne’, inner-city enterprise. The project demonstrates the potential to creatively re-use even the most plain spaces and give new life to old buildings that many would consider as having little value. This is where we see things differently.

See Henry’s blog for his views on the change.

tags: commercial, creative re-use, daylight

Just got the photos back from our first nightclub project – in the basement of an Art Deco building in Melbourne CBD.

Check out the project page here or visit Decca Bar

tags: bar, commercial, hospitality, refurbishment

A series of projects for Magic Hand Car Wash have allowed us to explore the potential in spaces such as disused service stations and shopping centre car parks. These images from a recently completed project in Springvale Road show details of the cafe fitout, which consider practicality and OH+S issues alongside corporate aesthetic requirements.

tags: adaptive reuse, commercial, retail

Mitchell McCabe has been a menswear outlet in the heart of Clarendon Street South Melbourne since 1901. Current owner Andrew has been running the shop for the past 10 years. The shop is rich with history and in proposing a colour scheme for the project we tried to use colours that were clearly contemporary yet still worked comfortably with the Victorian feel of the interior space. The strong colours were contained in shop displays whilst the wall and ceiling colours were subdued.

VISIT Mitchell McCabe

tags: colour, commercial, refurbishment, retail

This project involved the refurbishment of an existing office in Queen Street, Melbourne for established law practice Nicholas O’Donohue & Co. The aim was to retain the existing look and feel of the practice whilst adding some new and complimentary elements to the existing space.

tags: commercial, office, refurbishment

Comments

From empty space to open doors in just six weeks. Our goal was to quickly convert a motor mechanic’s workshop into a market-style food hall with a mark of quality for Melba Food. The new business needed to get noticed; it needed to attract custom not only to itself but also to the precinct. A flexible layout was needed too – to allow product range variation as the business grew. Careful use of lighting and shaped, floating panels avoided the time and cost to fully line the building. Native timber and a subdued palette created light and space and allowed the product to show itself off.

tags: adaptive reuse, colour, commercial, retail

Our practice participated in an Ideas Competition for an ECO-RESORT in the sensitive area of Ningaloo which is located in the north west of Western Australia. The project is on a highly sensitive site and the aim of the project was to devise a way for tourists to come and enjoy the natural beauty of the area without destroying the fragile eco-system of this world renowned area.

See the project page here

tags: commercial, ecology, hospitality