Aussie restaurants and bars scoop international design awards
GIANT jellyfish projections, a suspended cock and bull preserved in formaldehyde and ice cream with eyes.
These are just some of the unique ideas that have won international recognition at the Restaurant and Bar Design Awards.
Three Australian projects gained top accolades in the competition, which received 670 entries from 61 countries.
Brisbane winner of best Australia & Pacific bar, Alfred & Constance, is a multi-purpose venue built between and around two beautiful timber houses in Fortitude Valley.
The tongue-and-groove homes were built on the corner of Alfred Street and Constance Street at the turn of the century, and its creators hope their "mash-up" conversion combines history and modernity in a way customers have never seen before.
Owner Damian Griffiths said of the buildings: "They’re typically Queensland right down to their stumped foundations. The double story house in particular is an iconic building and we wanted to preserve its heritage."
Designer Alexander Loterzstain added: "We wanted to make people feel at home immediately. Almost like you walk into it and you think, ‘this has been here forever. Why haven’t I found this place before?’
"We as Australians crave that. We don’t have the same built history as Europe where you walk into bars that are 100 years old... people want what’s real, what’s authentic."
The Century, a Chinese restaurant based in Sydney Casino complex The Star, won best Australia & Pacific restaurant for a design featuring clean, sleek lines and semi-private rooms built from blocks of American Oak.
It combines modern elegance and traditional Chinese symbolism, with a "Great Wall" of 82,230 chopsticks, low-hanging teacup lights and a wall of stacked fish tanks.
Victorian winner Third Wave Kiosk, which scooped the overall award for best canteen, is a more modest, yet equally original structure, serving breakfast, lunch and artisanal coffee on Torquay's foreshore.
The rust-red walls of the shack were built from Corten weathered steel to withstand sea winds and blend into the cliffs that surround it.
Designer Tony Hobba likened the structure to a "washed up piece of furniture" made of found materials.
"This project was inspired by the eroding forces of the ocean," he said. "The skin of rusting steel piles driven into the dunes provides a canvas for the expression of these natural forces."
London's Atrium Champagne Bar, in ME Hotel, was the overall best bar winner, thanks to a soaring, sky-high ceiling that funnels in the sun's rays and displays aquatic light projections.
Höst, in Copenhagen, won overall best restaurant for a simple, rustic design, which juxtaposes a neutral colour palette and weathered wood with industrial lighting for an urban edge.
Tramshed was named best London restaurant thanks to its Damien Hirst centrepiece of a preserved cow and cockerel - riffing on the venue's chicken and steak menu.
Barcelona's Eyescream & friends won "best identity" for its cute and witty presentation of sweet treats, while America's best bar The Living Room was notable for its extraordinary giant steel DJ booth stood atop a raging fire encased in glass.
Melbourne featured heavily in the entries, with Atrium, Bar Ampere and Lumia among the nominees for best Australia & Pacific bar.
Perth restaurant Print Hall represented Western Australia in the best restaurant category.
Source: The Australian - 25 September 2013
