Venue #48

issue forty Eight 2012

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hat an utter bastard. I’ve been reading Steve Jobs biography and that’s one of the overwhelming reactions I have to the bloke — a Grade A arsehole. He would routinely give staff an excoriating dressing-down in front of their colleagues — often because it was just ‘their turn’. He’d instantly dismiss most ideas pitched at him as ‘totally shit’ and then a week later, if the idea had genuine merit, he’d recite it back to the progenitor as if it was entirely his own. Like I said, what an utter bastard!

We also know that Steve Jobs was a genius, and completely revolutionised the world of personal computing, music and book/ magazine publishing. In fact, Steve Jobs can safely be crowned ‘man of the century’ and we’re only 12 years in. He was the archetypical Thought Leader; someone who could pursue a vision and not be worn down by factors as banal as money, deadlines, and boards of directors.

They say a camel is a horse ‘designed by a committee’, and you wonder what the world of hotel and hospitality would be like if it was simply built on consensus rather than the passion of key Thought Leaders.

Which brings me to welcome you to our venue 2012 Hotel & Hospitality special. But really, it’s not about the venues, it’s about the Thought Leaders, the inspirational individuals who, like Steve Jobs, single-handedly drag us along in their slipstream thanks to their vision.

These Thought Leaders — whether they’re launching a fivestar hotel, refitting another gastro-pub, designing a lighting scheme, building a global brand of resorts — all have one thing in common: their attention to detail.

Steve Jobs would obsess for hours over an exact shade of grey; over the precise chamfering of a product’s corners; and before he opened his first Apple Store he spent months building a lifesize ‘dummy’ in a warehouse… It’s all in the detail.

Would you be bothered? Do you find yourself saying “Don’t worry too much, no one will ever notice”?

It could be the glass in the bathroom of the hotel, the exact lux level of the ambient lighting in the restaurant, the graphic design of the menus, the audio system in the pub, the thread count, the greeting at the door, the presentation of the staff, the typos on the website, the playlist in the front bar… the list goes on and on.

Do your customers or guests pick up on all the minutiae? Not in a exhaustive, item-by-item manner, but if there’s one thing we can learn from the Thought Leaders is: detail is everything.

It all combines to making your project — as Steve Jobs would have said — insanely great.

Christopher Holder, Editorial Director Get in touch with Chris on chris@venuemag.com

FOR YOUR NEAREST DEALER: AUSTRALIA: Call 1300 13 44 00 or visit www.toa.com.au NEW ZEALAND: Call 0800 111 450 or visit www.toa.co.nz

PS: I just want to recognise the ‘insanely great’ work of Mark Davie as editor over the last couple years. Mark’s moved on to edit our sister publication, AudioTechnology. Don’t hesitate to wish him your best via his old email address, he’d be delighted to hear from you.

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Nº48

Contents “If you’re not detail-oriented you can’t do this job… Even the coathangers. We’ve created a colour and a thickness different to everyone else’s. If you don’t have a passion for it, you’re dead.”

Drew Schlesinger, The Darling — pg22

Thought Leaders Vernon Chalker Julian Gerner W Hotels’ Mike Tiedy

pg56 pg62 pg26

CONTENTS CONTACTS: Advertising Office: (02) 9986 1188 PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086 Editorial Office: (03) 5331 4949 PO Box 295, Ballarat, VIC 3353

Hotels & Resorts

Editor Director: Christopher Holder (chris@venuemag.com)) Publication Manager: Stewart Woodhill (stewart@venuemag.com) Publisher: Philip Spencer (philip@venuemag.com) Art Direction & Design: Dominic Carey (dominic@alchemedia.com.au) Additional Design: Leigh Ericksen (leigh@alchemedia.com.au) Circulation Manager: Jen Temm (subscriptions@alchemedia.com.au) Accounts: Jen Temm (accounts@alchemedia.com.au)

alchemedia publishing pty ltd (ABN: 34 074 431 628) PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086 info@alchemedia.com.au All material in this magazine is copyright Š 2012 Alchemedia Publishing Pty Ltd. The title Venue is a registered Trademark. Apart from any fair dealing permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. The publishers believe all information supplied in this magazine to be correct at the time of publication. They are not in a position to make a guarantee to this effect and accept no liability in the event of any information proving inaccurate. After investigation and to the best of our knowledge and belief, prices, addresses and phone numbers were up to date at the time of publication. It is not possible for the publishers to ensure that advertisements appearing in this publication comply with the Trade Practices Act, 1974. The responsibility is on the person, company or advertising agency submitting or directing the advertisement for publication. The publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions, although every endeavour has been made to ensure complete accuracy.

Pubs, Bars & Nightclubs

Hotel Design Mercure Melbourne Treasury Gardens Hotel Lighting Design The Burbury Hotel The Darling

pg14 pg17 pg18 pg20 pg22

Sit Kit Lit

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Bar100 Smooth Operator Moo Moo The Bridge Hotel Campsi RSL Monkey Bar Robert Burns Hotel Collection Bar Chill On Sydney Small Bars Rush Bar Dining Express Nightclub Lighting Beresford Upstairs Aviary You Wish

pg36 pg40 pg43 pg44 pg48 pg50 pg53 pg55 pg60 pg66 pg70 pg72 pg74 pg76 pg82

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HOTEL DESIGN Top hotel operators are turning to psychographic profiling — relax, it’s for your own good.

Story: Heather Barton

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ext time you’re in a hotel room and think ‘sexy taps’; wake up to a great playlist; or love the fact you don’t need to bring a computer, even though you’re on business — you’ve been successfully psychographically profiled.

‘Psychographics’ might sound alarming, but it’s what is driving the best in hotel design. And don’t be under any misapprehensions. Psychographics is not to be confused with demographics, which just give researchers information like guests’ age and gender; nor with behavioural studies or firmographics, which respectively provide information on usage and loyalty or industry, seniority and function.

Psychographics are all about personality, values, attitudes, interests, activities and opinions. What, perhaps, more quaintly, used to be called ‘culture’.

It’s a culture that sees guests now willing, in a way they once weren’t, even five years ago, to check-in at a kiosk, in their rooms or indeed off-site, much as one would at an airport rather than be checked-in by solicitous staff in a grand, ritualised reception or intimidating lobby.

This in turn means reception and lobby spaces are changing dramatically. Lobbies are becoming flexible, zoned environments that include bars, sitting areas, meeting and workspaces, all wirelessly connected — places to casually socialise and work, with a soft-focus between the two. Fireplaces and columns are used to create zoned areas of privacy and intimacy. Furniture serves multiple work and relaxation functions. Dire hotel business centres are on the endangered list. Cloud technology and tablets available through the concierge replace the need for travelling with hard copy and computers and make working in social spaces possible.

replacing bathtubs, saving on space and maintaining the impression of luxury.

Simple tactics like removing armoires from guest rooms and installing flat screen TVs can result in 5–10 percent increased yield in numbers of rooms, adding more ‘keys’ and therefore profitability in a typical 200,000sqft scheme.

SPACE A PREMIUM Of course, this all has a cost-saving function as well.

Building costs are so expensive that developers and investors want to utilise the lobby or reception in more cost effective and revenue-generating ways.

Dining and drinking generate revenue from locals and travellers alike. Cafés by day are becoming cocktail bars at night as both business and pleasure travellers want to meet locals in venues connected to the local community via the hotel.

Post first-wave GFC and in the run up to the second, far fewer builds and far more renovations are taking place, as those in the industry attempt to ride out what is clearly no ordinary downturn.

Design strategies include re-sized wider, squarer and higher guest rooms, which are actually smaller overall. Ceiling height and expansive glazing maintains the illusion of spaciousness, while sophisticated shower rooms, with rain showers or spa fittings, are

GRANDEUR OF THE EAST While Europe and the US are bearing the brunt of the GFC and hence the need for cost saving strategies and a more modest approach in general, China in particular, because of a different psychographic profile still wants grandeur and luxury, according to Pang.

“In mainland China,” he said, “where land is still available, particularly in second and third tier cities, like Jiang Xi, owners are building and going for high impact factors. Star architects are still very desirable.

It’s a question of pride, particularly in China. A star architect brings kudos.

“So contrary to the trends in the West, in China there is still a demand for huge single purpose lobbies and reception areas. There is also a demand for bathroom suites that include a bidet and toilet, whereas in Australia water restrictions and regulations (recent flooding aside) mean three-point bathrooms, which

IMMERSIVE, SENSITIVE Environmental and energy cost concerns are driving room energy management systems with features like key-activated in-room lighting, remote thermostats and hallway light motion sensors. Likewise, the emphasis on recycling, local resources and suppliers, green balconies, water sensitive plumbing, sustainable materials and fabrics, and even the use of vintage furniture, have sustainability and economic benefits.

Localised design also reflects a change in guest attitude to a desire for a more authentic and immersive experience and a move away from starchitect-designed schemes to a more boutique approach.

Having said that, these trends are territory-dependent according to Joseph Pang of Joseph Pang Design Consultants. Pang claims the market and therefore design is determined by the two-speed global economy.

“The GFC has obviously had an impact on the industry,” he said. “Projects have been put on hold and banks are cautious, even in Australia, which has weathered the GFC well.

“In Tokyo, Sydney and Hong Kong you do see scaled down size because land is expensive. Even in the Middle-East refurbishment is being used to some extent, to keep up to date without the expense of a build.”

include a shower, vanity and toilet only, are more the norm. Although it must be said that China is more and more conscious of environmental issues.”

CLEAN LINES RULE “There is a trend towards organic and recycled materials both in the West and in China,” said Pang, “but not necessarily organic forms. Organic forms are not always appropriate. There is still an overwhelming desire for a modern aesthetic with clean lines.

“In China, business centres are always required.

Some people are not as technologically advanced as others, although new technology has undoubtedly affected the way we design hotels, even down to furniture and fixtures. Desks, for instance previously had to be big. This is no longer necessary.”

DESK NOT SO HOT “In Australia at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne, for instance, we eliminated the desk in favour of a 900mm-diameter round table that can be used to eat at, for drinks or for a balancing a laptop,” continued Pang. “This has also eliminated the need for an office chair, in favour, in this case, of a chaise lounge that can be used for relaxing, working or meeting.

The chaise is a very open-ended piece of furniture. It makes the room feel very different to an office but it can still be used in a working context.

“The challenge is to design a room that is non-formulaic in relation to pre-determined factors, which a design can do if involved from day one. With the Sydney Hilton, for example, where a significant refurbishment was undertaken in 2001, the design took a strongly unconventional approach. The rooms were small 24-25sqm with four point bathrooms. In a conventional hotel room, the desk is always next to the window. The bed is always near the bathroom and the TV always faces the centre of the room.

“The design turned the room around completely. The bed was positioned close to the window so guests could experience the city more readily. The desk was put in the corner near the bed and bathroom and the TV was put in the corner of the room so guests could see the city. Instead of putting the sofa near the window, it was replaced with a chaise where the TV would normally be, so that everything was oriented to the view.”

EXPERIENCE EVERYTHING “However the important thing is the experience,” concludes Pang. “Each hotel has to provide a different experience — from home or work but also from other hotels. Our aim is to make the guest feel they are being offered a unique experience, no matter where it is.”

“the important thing is the experience. Each hotel has to provide a different experience — from home or work but also from other hotels”. — Joseph Pang

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REBIRTH OF AN ICON Story: Sophie Gebhardt

Mercure Melbourne Treasury Gardens 13 Spring Street, Melbourne VIC (03) 9205 9999 or h2086-RE02@accor.com

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ewly refurbished and launched on February 29th, Mercure Melbourne Treasury Gardens is the new name for a hotel that has seen a number of transformations over the 50 years since it was first built. Given the hotel’s prime position on the edge of the CBD, it’s not surprising that in the 1960s and ’70s it was a popular destination for touring rock bands. In its incarnation as the first Australian Sheraton, the hotel found itself in the spotlight as a result of the now infamous and bungled ‘mock’ raid by ASIO in 1983. Neither the hotel nor the police were informed about the exercise, which was then to become the subject of a Royal Commission.

Now, after a $4m and three-month renovation of its 164 rooms, Mercure Treasury Gardens opens its doors to a new era in 4-star accommodation.

With interior design by Guy Blunden, of Watermark Architecture & Interiors, the Mercure Treasury Gardens is the first of the Australian hotels to showcase the new Mercure design standards. The rooms are bright, welcoming and, most of all, functional. Photos by Liam Duffy of Duffy Design decorate the bed-heads, featuring architectural and cultural icons from around Melbourne, firmly placing the rooms within their local environs. Views of the city or of the beautiful Treasury Gardens are on offer from the large windows, flooding the rooms with a natural light that adds to the overall cheer of the colour schemes and contemporary furniture. The striped carpet, supplied by Feltex, and the cushions, with fabrics printed by Jann Beadle of Materialised, bring a level of distinctive luxury to the rooms, inviting the exhausted tourist or conference goer to

throw off their shoes and have a nanna nap before heading out into the fray once again.

While the design is strikingly modern, this does not detract from the comfort or functionality of the rooms.

In fact, functionality has been central to the refurbishment of the rooms according to Hotel General Manager, Phil O’Brien: “We are very excited about the excellent standard of room we now have available to our guests after three months of renovations. We have made significant changes to uplift the style and functionality of the rooms, a Mercure first which we hope will attract even greater leisure and conference numbers to our hotel.” The rooms now offer sparkling new bathrooms complete with walk-in showers, large hand basins and LED mirror lights. New lighting has been installed throughout, along with digital LCD TVs, glassfronted fridges, Internet access, room safes and clock radios with iPod docks — all in all, the new rooms provide a thoroughly modern, stylish and restful backdrop to the myriad of Melbourne attractions that lie just outside the Mercure’s front door.

CONTACTS Watermark Architecture & Interiors: (02) 9299 0401 or www.watermarkarchitecture.com.au Feltex Carpets: 1300 130 239 or www.feltex.com Duffy Design: (02) 9818 8823 or 0412 496 553 Materialised (Fabrics): (02) 8558 3506 or jann.beadle@materialised.com

HOTEL LIGHTING DESIGN 2B Designed Director, David Bird, first began architectural lighting design 23 years ago. He’s watched it grow in style and sophistication. He is now a leading Australian designer with vast experience in hotel lighting.

Story: David Bird

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hen I started in this industry 20-odd years ago, there seemed to be very little demand for lighting design in Australia’s architectural community and there were very few of us around.

These days, architects and interior designers, as well as a number of end users, appreciate what it is that we do and how our input creates much better results, which is why you’ll now see a lighting designer on all major projects.

WHAT’S ‘IN’ THESE DAYS The current trend in hotel lighting — much like most of the industry — is energy efficiency. Efficient fittings, efficient lamps and low maintenance.

The Crown Promenade recently upgraded one of their corridors to retrofit MR16 LED lamps as a trial. From reports, it is proving successful and this may well be extended to all floors. I have seen this constant desire to save energy even as far back as 2003 at the Le Touessrok Resort in Mauritius. Compact fluorescent lamps are used on the bedside tables and floor lamps wherever possible. The MR16 halogen light sources are very much in decline. Hotels large and small are under constant pressure to keep energy costs down.

Pleasingly, we are starting to see more contrast; more light and shade in hotel room lighting. This has happened partly due to the demands of the new energy codes, but also as more theatre lighting designers make the jump into the architectural world. This has given hotels more mood and more drama and as a result, made them more exciting places to be. This is especially true in 5-star and 6-star hotels, where

there is a desire for the rooms and public areas to feel more luxurious than their rivals and lighting can play a big part in this.

WHAT WORKS: TEAM EFFORT Good design demands input from the whole design team. The lighting designer must fully understand the interior finishes and the operator’s needs before the design can commence. Collaboration is the key!

Unless you know the interior surfaces and finishes of the room and all the furniture layout, you can’t light it properly. Until you know what surfaces you have to work with, you can’t make a start. It’s all about constantly interacting with the other designers of the space, to get the right outcome. The aim is to enhance the interior design, not distract from it, and you don’t want to add lighting just for the sake of it.

I always try to get the visual aesthetic first, then work out how to light it. Too many inexperienced designers like to pick out a particular fitting(s) and look for ways to use it; regardless of its relevance to the space.

Lighting design is normally unique to a project or room and is rarely the same as another project.

Therefore, how it interacts with the interior design elements is not easy to predict accurately and so the need for mock-ups is critical to a good outcome.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK: WHITE FROM WRONG I learn more from poorly lit spaces than well lit ones, and it helps to look at other people’s mistakes. One of the most common errors I see today is the ‘White Fruit Salad’ effect that can come from using different

colour ‘white’ light sources. This has been exacerbated by the rapid rise in the number of LED fittings on the market, where it stands out like a sore thumb.

While getting the right colour balance is difficult, it’s vitally important to the success of a space.

THE BALANCE One of the keys to hotel room lighting is getting the right balance between task light and decorative light.

It’s easy to get it wrong, and most inexperienced designers put more lighting in than they should. Most commonly, there is a tendency to put in too many downlights. Look at the architecture, create emphasis of the features, light the tasks, and that is all you really need. Many designers and clients ask me ‘but won’t it be dark in some areas?’ Well yes it will, but light and shade is important, as is a bit of colour. I always use the example of a dinner plate (as everybody can relate to food) to explain this. If I was to put out a white plate, with mash potato and cauliflower, despite how good it might taste, it will look very bland.

When you add some carrots and some greens, all of a sudden the plate looks much more interesting, and that’s really what we are going for here, creating visual interest.

I’ve always been of the opinion that lighting a public space is somewhat different to lighting a hotel where guests are paying for the privilege of being there. The guests need to feel pampered and look great and the lighting has a major impact on how people feel.

It’s important to make the space as visually pleasing, comfortable and harmonious as possible.

David Bird spoke to Matt Caton. For more on 2B Designed go: www.2bdesigned.com.au

“there is a desire for the rooms and public areas to feel more luxurious than their rivals, and lighting can play a big part in this�

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CANBERRA TIMES The Burbury Hotel 1 Burbury Close, Barton ACT (02) 6173 2700 or www.burburyhotel.com.au

Story: Christopher Holder Photos: Romello Pereira

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’m not the first one to say it, but Canberra is a peculiar place. Normal ‘rules of engagement’ don’t necessarily apply. And as you get sucked nearer the Parliament Hill vortex those rules become more and more elastic. The area I’m referring to, Barton, is dominated by be-suited bureaucrats, lobbiests, and pollies. Regular people like you and me hardly rate a mention. So when the Doma Group built the five-star Hotel Realm [Issue 36] it was very aware of its target market.

Yes, leisure travellers would occasionally flit in and out of the Realm orbit but here was a hotel designed, built and pitched to the Monday to Friday visitor.

Realm has done very well for itself. Ostani — the house bar/restaurant — is the place for after-work drinks, to the point where the courtyard is absolutely heaving on a Friday evening.

Such is the success that the Doma Group determined that a companion 4.5-star hotel was necessary. The new hotel would have access to the Realm facilities but essentially it would be a comfortable, stylish dormitory with breakfast facilities and modest function spaces.

The result is The Burbury, a hotel conceived for the corporate market, which opened in September last year.

it feels like everything has its place. It’s not just a room with a collection of furniture thrown into it.”

There are no doors to the bathroom but thanks to the Gohera Limestone it almost feels like a lobby to the hotel room. The vanity was designed to look more like a freestanding piece of furniture as opposed to a built-in bathroom basin. The furniture in the room is sophisticated and sits comfortably within what is essentially a bedroom but also the guest’s living room for the duration of their stay. White plantation shutters set the tone for the lighting within the room: “The white shutters provide some contrast,” noted Harlan. “As do the lights behind each of the bed head panel and the panel that conceals the bed head TV, so at night there’s a glow around each of those.”

ROOFTOP As mentioned, Burbury doesn’t need the full complement of facilities — pool, spa, gym etc — but the Burbury Terrace on the upper level of the hotel is particularly successful. Designed as a multi purpose venue for functions, it’s day-to-day role is to provide the hotel breakfast service. Harlan explains: “The top floor can be divided into three separate areas or it can make one WITHOUT PRETENSION area, or it can be used for weddings or conferences, Externally the hotel is unremarkable, but inside, KRM or it can be shut off and used for private dining for 20 Architects has successfully given The Burbury a time- while another party is using another area. Flexibility is less and comfortable feel with satisfying touches of the key.” luxury. There aren’t any flashes of quirky exhibitionism — Burbury maintains a classic aesthetic and comfort is TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS For a hotel whose raison d’être is taking care of business never sacrificed for the sake of a headline.

The rooms feature dark fabric wall panels and a custom travellers, it successfully treads the line of not being too designed carpet from Feltex. A timber veneer-clad box quirky or too stodgy. For example, the use of the beautiful separates the bedroom from the open plan bathroom Gohera limestone — from the lobby to the bathroom — is area and houses a built-in desk, wardrobes and a mini a standout. Soft, muted, classic, understated and classy, bar, a feature that KRM Director, Harlan Redgen is es- without flashiness… in many regards it epitomises what pecially happy with: “If you’re in a normal-sized hotel the hotel is all about. Little wonder, then, that The Burroom, I hate feeling like I’m falling over the luggage bury has joined the upper echelon of Canberra’s hotel esracks, and then you have a tinny fridge, a desk in the tablishment with sure-footed confidence. corner with a chair, and it all feels really clunky. By putting all of these aspects into one central element, KRM Architects: (02) 9280 4100 or www.krm.net.au

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OH MY DARLING! Sydney’s ‘most lovingly detailed hotel and spa’ shakes up the Australian scene with an international splash.

Story: Christopher Holder The Darling The Star, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont NSW 1800 800 830 or www.thedarling.com.au

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t’s hard to recall such an utter transformation. The old Star City has been quietly retired (a ‘red dwarf’ perhaps?) and, supernova-like, The Star has exploded. There’s now very little of the old left to recognise, as The Star is a sophisticated new precinct that now has Sydneysiders wondering what they every did without it. The Star has had high-quality hotel and apartment accommodation but now it has something else again. The Darling is a five-star hotel that embodies all that is cool in top-tier accommodation worldwide. It’s classy without being stuffy, it’s edgy, without being kitsch.

The ‘new broom’ approach to the whole property carries through to the operations of The Darling. The new owners, Echo Entertainment, has contracted one of the world’s best hotel ‘fixers’ to ensure the hotel got the best start in life.

His name is Drew Schlesinger. He’s an American with plenty of experience in hotel launches. In fact, he’s a specialist: “This is my ninth opening.

I just finished opening a property in Manhattan when I got the call from [Echo Entertainment CEO] Larry Mullins asking me if I would open The Darling.”

The stakes are high with any hotel launch, but Echo is pinning plenty on the success of The Darling. A no-prisoners Vegas-style approach pervades The Star, and Drew wasn’t coming to Sydney for a holiday. “We’re a rare breed,” noted Drew. “I think that’s because it’s very intense, you have to have nerves of steel, and you have to have some patience. …But not too much!

“You’ve got to get things done, and you have to pick the best possible team because when you’re running at a million miles an hour you cannot be looking over your shoulder every two minutes.”

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER With a CV that includes working with Ian Schrager on the Mondrian Los Angeles, along with stints at IHG and others, Drew Schlesinger has an eye and a nose for superlative hos-

pitality. But this isn’t a ‘make it so’ autocratic, Drew’s reputation is based on his fastidious attention to detail.

“Knowledge is power,” noted Drew. “Throughout my career I’ve asked a million questions. I know about maintenance, I know about plant and equipment, EVAC systems, fire alarm systems, I know about timbers, furniture, paint.

I create the linens for my properties — I work with a vendor to come up with a thread count, the hem, dyes…

“It’s all in the detail. If you’re not detail-oriented you can’t do this job. Ever wondered why most hotel rooms have the same drinking glass in the bathroom? It’s not important enough to worry about. But the properties I’ve done, we work with a company to create a unique glass for the bathroom. So does everyone notice it and go, ‘Ah ha!’. No, but do some people notice? Yes. “Even the coathangers. We’ve created a colour and a thickness different to everyone else’s. You have to be creative and passionate. If you don’t have a passion for it, you’re dead.”

ROOMING The Star is a 171-room hotel, but to continue the Vegas high-life theme, a whopping 57 are suites.

Some of the suites are 220sqm behemoths with kitchens and butler service. The interiors were taken care of by DBI Design, while responsibility for the design for the penthouses was given to LA-based, and casino hotel specialist, Laurence Lee. Photographer Russell James sets the tone in the guest rooms with his edgy work that has been heavily influenced by Aboriginal artists in this case. The quality of the fitout is obvious. The very best in materials and finishes have been used, and the Schlesinger attention to detail is just as obvious. Or as Drew puts it: “The finishes are phenomenal, it’s just totally unique. Echo has created something that Sydney hasn’t seen before.”

The look also recognises the phenomenon (arguably first identified by Starwood’s ‘W’ marque) of affluent 40-60 year olds eschewing the safe and

Action & The Drama: Drew Schlesinger: “Typically the front desk is like a fortress, The Darling’s desks are split into pods so after you check-in the receptionist is able to walk around, shake hands, hand you the keys, and escort you to the elevator. So it’s much more personal, less ‘us versus you’, and puts people at ease.”

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CONTACTS Brookfield Multiplex (Builder): www.brookfieldmultiplex.com Cox (Architects): www.coxarchitecture.com.au DBI (Interior Design): (07) 5539 9788 or www.dbidesign.com.au Stowe Electrical: www.stoweaustralia.com.au Diemme (Lobby Feature): (02) 9550 0811 or www.diemme.com.au Control 4 (In-room Automation): control4.advanceaudio.com.au Point of View (Lighting Design): (03) 9017 4161 or www.pov.com.au

SOKYO: ENOUGH ROPE FOR PAUL KELLY DESIGN Paul Kelly, Director of Paul Kelly Design, talks venue through his design of Sokyo.

Sokyo is a modern Japanese restaurant and the original design brief from Echo management was ‘Modern Tokyo with a Wild Edge’.

So you’ll find dynamic design/sharp lines combined with representations of Japanese landscape — something which totally infuses the Japanese culture.

A big part of the representation of the earthy, Japanese culture is taken care of by the ropes. We have 7km of ropes in the fitout. It’s not easy to find black rope that isn’t nylon, but eventually we found a little supplier in the back blocks of Delhi.

They dipped the ropes in ink by hand, in the traditional Japanese style. The different lengths represent the outline of the landscape. There are around 3000 individual lengths of rope in the sunken function space, and the installation (done by Diemme) was made even more nerve-wracking because the ropes didn’t want to hang straight — the Diemme guys were hanging off ladders trying to steam the rope lengths straight!

These are the risks you take working with natural products.

Obviously the edgy Manga-style graphics above the bar (see below) and in the private dining represent modern Japan. We found the original graphic on the web, then had the small dolls they’re based on re-photographed. So, above the bar, for example, is a high-resolution photo that’s around 13m long.

jima is a culinary superstar and the kitchen is his stage.

We have a massive island bar that feeds off the lobby of the hotel. There are white ‘crocodile’ tiles on the bar front that are uplit. The lighting from the floor as people move about helps provide interest throughout, there’s constant movement.

The pendants were custom made by Diemme (pictured right).

It’s a sake bottle concept. We gave the bottles to Diemme which actually moulded and slipcast them. We had a few problems with the control and dimming of the low-voltage LED energy savers. The night before opening, the Dynalite system wasn’t talking to our $100,000 feature lighting — the restaurant was as bright as a supermarket — until I ran to Coles and bought a 75-cent bulb, and popped it into one of the pendant fittings. Hey presto, we were able to control/dim.

The private dining room is hugely popular. The secret to private dining is to have enough circulation space, waiters’ stations that allow staff to dote on the diners, and not too much privacy — there needs to be some voyeurism. Sokyo’s space ticks all these boxes.

The dining chairs were very carefully selected (‘Poltrone Drive’ from Hub Furniture); they set the tone — this isn’t high-end destination dining; you’re allowed to have some fun.

This is a house restaurant for The Darling and we don’t have any million dollar views. So I wanted each space to have its own visual interest and excitement. The main dining area’s focus is squarely on the huge kitchen portal. The head chef Chase Ko-

Paul Kelly Design: (02) 9660 8299 or paul@paulkellydesign.com.au

stodgy experiences of more traditional five-star hotels.

Drew Schlesinger picks up on the theme: “I worked for Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager in the early days. I opened a couple of their hotels and their whole philosophy was: build these hotels for the 20 to 30 year-olds, but it’s the 40 to 60 year olds — people that are still ‘with it’ who want to be where cool people congregate — who will be your core market. Already, The Darling has become popular in entertainment circles. We’ve had the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, staying and have loved it.”

time, takes training, takes a lot of effort.”

And according to Schlesinger The Darling credo is ‘Fast, Fun, Friendly, and Focussed’.

“When we went to hire people — and I probably interviewed 90 percent of the staff — I actually didn’t look for people who had previous experience in hotels or restaurants. To me it was about their authenticity and the smile. We can train anyone to check a guest in, to serve or to bring, I cannot teach or force someone to genuinely smile.”

Hub Furniture (Dining Chairs): (03) 9652 1222 or www.hubfurniture.com.au Hughes Commercial Furniture (Tables, Lounges): www.hughescf.com.au

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CULTURE CLUB Engaging exciting world-class architects and designers is one thing, staffing a hotel to ensure it follows through on that world-class promise is another entirely. And without the human resources pool afforded by being a part of a global hotel chain, The Darling’s ‘culture’ was very much a blank canvas.

“Hotel staff are used to associating a brand — like a Hilton or a Sofitel — with a look, and a culture,” observed Drew Schlesinger. “Without any of that as a grid of reference, I became adept at painting that picture to get the new staff energised. Once we started hiring, it wasn’t that difficult, but creating the culture, that takes

HARBOURING AMBITIONS The Darling represents the first significant hotel build in Sydney for 10 years. And for The Star complex it’s an exciting, edgy accommodation option that contributes to putting it on the international map. In fact, The Star’s international visitor numbers have exploded.

Ultimately, the success of a hotel is down to occupancy, and The Darling has been close to capacity since its launch.

As for Drew, he’ll stay on for a period of time before he rides off into the sunset to launch another high-profile property. This period of fine-tuning is called ‘rafting’ in the industry. From here, it looks like plain sailing.

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Above: Drew Schlesinger Top: Sokyo’s main dining space is all about the theatre of the kitchen.

Left: Licensing the Flash Gordon image for this rug wasn’t cheap, so the pool table needed to be clear. Two polymer sheets with a layer of liquid in between were combined, pressed, heated and stretched over the glass. The billiard balls are shaved to take some shine off. The reult: a glass pool table that plays ‘exactly’ like baize.

Right: A large proportion of The Darling’s rooms are suites.

THE WHYS & HOWS OF W HOTELS Senior Vice President, Design & Innovation, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Mike Tiedy, unpacks what makes Starwood’s W brand so special.

Story: Mike Tiedy

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W

Hotels redefined the traditional resort experience when it introduced W Retreat & Spa in the Maldives in 2006.

W Retreats — of which there are now four — are different to the average resort because they create unique experiences through music, fashion, design and cocktail culture.

THE W NARRATIVE For all W Hotels, we have authored a unique process called the Design Narrative. Whether the hotel is in an urban centre or a retreat setting like W Maldives, the Narrative process creates a purposeful point of view through which all design is directed. The location, of course, plays a unique role in the design of a resort: the historical context of the destination, the physical attributes of the local environment, important landmarks and even the social context of the people, culture and neighbourhood influence the Narrative. The physical influence is probably the most obvious factor because it will shape the architecture and physical form of the building.

Room design is the most personal part of a scheme because this is where a guest will typically spend the most time. Of course, it is a mix of functional and experiential design. We’ve introduced innovations beginning with the signature W bed and the Munchie Box — a reinvention of the traditional minibar. The emphasis is on providing interesting and local retail products, snacks and other items that will make a guest smile.

On the experiential side, the room for each W Hotel is another opportunity to be inspired by the Design Narrative. Looking across the different properties, each is interpreted through the interior design, materials, colour, graphics, photography and styling to bring each story to life.

For W Retreats, we strive to create the best design team for the job rather than seek out star architects.

It is less about the name and more about the story we

are trying to tell. We do not look to hire a particular architect or designer based on their style, but instead focus on how the talents of that individual can help drive the vision of the hotel.

LOW ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT We have aggressive environmental goals across all our brands and are targeting a 30% reduction in energy use per available room and 20% decrease in water consumption by 2020. For a new retreat, these factors weigh heavily on the design decisions. During the planning stage, we try to minimise environmental impact. We stress local materials and look for opportunities for local and regional sourcing or partnerships. Our process drives a deep investigation into the social context and culture of the location, societies and people. Often we find insights that can help create efficiencies or influence the materials used within the hotel.

LOCKING ONTO GEN Y Despite the Global Financial Crisis, Starwood is positioned to grow faster than our competitors and our lifestyle brands and luxury portfolio are our competitive advantage.

Elite travellers are traveling more often, further and staying longer. Globalisation has meant there are now more travellers and more emerging markets. Gen Y, for instance, as a group, is faster-growing and younger than previous emerging groups. Gen Y is brand savvy.

In terms of design, this means the appreciation for brands is growing along with the demand for technology, service and sustainability — the other big draw cards for Gen Y. With the GFC, there has certainly been an emphasis on accountability and efficiency in the building and design process. We are able to deliver this through the Starwood system, the Design Narrative process and with 42 W Hotels complete, we certainly now have the experience to design smart and operate efficiently.

BRAND DNA Our drive is to exhibit our brand DNA and story through the design of the hotel. This means we have a set of experiences we seek to unfold, not a set of things. Our processes allow for flexibility because we are not a cookie-cutter brand.

I think good brands will always try to extend into other areas. Our advantage is that we are a hospitality company first. We have the experience, systems and knowledge of the hospitality business. By creating lifestyle brands, we focus on different consumer segments to capture the wants and needs of specific segments by building on our knowledge of what a great and unique experience is.

W was one of the first hotels to embrace the fashion industry through initiatives like designer uniforms by Michael Kors and LAMB; an exclusive wrap dress for our Munchie Boxes by Diane von Furstenberg; and an ongoing sponsorship with Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week that has spanned over 13 seasons.

We were also the first hotel brand to appoint a Global Fashion Director and through our ongoing Fashion Next program, to support emerging fashion designers around the world.

DELIVERING AN EXPERIENCE Travellers today require all the comforts they would get at home, regardless of the location. Each Retreat has modern amenities including a state-of-the-art fitness centre, wireless internet and in-room entertainment systems. We have partnered with Bliss Spa for bathroom amenities and have bought in lifestyle retail products.

Guests also expect more these days and we design W Retreats to deliver on these expectations. Most importantly, we deliver an experience. That experience is created by drawing on the destination to provide inspiration — mixing local influences with the W Hotel attitude, where anything is possible and guests can escape and play on their own terms.

we have a set of experiences we seek to unfold, not a set of things — Mike Tiedy.

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Impact Av Spice Ad HALF PG_Layout 1 12/07/11 9:26 AM Page 1

Leichhardt NSW (02) 9550 0811 > diemme.com.au

AU D I O

V I S UAL

S P ECI AL IS TS

Impact AV Australia specialises in corporate functions.

We excel in providing audio visual services for product launches, gala dinners, conferences, exhibitions and video conferencing.

Impact AV Australia will supply, set-up and run professional top brand equipment for sound, vision, lighting, staging, rigging, video conferencing and tele conferencing.

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WB Bench

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Rossin ‘Tonic’ Chair

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In designing the WB Series, David Walley was inspired by traditional timber blocks used by butchers. Now the WB Bench joins its fellow barstools and tables, all combining sleek fabricated steel with the warmth of natural timber. It’s designed and manufactured in Australia, and the rubber-tipped tapered legs can be zinc finished or powder-coated in any colour. Ever more versatile, the bench is available in two lengths as well.

The compact and elegant Tonic series chairs are constructed from steel inserts encapsulated in cold cure polyeurythane, with bases from solid 12mm rods or solid beech. The upholstery (fabric, leather or vinyl) is glued to the shell. There are a variety of options available, including chairs with or without arms, barstools, low lounge chairs, a stacking chair and a cantilever version. Tonic is thus perfect for a whole range of environments. $550 inc GST.

Zenith Interiors: (02) 9211 4744 or www.zenithinteriors.com.au

Form + Function: 0438 378 335 or www.form-function.com.au

FDB Series

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The first FDP series appeared in the 1940s with the philosophy of ‘functional and democratic design for the people’. Hay is now taking on production of some of the classic pieces with its new FDB series for 2012. It is a collection of five pieces of affordable seating for bars, restaurants and cafes, designed and made in Denmark. Price: $231–$394.

Corporate Culture: (02) 8062 6018 or www.corporateculture.com.au

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Ercol Stacking Chair

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The Ercol Stacking Chair is a true classic, having been designed in 1957 by Ercol’s founder himself, Lucian Ercolani. Consisting of a solid elm seat and turned timber beech legs, it is available in four colours and shows that style never goes out of fashion. Price: $395.

Temperature Design: (03) 9419 1447 or www.temperaturedesign.com.au

Maxx Chair

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The Maxx chair recently made an appearance at the Shanghai Furniture Fair. Available in a whole rainbow of coloured polypropylene with legs of beech, it can be stacked to six high for storage. For indoors and outdoors; any type of venue. Price: $149 + GST. Instyle Seating: 1300 309 889 or www.instyleseating.com.au

Clip by OMP Italy

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The Clip chair is a seating line with a fresh contemporary design that assures maximum comfort and makes it suitable for a range of commercial applications. With a welded steel frame and solid polypropylene seat and back, it is extraordinarily sturdy. Practical, easy to handle and stack, the Clip chair is available in a range of colours and suitable for indoor and outdoor use.

Instyle Seating: 1300 309 889 or www.instyleseating.com.au

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JBL’s View of Gallery

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The Gallery is one of Las Vegas’ newest and most lavish nightclubs. Elegant and ultra-luxurious in décor, the Gallery, dancefloor and Pussycat Dolls Lounge can accommodate up to 1000 people. The Gallery was built from the bare walls up and includes an allnew JBL loudspeaker system with more than 90 AE Series and Control Contractor Series speakers, powered by Crown amplifiers. To provide a balance of ‘conversation in the booths and thumping sound on the dancefloor’, a very focused, very high-powered system was installed over the dancefloor.

Jands (JBL, Crown): (02) 9582 0909 or info@jands.com.au

EAW Avalon Reborn

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EAW has released the first two products in the all-new, next-generation Avalon line of dance club loudspeaker systems. The line was codesigned by legendary dance club designer/ owner John Lyons, whose Avalon Hollywood club is a favourite performance venue for world-class DJs. Lyons worked with EAW in the late 1990s to produce the original line of Avalon loudspeakers. The products released include the CLUB.two and CLUB.three. Each is a three-way system using a horn-loaded, ultra-efficient, coaxial mid/high compression driver. The CLUB.two includes four 12-in LF cone transducers mounted in a vertically and horizontally symmetrical pattern and axially aligned with the mid/high section. The CLUB. three uses a single, ferociously powerful 15in LF cone mounted in a triaxial configuration behind the mid/high section.

Production Audio Services: (03) 9264 8000 or info@productionaudio.com.au

Martin Audio MLA Compact

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Martin Audio is releasing its Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array (MLA) technology in a smaller and lighter version called MLA Compact. Its big brother just went into The Star’s no-expense-spared Marquee club, and no doubt the MLA Compact will make the technology more accessible. The new design brings together the latest technologies in acoustic design, amplification, DSP and optimisation software with communications and control via an audio network.

Technical Audio Group: (02) 9519 0900 or iw@tag.com.au

Mitsubishi UL7400U

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With the same class-leading features found in their dual-lamp 8000 series models such as high brightness and contrast, flexible installation options and a host of image enhancing features, the UL7400U from Mitsubishi Electric is an ideal visual solution for large areas such as public bars or function rooms.

It has a native 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution and 5000 ANSI lumen brightness, for the reproduction of full hi-def images that are clear and easy to view. The Super Resolution feature analyses any blurred low resolution images then corrects the image quality accordingly, creating sharp images with excellent detail.

A high performance lens system greatly improves image sharpness and focus across the entirety of the projected image, while Natural Colour Matrix provides independent adjustment of the primary and secondary colours.

Mitsubishi: (02) 9684 7233 or www.MitsubishiElectric.com.au

Jbn Keeps Gilligans’ Party Going Gilligan’s is Cairns largest party venue boasting thousands of punters through the doors every week — Gilligan’s has non-stop party stamina all week long. From Thursday to Sunday the back deck by the pool is home to some of Cairns most popular live bands and DJs but unfortunately this doesn’t always go down well with the neighbours. The venue was receiving complaints from one nearby hotel in particular and liquor licensing had placed some stringent restrictions on the levels of music to be played. “Inner city living is growing and you have to keep the community happy,” said Anthony Brooks, Gilligan’s general manager. “However we felt that we needed to increase the sound volume somehow. The guys at JVG Sound & Lighting showed us the Jbn Sound Ceiling and it looked like it would solve the problem.” Consequently 68sqm of Jbn Sound Ceiling speaker tiles were installed above the clientele wishing to party outside. The speaker tiles are mounted into three purpose-built zones and the system is powered by JVG-supplied amplifiers and processing.

Anthony is delighted with the results — as are his neighbours! “Our Jbn Sound Ceiling serves its purpose and the sound is now very controlled,” he remarked. “We’ve certainly cut down on complaints and that’s great.

To install a Jbn Sound Ceiling isn’t cheap but when you look at the big picture it’s certainly worth it!” The new Jbn Sound Ceiling enabled Gilligan’s to increase their sound levels by significant amounts while simultaneously reducing complaints from neighbours.

Jbn: 0409 931 704 or sales@jbn.com.au

Merewether Surfhouse: On the Down-low Impact AV provided an audiovisual design and installation for the new function centre at Merewether Surfhouse in Newcastle. The design specifically suits the low ceilings and the high ambient light.

Impact AV liaised with Screen Technics to design new flip-down ceilingmounted screen lifters for 100-inch DNP front projection screens. The Australian-first design is built into the roof with the roofing panels attached to the back of the screens to provide a seamless and customised vision solution.

For the lighting, ETC Source Four Jr. Zooms profile lamps were perfect for the Surfhouse because they have wider lens angles for shorter throws. Martin Smart Macs were suitable because of their fan-less feature using alloy heat sinks to dissipate heat, this reduces the noise levels inside the venue. The Smart Macs also have the wider lens angles for the short throws.

130 metres of Show Technology Pro Shop Tri Colour LED strip lights (30 LEDs/m) were installed in the coffered ceiling section for a coloured roof wash. The LED strips are controlled by low-voltage dmx controllers, allowing colour changes and various light levels. The lighting control for the venue uses the Jands Vista Lighting System.

Impact AV: 1300 633 328 or www.impactav.com.au Jands (ETC): (02) 9582 0909 or info@jands.com.au Show Technology (Martin): www.showtech.com.au

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Townsville Brewery

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Aëon Illumination

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There’s a new star in Townsville. The Banquet Centre Townsville, at the Townsville Brewery, has opened its doors in the CBD to weddings and conferences for the discerning customer. The exotic fabric chandeliers, crafted from wool with crystals by Townsville designer Katelyn Aslett, are an exotic focal point, alongside other highlights like hand carved doors from Thailand.

The deluxe 11 Inch Pizzeria at Melbourne’s Docklands features suave lighting from Satelight. The Aëon Nord and Nord XL pendant lights, from the elegant-but-industrial Aëon Illumination collection, shine on exposed ceiling services, plywood lined walls, and the communal table and bar seating. The lights have a satin black finish, internal silver reflector and black cloth-covered electrical cable.

Katelyn Aslett: kate@katelynaslett.com

Satelight: (03) 9399 5805 or www.satelight.com.au

Encore Performance

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Phasmida

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RTR Productions collaborated with the directors of Encore, a new function wonderland on St Kilda beach, to create flexible and innovative lighting systems. RTR installed 110m of lighting bars in three different adaptable rooms. Each space has an ELC612 XUB DMX scene player. Martin Ether2DMX runs one output to the lighting bar in every room. It is possible to create on-the-fly lighting shows. In addition, Encore features 14 Martin SCX600 scanners.

Christopher Boots turned to science for inspiration for his new range of pendant lighting. The Phasmida pieces (from the Greek word for ‘apparition’) take the form of branch chain amino acids, the building blocks of life.

They can be scaled up or down from their prototyped seven-headed base compound model, and are composed of a bespoke brass and spun copper modular framework, shot blasted with garnet and plated in 24-carat gold. Price: $7000 + GST.

Show Technology: (02) 9748 1122 or www.showtechnology.com.au

Christopher Boots: (03) 9999 6626 or www.christopherboots.com

craft focused

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MOFO

PLANTATION

CUTLER & CO

VUE DE MONDE

Liquid Lines: 26 Cromwell Street, Collingwood, VIC 3066 (03) 9416 4566 info@liquidlines.com.au www.liquidlines.com.au

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SOMETHING SACRED A church, an Institute for Seamen, an art studio… a multi-level entertainment palace.

Bar100 has fun with 100 George St. Story: Joanna Lowry Bar100 100 George St, The Rocks, Sydney (02) 8070 9311 or www.bar100.com.au

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drag queen hosting a trivia night. In a church.

It’s the stuff that Catholic guilt is made of, and precisely what happens on Mondays at Bar100, a drinking haven in Sydney’s The Rocks that doubles as a heritage-listed mariner’s chapel. “It’s what I like to call revved-up trivia,” Jason Hirt, Bar100’s General Manager, says. “It’s a lot of fun.”

There’s a lot more than communion wine on Bar100’s drinks menu, too. Sipping an expertly mixed cocktail — there’s everything from margaritas to ‘Almond Gunpowders’ — feels somewhat sacrilegious when surrounded by stained glass windows and staring the Virgin Mary straight in the eye.

Bar100 is the latest in a long line of 100 George Street tenants. Built in 1856, it’s had various incarnations over the years — church, the Rawson Institute for Seamen and, more recently, an art gallery. “There are a lot of bones in here,” Hirt says. “It goes back to the First Fleet.”

Charif Kazal and his seven brothers acquired the building in 2004. Unsurprisingly, their dream of converting it into a three-storey hospitality venue posed more than a few challenges. “We wanted to put life back into such a historical building, but it took a long time to sell our vision,” Kazal says. “It was definitely a labour of love over a very long period of time.”

Seven years and a cool $13m later, Bar100 opened to the public. Thanks to Woods Bagot, which managed the interior architectural design, the space looks spectacular.

In fact, it doesn’t look that different to how it did more than a century ago. “We wanted something that would age gracefully,” Kazal says. “We wanted to reference the mariner history of the building. We wanted to stay with the timbre, sandstone and steel.”

COLONIAL CHIC Enter Bar100 and you’ll find yourself in a room best described as colonial chic. The sandstone walls, hardwood floors and bespoke chandeliers are gobsmacking in their grandeur. But the focal point of the room is the bar — at 12 metres long, it’s a monolithic form with a brass base.

Furniture is a foil to its surroundings. Dark timber tables come complete with bronze bases, and ring stools com-

plement the curve of arched windows. “Essentially it’s high tables and stools with leather booth seating around the perimeter,” Jonathan Richards from SJB — which specified the furniture — says. “It’s pub furniture of a high calibre. We didn’t want to scream out anything; we didn’t want to detract from what really is an amazing space.”

Adjacent to the main bar is the most ‘church-like’ room in the building. Here you’ll find stained glass windows, art deco lighting and a gabled Tudor-style ceiling. Pride of place in the middle of the room is a long, illuminated stone bench. “It creates the same symmetry you get with an aisle in a church,” Richards says. Either side of it, in lieu of wooden pews, are luxurious leather lounges. “We had to think about the function of the room,” Richards says. “It’s a cocktail lounge so we went for luxurious fabrics on deep comfortable lounges.”

BROTHERS WHERE ART THOU? Upstairs is 8Brothers Brasserie, a Middle Eastern restaurant named after Bar100’s owners, the eight Kazal brothers. There’s an open kitchen, but the feel is dark and moody. Woods Bagot opted for black tiled floors and bare bulb lights. To match, SJB chose shiny black tables and chairs. “We were going for a classic bistro look,” Richards says. “But it had to have a subterranean feel about it.”

The restaurant spills out onto The Terrace, a sunlit deck with views over The Sydney Harbour. “Outside it’s more laid back,” Richards says. “There’s timber, wicker chairs and floral-print cushions.”

There’s also the pot plant-filled Sunroom, a tropicalthemed restaurant annex with tangled fishing nets and vintage maps hanging on the walls. “Again, it’s all about the history of the building,” Hirt says. “It’s referencing that mariner history.”

PRIVATE ELEVATOR, NEW HEIGHTS Finally, on the top level of the venue, is 1909: a super exclusive lounge area, closed to the public and only accessed by a private elevator. This is where Sydney’s elite can mingle, paparazzi free, while reclining on plush ottomans, smoking cigars and marinating in a bottle (or five) of primo plonk.

Nothing jarring about the Bar100 interior design. It co-habits the magnificent space like an old friend. Saying that, it’s the only ‘church’ with an onyx dry bar.

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“What we’ve done with our wine — and it’s a very edited selection — is this idea of The Little Black Book,” Hirt says. “You go, ‘Ok, I want the Henschke 1995,’ and then you sign your name. A few weeks later you might come back and go, ‘Oh geez, Jimmy drank the last of the Henschke.’ That’s the kind of thing we want to develop.”

The décor befits the lounge’s exclusivity. Oriental wallpaper, floor-sweeping velvet curtains and specially commissioned paintings by Australian artist Charles Billich imbue 1909 with an elegant sensuality. “They’re what Charles calls his multimedia paintings,” Christa Billich, Charles’ wife explains.

“He takes an original painting, blows it up and adds to it. They’re quite erotic and surreal.”

That the Kazals approached Charles Billich makes sense — in a previous life 1909 was his studio. Billich tells me, “It’s all about incorporating the history of the building into the venue. Charles always says to me, ‘My old studio is my newest playground’. It’s such a fabulous thing to be able to say.”

ANOTHER CROWN JEWEL? Since opening, Bar100 has been touted as competition to the jewel in the Justin Hemmes/Merivale hospitality crown, Ivy. But the vibe is more relaxed. “From the start, the Kazals wanted it to be a venue that was open to everybody,” Richards says. “They didn’t want to be a fashionable, flashthen-gone venue.”

Sure, the space is stunning, the venue is sprawling and the names drunkenly scrawled in The Little Black Book are just as impressive as those on Ivy’s rooftop pool guest-list. But, as Hirt puts it, “you can show up wearing a t-shirt and boater shoes and the bouncer isn’t going to say anything about it.”

Relaxed dress code aside, Justin Hemmes doesn’t hire a drag queen to host trivia on a Monday night.

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CONTACTS Woods Bagot (Architecture/Interiors): (02) 9249 2500 or www.woodsbagot.com SJB (Furniture Procurement): (02) 9380 9911 or www.sjb.com.au Hub Furniture (Billani Dining Chairs): (02) 9217 0700 or www.hubfurniture.com.au Eco Outdoor (Barwon Wicker Chairs): 1300 131 413 or www.ecooutdoor.com.au Orson & Blake (Leather Lounges & Chairs): (02) 8399 2525 or www.orsonandblake.com.au 1

Map International (Ring Stools & Coffee Tables): (03) 8958 2200 or www.mapinternational.com.au Corporate Culture (Wooden Stools): (02) 9690 0077 or www.corporateculture.com.au Anibou (Outdoor Stools): (02) 9319 0655 or www.anibou.com.au TAG (Martin Audio): (02) 9519 0900 or www.tag.com.au Nightlife (Music Video System): (07) 3858 2550 or www.nightlife.com.au

Monumental: With its monumental sandstone walls, arch windows, columns, marble-work, and press metal ceilings, Bar100’s main space is undoubtedly one of the most awe-inspiring bar rooms in the world. Don’t be shy, though, it’s also one of the friendliest. A Martin Audio Omniline PA contends with the uncompromising acoustics, allowing for DJs and live bands to excite the space without jangling too many nerves.

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SMOOTH OPERATOR Sick of being kicked by politicians and liquor licensing?

Time to be part of the solution.

Matt Mullins is a partner in Sand Hill Road hospitality group

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’m a publican. So, obviously I’ve spent hours and hours listening to people crap on. I’ve heard every bad joke. I’ve heard every sad story. I’ve heard every political theory. And I’ve heard way too many renditions of Khe Sahn. And, naturally, I’ve sat and listened to all the great drunk philosophers of the public bar. I suck-in amateur philosophising passively, like I used to suck-in cigarette smoke.

Despite this, I’m still a publican, not a philosopher. I’m rarely given to long bouts of introspection or existential examination.

Until January 13 this year, that is, when I became a father for the first time, and started thinking very differently about life. In particular, I started thinking differently about my job. Suddenly all those years of passive philosophy came flooding back, my mind filled with black and white images of old guys with grey hair, and before I knew it, Kierkegaard and Nietszche had lodged themselves in my brain and convinced me I’m in the middle of an existential dilemma.

SERIOUS RESPONSIBILITY Sand Hill Road has been a licensee across eight venues, 12 years and two states. And we’ve always taken our obligation to serve alcohol responsibly very seriously.

There are the legal requirements, to which we’ve adhered religiously. But there’s a moral imperative on top of that, which we impose on ourselves.

We hold a great duty of care for those to whom we sell alcohol.

But as a new father, I wonder if I should aim higher still. My daughter will one day become a young adult; in all likelihood she will one day drink alcohol; and whether she does it in my venue, or in yours, I hope to God she’s safe. I hope she understands what alcohol is, the harm it can do, the risks it involves. I hope she grows up in a society with a mature, responsible idea of how to drink alcohol, with venues and venue operators with a mature and responsible idea of how to serve that alcohol. And I can’t help but think I have a responsibility to help create that society.

There are those who believe licensees are part of the problem and therefore won’t be part of the solution. I can understand that. Some licensees are part of the problem. We all know there are rogue operators in our industry, who will do whatever it takes — bend whatever regulation they have to — to make a buck. We’ve always been forthright

about this: those operators who consistently, flagrantly break the rules, for whatever reason, should be shut down. There’s no room for them in this industry.

Now, having said that, the majority of licensees are responsible. And they are uniquely positioned to play a vital role in the development of the liquor industry.

BLAME GAME But there’s a disconnect between public discourse and the outcomes we all seek. We saw it recently in Victoria. It goes like this: we see a spike in violent, ‘alcohol-fuelled’ incidents in the inner city; the media print dramatic front page stories, while radio and TV ratchet-up the drama; the police respond by talking about an irresponsible culture of drinking and serving; talkback callers rant about stupid kids, toothless authorities, and the evils of bars and nightclubs; politicians panic, particularly in the shadow of an election; and they look around for someone to blame, someone to crack down on. The police? No, the police have a strong and powerful voice; they’ll just blame the government. Parents? No way, they’re the electorate — no one ever got re-elected blaming parents for wayward kids. The liquor industry? Absolutely not, they’ve got bigger PR departments than any government ever will, and after all, they’re often generous donors to political party coffers.

So who’s left? Licensees. Perfect. They’re small.

They’re not organised. They don’t have much money. And they’re a very visible, public target — our names and addresses are on a big list.

Sounds paranoid, I know. But I’ve sat chatting with other licensees for years, scratching our heads, agreeing wholeheartedly that licensees had a huge role to play in solving this problem, but wondering why no one ever talked to us about it, they just hit us over the head with a bloody big stick.

Licensing laws were toughened — as they should have been — but toughened to breaking point. Licensing fees were raised — as they should have been — but raised to breaking point. Small licensees were regulated out of business, while large, established, connected venues broke the rules with impunity. But while politicians and the Liquor Licensing Commissioner were busily kicking licensees’ heads, they wasted another few years where we could have been addressing the long-term behavioural problems that are at the centre of this issue.

“even when they impose a short term cost … we must look beyond this year’s profit, and next year’s electoral cycle” WORKING SOLUTIONS Licensed venues are here for the forseeable. And while police and politicians will move on or move up every few years, most licensees I know have been here for a decade or more, and will still be here in 20 or 30 years. We are perfectly positioned to take the long view of this problem. And here’s my take: we can create more profitable venues in the long term, if we take greater responsibility for alcohol consumption in the short term.

We must take RSA seriously. We must refuse to serve intoxicated patrons (not just the ones who can’t talk or can’t stand or who are singing Khe Sahn). We must work with researchers, academics and public health bodies to study the problem together, to gather genuine data, to formulate strategies; we must be prepared to trial and enact those strategies, even when they impose a short term cost; we must be prepared to contribute to and cooperate with community initiatives; and we must look beyond this year’s profit, and next year’s electoral cycle.

The Sydney City Council recently enacted a bold new approach to its night time economy. It sets out to emulate the lucrative and safe night time environments of cities like New York, London and Amsterdam, by providing late night food offerings, encouraging night-time retail shopping, providing portable urinals in peak traffic areas, and enticing tourism onto the streets late at night. This is a 20-year plan — it looks way, way beyond the next electoral cycle. It actively engages with venues, among other stakeholders. And not once does the plan ever mention cracking down on those licensees.

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24 Moons Alumbra The Arthouse Hotel Australian Outback Spectacular The Bank Hotel The Botanical Bungalow 8 Brisbane Hotel (Perth) Club Marconi Discovery Establishment Half Moon Hornsby RSL Ivy Katuk Kudu Lounge Luxe Bar The Mean Fiddler The Met Oxford Art Factory Slip Inn

OH MY CUD! Moo Moo — The Wine Bar & Grill The Port Office Building Stamford Plaza Edward St, Brisbane (07) 3236 4500 or www.moomoorestaurant.com Story: Lucie Robson

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he heritage-listed Port Office building on the river in downtown Brisbane has a stylish new resident. Moo Moo — The Wine Bar and Grill, is a collaboration between Design Clarity and Global Shopfitters. Steven and Autumn Adams brought Moo Moo to the city’s fine dining scene in July 2010 as a newcomer, from years of award-winning success on the Gold Coast. Since then they have even opened a Moo Moo in Fiji.

From the outside, the structure is all columns and old-world elegance. On the inside, Moo Moo’s attention to detail ensures that the look of a runof-the-mill steakhouse is turned on its horned head. Gone are the ubiquitous rough furnishing and ‘wild-west’ kitsch, in favour of Design Clarity’s “luxurious, industrial edge”.

The venue is an indoor/outdoor dining space and a bar (Moobar) complemented with a balcony area. Smaller dining booths are separated from the main arenas by mirror and timber screens.

Neutral tones, dark wood panelling, plants and a variety of custom designed lighting, including pieces from Jeremy Pyles and Tom Dixon, are featured throughout. The cattle theme is manifested in grey-scale supergraphics and grass art pieces.

Luxury does meet industry at the massive marbleclad bar from Silestone, the centrepiece of the Moobar. On the balcony one can slake the hardearned thirst (after a serious steak) on Jak+Jil wire furniture from Tait.

Seen here in a second dining area is a new backlit bottle artwork, above an original fireplace. The original arched windows remain, too. The central banquette is backed by a box hedge, and on the ceiling above this is decorative plaster moulding around a wallpapered inlay. Carpets are from Whitecliffe Imports.

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CONTACTS Design Clarity (02) 9319 0933 or www.designclarity.net Optique Lighting (07) 3386 1700 or www.optique.com.au Mokum Textiles (wallpaper) (07) 3620 4100 or www.mokumtextiles.com Whitecliffe Imports (02) 8595 1111 or www.whitecliffe.com.au Zenith Interiors (Occasional Table): (03) 9693 2600 or www.zenithinteriors.com.au Chaincraft (Chain Curtaining): +64 7 862 7774 or www.chaincraft.com.au

A BRIDGE TOO FAR? What’s a pub exactly? Sand Hill Road has challenged most of our preconceptions, and confirmed the rest.

Story: Mark Davie Photos: Shannon McGrath The Bridge Hotel: 642 Bridge Road, Richmond VIC (03) 9429 5734 or www.thebridgehotel.com.au

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and Hill Road and Techne Architects is the ‘cusstone laneway down the middle was really a return to form. tom shop’ of Melbourne’s pub culture. Taking Not only that, but excavation revealed the remnants of a a solid frame with all the requisite parts, then long-buried layer of bluestone. “Our preference when renotweaking the guts to make the whole engine idle vating is always to work with existing fabric,” said Mullins. more smoothly, stripping off the excess bits and “Not only does this limit the sum total of our environmental pieces that only weigh it down, and carving out new lines and resource footprint, it also allows us to benefit from the that enhance the original shape. innate charm of the original. People spend so much money With The Bridge, in Richmond, they’ve regenerated the idea trying to manufacture character. They rip an old place down, of a pub without throwing out the core parts that let a loand then spend a fortune making new things feel old. We had cal call a pub their ‘local’. Important, necessary bits, like a real charm, real character. We just had to shine a light on it.” public bar, draught on tap, and a parma and burger on the CROSSING THAT BRIDGE menu. Bits that you can’t rightly cast off and still honestly “The Bridge was such a bland pub,” said Northrop. “It really call yourself a local pub. had nothing going for it. No external space and it felt like it The bits that are up for grabs range from architecture and didn’t have any redeeming qualities. The first thought was interior design, all the way down to what starters there are just to gut it: knock the whole thing down, apart from the on the menu, which is quite a lot when you think about it. external shell and rethink it internally. We went a certain That aside, Techne Architects’ Justin Northrop and Sand way down that path and at the first Hill Road’s idea for The Bridge still costing stage that turned out to be seemed kooky, despite the potential “People spend so prohibitive. So the next step was how free rein: Split it down the middle much of this can we keep, how much with a cobblestone laneway and line much money trying to building can we re-use and still it with different ‘tenancies’. manufacture character. ofgetthe this radical transformation?

It’s a very Melbourne idea, almost “It also needed to have a sense of kitsch in its concept. The city of We had real charm, open-air and atmosphere. The ground laneway bars now needs a pub with real character. We just level is built down to the boundary on a laneway in it? A bridge too far perhaps? Well, not really, as it turns out. had to shine a light on it.” all sides but the top level is built as a horseshoe. There was this strip in INSIDE OUT THINKING the middle of the building that was “We’d learnt over the years that the part of the venue that only one storey and felt like an easy place to cut a hole in the backs onto, or opens onto a beer garden, will always be a building. So the laneway was really a pragmatic response to desirable space,” said Matt Mullins, one quarter of Sand Hill keeping as much of the shell as we could and creating some Road. “Gardens are always popular, which makes the area external space.” that looks onto the garden popular too. You also have the As soon as the decision was made to cut a hole down the midadded benefit of bringing natural light into the area, and dle of the building, it was liberating. The hard decision had bringing in views of plants and vegetation, which punters been made — it was then time to take this idea of a laneway always find inspiring. At The Bridge, every single room, evto its furthest extent. Which begs the question, what constiery single bar, every single seat is within a few metres of the tutes a laneway? laneway. Every seat has a view of the garden. And every seat “In simple terms, a lane is a thoroughfare,” explained can feel the fresh air and the sunlight.”

Northrop. “It’s got traffic and it’s got buildings that face The concept of a laneway in the middle of a pub isn’t actueach other. They’re the primary defining elements. It’s also ally so far removed from original pub designs. Some were thought of as a relatively narrow space, and the buildings are built in a classic U-shape around interior, cobblestone-lined active in the sense that they’ve got windows and doors and courtyards, and The Bridge, built 100 years ago, happened people pass between them. So that’s easy. to follow that traditional Victorian form. So Northrop’s idea “The next bit was to decide whether it was to be a Melbourne of ripping out the guts of the pub and laying a 50m cobblelane or a more generic idea of a lane. Are we trying to be auWish your venue had the eclectic carry-on of a bustling lane-way? Then build your own, of course! The Bridge Hotel’s cobblestone ‘right of way’ is entirely artificial, and provides myriad opportunities for people watching, along with the chance to establish a variety of ‘tenancies’ — all in the one pub.

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thentic or is it a Disney pastiche? Because everyone was nervous about ending up with something that would feel akin to an Irish-themed pub.

“So at one level you talk about all of the things that has to make a lane interesting — its varied materials and the quality of view into and out of a place, the fact that signage changes — and then you talk about what those tenancies and individual businesses might be.”

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THE BUSINESS OF LANEWAYS What they ended up with was an eclectic mix that complements the hospitality focus — there are no struggling cobblers on this lane. The public bar at the entrance is kitted out with abandoned apparatus from the old Channel 9 studios. The sort of woodpanelled bar newshounds might sidle up to, prop themselves in a corner booth and strain to overhear juicy conversation. There’s an indoor ‘Wintergarden’ to the other side of the entrance, with four large round booths and plenty of greenery. There’s also a more typical modern bistro dining room. It’s luxe entry fodder, full of design the discerning punter has come to expect. There are custom brass light fittings, deep velvet armchairs and lounges, a vintage butterfly collection and taxidermy pheasants and peacocks housed in a doomed, yet colourful aviary. But that’s just the beginning.

On the other side of the laneway there’s a Havana bar, with vintage shutters and a secret flap concealing mirror balls. Black and white check flooring and old rum cases complete the image. Next door to that is an American diner, with diamond stud upholstery and a collection of ’60s prints from Tretchikoff, Vincent and Pearson. Though not roomy enough to house rollerskating waitresses, and those frustrating tabletop jukebox selectors that never work — thank goodness.

Down the end of the laneway is a caged off loading bay, refashioned into a private dining room. 10 guests can sit in luxury around a 2.5m recycled timber tabletop lit by a 1950s Italian-made Murano chandelier.

Upstairs there is a photography studio, with a makeup table and mirror rimmed with lightbulbs.

It’s actually fully functional, with studio lights and a retractable backdrop. The last remaining tenancy is residential. It’s an apartment modelled off what Keith Richards’ pad would look like if he still had the money, but didn’t quite make it. Instead he’d utilised a band’s worth of music gear as interior design elements — drums with coated skins as ambient lighting, and backlit cymbals on the walls, road case benches, tapestries, gilt mirrors, bronze coffee tables and a clawfoot bathtub just waiting to be packed with ice, beer and a model.

According to Northrop, some of the ideas that didn’t make it were a florist, a little cutout window for a souvlaki vendor, a tiki bar, and a one-machine Laundromat. Northrop: “Once we had the long list, it became part of a broader discussion that was focusing

more on how we can present what the pub needs to have in alignment with what the concepts can be.

For instance, the drink service: the public bar was necessary along with all its associated feel, then the back bar had to be a bit more of a club lounge, and the furthest bar (the diner) was relevant to a business model where you can eat at the bar and order a drink at the same time.”

WAVE OF CHANGE As you can see, the process wasn’t always clear-cut.

When you declare open season on small bar ideas, you can imagine the tidal wave of possibilities that poured forth from Sand Hill Road. Originally the two upstairs lofts were designated as function rooms.

Keith Richards in all his denim and black leather would stay, but an old collector prefaced the photography studio. “Maybe an aunty who painted everything white and putting beautiful things in it,” said Northrop. “It was going to be a good collection of furniture and interesting pieces.”

The idea was that they would hold more to the apartment ideal, a systematic collection of dining room table, single lounge setting, bathroom and a bar that was more like a kitchen. But Sand Hill Road is always learning a thing or two. So when the middle level of the reopened Richmond Club Hotel (also owned by Sand Hill Road) started going off, it changed the way they envisaged the day-to-day running of The Bridge upstairs. Furnishings changed and the bars were souped up to serve a bit quicker.

And this isn’t finished. For instance, the diner will change. The cutting V-shaped angles of the bar would work great for the typical traffic of a diner, where people grab a meal and a terrible filter coffee, and park themselves for a while. But The Bridge has turned out to be a lot busier than first expected, and the angles means punted can’t figure out how to wedge and disengage themselves from the bar to get quick service. The theme will stay, but the service will have to adjust.

LOCAL NOOK Despite all the glitz and glamour, there’s still a sense of belonging at The Bridge. Which is more important for a local than a parma, and Carlton on tap.

Northrop explains: “It’s a local’s pub in the sense that it is still a down-to-earth offering, it’s not too cool for school and it was never supposed to be too glamorous. Local pubs need to work at the start of the evening on a quiet night and not feel like it’s just waiting for the crowd to bring it to life. So it works on that level. Local pubs need to have a layer of character that looks like it’s built over time. You’ve got to be able to see the life of the people that use it. I think that just by giving it the density of ornament you’re halfway there, and there’s still scope for that to evolve.

“We worked really hard to give every space a bit of a

special spot, a bit of a place where you feel like you’ve got the best vantage point. And because of its makeup, some of the spaces are tiny. We’ve got plenty of predecessors in Melbourne that have been good at that in the past and it’s something that we’ve consciously worked at to achieve.”

And this is where the laneway really comes into its own. Because without it, all these individual tenancies would be exactly that — individual. Separated from each other by walls and floors. The beauty of the laneway is it keeps everyone connected, from any one side you can see top to bottom action in the other. It means that there are nooks everywhere, you can have a complete sense of voyeurism and be close enough to almost touch someone across the divide.

The laneway itself has a cobblestone lining. But it also houses chairs and tables, is rimmed by balconies, has a Corona billboard down one end, chosen for its classic summertime vintage look, is covered in Melbourne graffiti art, and signage, and has a magnificent chimney stack that connects the two levels and stretches up to the sky. And it’s full of the original character of the building. You can see it everywhere; original floors, lintels, stone and wood, either left as is or refurbished to taste. The bones are there, and Northrop’s layers of ornament completes the picture.

LESS PRECISE, MORE HEART To stop these layers from feeling like they’re straight off the drawing board, there was a certain freewheeling nature to the build. Northrop: “It was less precise. There are some jobs where if the tiles are out of line, it’s a disaster. This one was a more collaborative approach. Unless we’re on miracle budgets, we can’t physically spend all that time sourcing all of that stuff. So Matt got very involved with finding second-hand materials and stuff like that. It’s not an end result that can actually be achieved by all operators.

“It’s in part the long-term relationship. We’ve got a design communication that we understand properly between each other and that takes some time to develop. It’s in part the fact that one of the partners [Matt] is dedicated to building. Matt bought a van, that was his job, and he spent all his time onsite. It’s often a bad thing having a client onsite all the time because it drives the crew bananas and puts the contract conditions out the window, but in this instance it works well.”

It did work well, and it couldn’t have been achieved without a crew like Visual Builders. When venue made a site visit, still a couple of months out from D-day, the foreman was consulting with Matt on how he wanted to reuse some old timber they’d salvaged from the demolition. A quick conversation later, and it was already going up on the walls. Hundreds of these conversations have been knitted into the fabric of The Bridge, taking a century old dame and putting her true character back on display — and revealing the essence of the pub.

Sand HIll Road, Techne Architects and Visual Builders combined to make the Bridge Hotel ‘the coolest place in town’, and doubtlessly plenty of imitators will folllow.

CONTACTS Techne Architects (03) 9600 0222 or info@techne.com.au Visual Builders: (03) 9533 5860 or www.visualbuilders.com.au

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SMALL CLUB BIG STYLE Stage One of Campsie RSL’s major upgrade gets thumbs up from old and new members alike.

Story: Julia Langham Campsie RSL 25 Anglo Road, Campsie NSW (02) 9784 0200 or www.campsiersl.com.au

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hat you’re looking at is Stage One of a $5m overhaul of Campsie RSL, in Sydney’s south west. CEO, Craig Love, and the six-member board, commenced the five-stage, 10-year refurbishment in May 2011. Following six months of construction, the completion of the makeover included a new entry and foyer, open staircase, outdoor gaming area, remembrance lounge, new amenities and a complete demolition and re-build of the first floor. This feature space now boasts a new auditorium, bistro and servery, bar and lounge areas, climate controlled outdoor terrace and the state-of-the-art audiovisual systems you would expect from a club with an eye to the future.

OPENING THE UNDERUTILISED Prior to the renovation the club’s upstairs was in ‘original’ condition; not touched since the club opened on the current site in 1969 — ‘underutilised’ would be an understatement.

It included a full-spec commercial kitchen that was only used on a handful of occasions. Downstairs was a very different story: “The downstairs space (now a TAB and gaming area) was choc-a-block and there was just so much potential with the existing building to open it up, create a greater variety of facilities for our members and to update the décor, all without increasing the footprint,” Craig Love observed.

The club appointed building contractors, Boden Projects, to work with an architect on the design and construction of the project. Director, Bruce Bouchard, recommended Ania Bergstrom (Bergstrom Architects) to devise a five-stage plan. The firm, known largely for its hospitality architecture, had worked with Boden Projects on the outdoor gaming renovation at Dee Why RSL in 2010 and Bruce believed they could weave similar magic at Campsie.

However, he admitted that meeting the many varied and conflicting requirements of the brief was quite a challenge: “The first hurdle was the initial reconfiguration and rebuilding of the entrance and foyer,” he explained.

“We had to holistically change the entry sequence which now has an automatic sliding glass airlock arrangement that complies with egress laws. In completing the new foyer section we had to remove a large load bearing column at the entry which required footing assessment, strengthening and new structural underpinning which allowed the back of the foyer to be demolished, revealing the feature open staircase to the upper level.

“Upstairs, we needed to remove some of the height in the ceiling to create a more intimate feeling and reduce that ‘barn-like’ feel of a large space.

“The lounge area outside the bistro can also be closed off to create a private room and we installed banquette seating along the large full height windows. The space is now far more versatile than the ageing cavern it once was.”

CHILLED OUT AUDITORIUM Ania Bergstrom said that the biggest challenges in the reconfiguring of the auditorium were in fulfilling the need for the space to be multi-functional.

“The key to our approach was to make this auditorium into something more than a large presentation space. The result is a space that appears as a sophisticated chillout area but with the technical functionality of an auditorium,” she said.

As well as free evening entertainment, the space is now used for regular raffles, bingo, board meetings and casual meals.

The feature lighting, possibly more at home in at upmarket nightclub than your neighbourhood RSL, also elevates this new look club into a glamorous league of its own.

Bergstrom chose three statement gold leaf Italian pendant lights to hover over the dancefloor, delicate glass shades in the dining room and large round black and gold frilled shades in the boardroom lounge. Furthermore, finishes such as glossy black tiling, gold pressed-metal, timber panels and the eye-catching timber cut-out murals at the foyer featuring jade and bamboo, are all Asian influenced with the colours symbolising luck.

The oriental theme, which Ania chose to loosely tie in with Campsie’s vibrant Chinese and Korean cultures, is underpinned throughout by the bold, leafy design in the customdesigned commercial carpet.

The overall design has rejoiced in combining old with new (the remembrance lounge features two 40s-look club lounges with Scandinavian-inspired back-to-back armchairs), soft with hard, and even hard finishes that mimic soft, organic furnishings, such as the tiles in the bistro servery that resemble a buttery chesterfield sofa and a porcelain wall finish that evokes a luminous windswept sand dune.

The mix of finishes, textures and colours is large and seemingly contradictory, but as a whole it works pleasingly well.

Craig said throughout the process it was important to maintain the atmosphere of the club and not create something with which the regulars weren’t comfortable.

“We have members of 40 and 50 years’ standing, we have tradition to uphold and lots of new recruits. It’s important we don’t alienate anyone with the end result and I think we’ve managed to raise the bar and achieve something that everyone is happy with,” he said.

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CONTACTS Boden Projects (Builder): (02) 9554 7967 or www.boden.com.au Bergstrom Architects (Architect/Interior Design): (02) 8920 1499 or www.bergstromarchitects.com.au 1

Brintons (Custom Carpet): (03) 5226 3200 or brintons.net Hub Furniture (Catellani & Smith Feature Pendants): (02) 9217 0702 or www.hubfurniture.com.au Yellow Goat (Frills Pendant): (07) 5532 8659 or www.yellowgoat.com.au Saltec Group (Audiovisuals): (02) 9707 2070 or www.saltec.com.au

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Cafe Culture (Lounge Tub Chairs): (02) 9698 3802 or www.cafeculture.com.au Hughes Commercial Furniture (Coffee Tables): 1800 242 479 BCI Furniture (Function/Bistro Chairs): (03) 9707 4433

MONKEY BUSINESS Chatswood Monkey Bar: 53 Orchard Rd, Chatswood NSW (02) 9413 1755 or www.chatswoodmonkeybar.com.au Story: Sophie Gebhardt

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CONTACTS: Joshua Bacon Architecture: (02) 9550 2043 or info@joshuabacon.com.au Pelathon Management Group (Hospitality Solutions): (02) 9033 8679 or www.pelathon.com Everleigh Building Solutions: 0410 595 485 or www.eveleighbuilding.com.au Feltex Carpets: 1300 130 239 or www.feltex.com Classic Tiles: (02) 9560 6333 or www.classictiles.net.au Warwick Fabrics: (02) 9518 8688 or www.warwick.com.au

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he Monkey Bar renovation has been a huge success. And one suspects that customer comfort is at the heart of it. Joshua Bacon Design took on the makeover, with a superquick turnaround required by the client — Pelathon Management Group. On walking into the bar for the first time, Joshua and his team were immediately struck by an overwhelming feeling of being “in the foyer of a dated hotel, with fake veneer panelled surfaces, shiny polished concrete flooring and black and chrome furniture. There was no inviting feature to give character to the space.”

Encouraged by Pelathon to think outside the square, the designers’ goal was to create a variety of Asianthemed warm spaces with an alternative edge. Each area was treated individually but they hold together through the use of a common theme, as though one is “walking down a back street of Hanoi”.

The layout was changed to accommodate a large upstairs TAB lounge, including a sizeable gaming area,

a smoking section and a quirky bar and dining experience. The upstairs area features lush carpet, Asian style lighting and screens, pressed metal panels of fish scales that tie in with the aquarium. The TAB itself re-uses existing materials and furniture or, as Joshua describes it, “almost a handyman’s approach to his workshed”. Few TABs can boast such an attention to detail, and the fact that Monkey Bar’s gaming area and lounge is now one of the busiest in the area is testament to the appeal of the design.

The main bar was approached from a more whimsical angle. The veneer walls and bar were re-clad in recycled timbers, with art deco tiles and corrugated sheeting from the builder’s family farm adding to the layering of cultural references. To give the bar an inner urban edge, Joshua incorporated booth seating, colanders for lightshades, Chinese screens, random fabrics for the upholstery, snakeskin tiles and a smattering of 1950s radios. A final touch is the murals and stencils of fighting roosters, water

lilies, naked fairies and rats, all painted by Joshua’s in-house designers.

Joshua Bacon Design were encouraged to re-use or reinvent fixtures as much as possible, including the ceiling, the polished concrete floor, and the bar and back of bar equipment. This mix of original and replica fixtures and furniture, integrated with modern Asian-inspired colours and materials, creates a warm variety of spaces, each with their distinctive feel. “The client pushed us to think beyond the status quo and wanted us to capture an atmospheric bar feel that welcomed the patron and encouraged them to stay, eat, drink and play. The bar’s huge success is definitely due to a combination of all those involved in the renovation, from the owners to management to architect to builder to tradie to supplier. It was a very hands-on experience, as everybody involved had some input, which has created a busy and interesting suburban bar and dining experience.”

17 Melrose St, Sandringham, VIC 3191 Ph 03 9533 5860 admin@visualbuilders.com.au www.visualbuilders.com.au

The Bridge Hotel

Richmond Club Hotel

Pillar of Salt

Prahran Hotel

Tell Us Your Vision “Bloody great work at The Bridge Hotel. It’s awesome!

Have said it before but you blokes are the best in the business” — Andy Mullins

THE SOUND OF INSPIRATION

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TARTANED UP Robert Burns Hotel: 376 Smith Street, Collingwood VIC (03) 9417 2233 or www.robertburnshotel.com.au Story: Christopher Holder

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panish restaurant pioneer, Urbano Gutierrez, took over the Robert Burns Hotel in the late ’70s. The Robby, as it’s affectionately known, is in deepest, darkest Collingwood and in those days it wasn’t the funky melting pot it is today. Wisely, Urbano didn’t start pushing his stuffed calamari across the bar until 1982. Since then the Scottish pub with the Spanish heart has been serving authentic Iberian chow, and in more recent times Head Chef Ivan Saiz has taken over the reins.

The Robby joined the Colonial Leisure Group portfolio when CLG took over the Cornerstone group of pubs. The pub had slowly been run down to the point where it was, frankly, an embarrassment.

Now, after a nine-month renovation the Robby returns. Fans will be relieved to learn that it’s more of the same — only better. The low headroom, folksy interior has been retained with its stucco and herringbone floors, but a courtyard has been added along with a new kitchen. This isn’t a band-aid measure, the Robby has been totally gutted and refurbished… only, with the aim of not looking like it.

As Grady Patching, CLG’s Victorian Manager, puts it: “People in this area don’t want bright, brand new, shiny venues. You can’t take what we did at the Half Moon in Brighton and put it into the Collingwood area.”

What CLG could do was lay on a Spanish-only wine list, put Estrella Damm beer on tap, and allow Ivan

to express himself with some of the city’s most authentic tapas and traditional Spanish cuisine going. And the locals love it.

Loada Bull: A casualty of a Spanish bullfight, the Robby mascot looks right at home by the entrance to the restaurant.

SAY HOLA TO GREAT SOUND Digital Living continues its CLG association, installing a modern sound system into the Robby.

Digital Living’s Matt Price describes the setup as ‘unobtrusively versatile’. The system can effortlessly lift in prime pub times, while maintains a conversational balance in the restaurant area, all without dotting dozens of speakers around the venue.

An Allen & Heath IDR8 provides the zoning and processing smarts, and helps to easily accommodate live music and DJs via preset configurations.

Low profile QSC AD-S52 surfacemount speakers are supplemented by concealed QSC subwoofers, resulting in a full sound without hotspots — a fair effort given the low ceilings.

An Allen & Heath multi-room wall controller allows for the oversight of the eight zones independently.

GREAT SCOTS The Robbie is an oddity. As odd as a bullfight in Glasgow, or a tartan shawl. Its decor and atmosphere is an anachronism — hard to place and harder to describe. But to CLG’s credit, it has recognised that and embraced it. The locals want the Robby to stay as the Robby and, thank goodness, that’s exactly what they’ve got.

CONTACTS Digital Living: 1300 336 257 or www.digitalliving.com.au TAG (QSC, Allen & Heath): (02) 9519 0900 or www.tag.com.au Techne Architects (03) 9600 0222 or info@techne.com.au Nightlife (Music Video System): (07) 3858 2550 or www.nightlife.com.au

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CALL COLLECT

The Collection Bar 328 Bridge Rd, Richmond VIC (03) 9429 8333 or www.thecollectionbar.com.au

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INDIGO SPEAKERS The Indigo Series from Void Acoustics combines futuristic looks with esoteric audio performance. The Indigo 6 is compact, efficient and oozes style. Interior designers love the look while your punters will love the sound. Indigo comes in an install-friendly package with endless possibilities of enclosure colour and texture to make what we believe is the only choice for those seeking perfection.

CONTACTS Pulse Audio Visual: (03) 9471 3436 or info@pulseav.com.au Rosso: (03) 9005 6912 or coffee@rosso.com.au Schots Home Emporium: (03) 9482 6400 or www.schots.com.au

Audio Logistics: 1300 859 341 or info@audiologistics.com.au

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lightning fast refurbishment and a keen eye for historical detail has seen The Collection Bar re-emerge with a look and feel that combines the old and the new. Situated on the corner of what is one of Bridge Road’s oldest buildings, the bar’s transformation is in line with the change occurring right along the street, where the once dominant fashion outlets are making way for shops and venues tailored to a more local clientele.

Open for 10 years, Paul Fitzsimmons and Owen Westman are The Collection’s third owners, taking over the bar with the full intention of revamping an interior that had served its time. Working largely from their own ideas, with only a draftsperson assisting, Paul and Owen painstakingly cut the plaster off the walls, removed walls and sourced and installed the fitout, in the process revealing the heritage charm of the building.

The French colonial interiors of bars in New Orleans were the overarching inspiration behind the design, which sits well with the Victoriana of the heritage-listed exterior. And, having opened only two weeks prior

to writing, The Collection has that heady combination of a fresh interior that already feels lived in, testament to the thoughtfulness behind the design and the experience of the new owners.

“We always knew what we wanted,” says Paul. “But as we were pulling it apart, and revealed the brick walls behind the plaster, we thought ‘ah, it’s really starting to have that feel’.” And ‘that feel’ — the substance and quality of the late 19th century — is enhanced by the highly polished wooden bar with its wallpapered frontage, the sparkling array of drinks and glasses behind the bar, the ‘period’ light fittings, the quaint red coffee machine (from local coffee makers, Rosso) and the luxuriously upholstered stools. The heavy Tasmanian Oak dining table, from Schots Home Emporium, adds to the sense of solidity of the space and to the richness of the textures. All in all, this stylistic return to a period when quality came before quantity is a refreshing change from the ultra-modern that has dominated interiors for such a long time.

Key to the success of any bar is getting the music right

— you don’t want to overwhelm the punters but at the same time, depending on the occasion, you want the ability to pump it up a bit. To provide this flexibility without the bulk, Pulse Audio Visual, which installed The Collection’s sound system, chose the Void Acoustics ‘Indigo 6’ speakers (distributed by Audio Logistics). These small, sleek speakers are barely noticeable mounted on the wall at each end of Collection Bar, yet they provide enough sound to fill the space without swamping it. “We’re really happy with them,” says Paul. “Adam, from Audio Logistics, was very involved in the process and the whole sound system works really well.” More than anything, the speakers don’t interrupt or clash with The Collection’s aura of classy but comfortable vintage style. And it’s not surprising the regulars are returning to their watering hole with enthusiasm. As Paul remarks, “It’s only two weeks since we opened, but we’ve been really busy.

Last night we were packed, which, for a Wednesday night, is a great sign.”

SMALL BAR CZAR Sip on a vermouth, suck on an anchovy, pull up a custom-made pew and enter the small bar world of the inimitable Vernon Chalker.

Story: Vernon Chalker Interview: Sophie Gebhardt

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s a businessman, opening and running small bars is firstly about making money — generating a good income. But what’s more important is that I enjoy coming into work every day. All my venues offer a different experience and I love that, and I love interacting with the different people working at each bar. The passion, for me, is really about providing customer experience and ensuring it is consistent — this reflects on me and my reputation, so that’s what I concentrate on.

While the new laws and compliance issues have made it tougher for small bars than when I opened Gin Palace in 1997, I don’t think that should daunt too many people. The opportunity to own your own bar still exists and that’s a tremendous small business opportunity. And it adds so much personality to the city. We have all these small venues that have a terrific personality, and that makes the whole scene very exciting.

When you’re opening a small bar in Melbourne you can really minimise the expense of setup by using second-hand furniture and creating a certain kind of look, but you have to have a bar that is functional and serves the punters, otherwise you lose the sales.

So you have to spend money on the things that are crucial and expensive, like the back of house. That was my experience when we first opened Gin Palace: we spent money on the things we had to and we bought second-hand furniture. The idea was that it would always feel a bit special but not too new and precious.

Naturally, the original Gin Palace furniture has worn out and we’ve replaced items. So now, rather than spend $100 on a chair we’ll spend $700, because we know it will last and we aren’t constantly replacing it. These sorts of things are just part of the learning experience. It’s now got to the point that with my latest bar, Bar Ampere, I’ve probably spent more money per square metre than ever before. That’s because I wanted to fulfill a vision and I didn’t want to feel that I was restricted by cost. I can afford to do that now.

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WHO IS VERNON CHALKER? Melbourne’s ‘Small Bar Czar’? Well, yes, but the man would blanche at the term. There’s nothing overlording about Vernon Chalker. He’s a big advocate of the small bar culture in Melbourne, and thrives on competition.

Vernon has w orked in hospitality since the age of 18, moving up through the ranks and a variety of roles until opening the café at The Malthouse Theatre in 1982. In 1997 he opened Gin Palace, tapping into Melbourne history with the name and into the glamour of New York nightlife with the style and service. The bar’s popularity continues to grow, attaining an almost legendary status amongst locals and visitors alike.

With the opening of Madame Brussels in 2006, Vernon again looked into Melbourne’s history, the name referring to an infamous madam and remarkable businesswoman of the late 1800s.

Fast on the heels of Madame Brussels came Collins Quarter, opening in 2007. Its range of offerings, from pub to courtyard to ‘razzle-dazzle’ bar, can cater to up to 320 people at a time, drawing on a mixed clientele right across the day and late into the night.

And then there were four. In late 2011, Bar Ampère opened its doors, and the first street frontage of any of Vernon’s bars. And, like all Vernon’s bars, Ampère comes with a dash of history, as it is situated on top of the Russell Place substation and its 60 plus years of electrical gadgetry.

SMALL BAR, BIG BUSINESS At the point I became involved in multiple businesses, I needed to concentrate on working out the administrative structure — that was crucial.

There are so many things that small bars have to comply with now in terms of safety and staff, and meeting all the different regulations from the government, the police, etc, and it’s hard to adhere to all of them. So I have an operations manager and a group manager who look after all the compliance and HR matters.

As an owner, you need to have a stable hand in all the managerial and operational issues, which just comes with time, maturity and experience. My job has really tipped towards working with the managers and overseeing the management of the teams, so the managers understand the vision and what we are trying to achieve.

And I still love the small bar feel.

If I found the right venue I might consider doing something on a larger scale. But the only thing that’s really appealing about a larger venue is bigger profits, because you lose that small bar vibe. And, in a big venue, it’s harder to attract and keep loyal employees. Saying all that, you never know what will crop up — if it was a joint venture with someone with large venue experience and maintained solid, quality bar service… I’d consider it.

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GOT A REAL JOB It’s good to be able to survive in this industry and, certainly, the talent pool is greater and more committed than ever before. I’ve noticed now that there are a lot more people taking the profession very seriously and they’re training themselves to be better bartenders; they do management courses; they treat it as a career. When I first started out, hospitality wasn’t seen as a desirable career … it was what you did while you studied something else.

CONTACTS Bar Ampère: 16 Russell Place, Melbourne (03) 9663 7557 or www.barampere.com Madame Brussels: Level 3, 59-63 Bourke Street, Melbourne (03) 9662 2775 or www.madamebrussels.com Collins Quarter: 86A Collins Street, Melbourne (03) 9650 8500 or www.collinsquarter.com Gin Palace: 10 Russell Place, Melbourne (03) 9654 0533 or www.ginpalace.com.au BG Architects: (03) 9525 3390 or www.bgarch.com.au Lauren Bonkoski (Graphic Design): 0413 750 685 Ficus Construction: www.ficusconstructions.com.au Sean Lofts (Design + Project Management): 0405 246 996 RTR Productions (AV) www.rtrproductions.com.au

FULLY AMPED: BAR AMPERE Vernon Chalker: There’s now plenty of competition in the small bar market, so I figured that I need a story to tell for my new venue — something that would set it apart. I needed a strong concept from the onset. So, before we began the design, the architects and I contacted Citipower and took a tour of the substation three floors under the site. There was a wealth of old meters down there, like the one we’ve placed on the wall in the bar, and then we thought, ‘Ah! Ampère is French …’, which tied in with both our ideas for the design of the bar and outdoor area, and with the substation underneath us.

We did some research and discovered that André-Marie Ampère’s discovery of electromagnetism is regarded as the second most important

discovery after Newton’s work on gravity. He was a great French intellect and it’s from him we derive the ‘Amp’ — hence the bar name.

And the name sat well with the early 20th century machine-age aesthetic that we were leaning towards. It also references the Futurists and the Futurist manifesto, which connects to the food we offer; how we serve the food; and the design of the menu. Throughout the bar and in terms of what we serve the food and drinks on, it’s all glass and stainless steel. In the drawers in the tables we have splayds for eating, which were invented in the 1940s and are still used today. The background music also refers to the machine age, with a mixture of ’70s and ’80s electro-pop.

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CHILL WINS Chill On Ice Lounge & Ski Lodge: Southgate Complex, 3 Southgate Ave, Southbank 3006 1300 423 227 or www.chillon.com.au Story: Sophie Gebhardt

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CONTACTS Donohoe Ice: (03) 9335 4994 or www.donohoeice.com.au Down Under Ice Designs: (03) 5258 4833 or www.icedesigns.com.au Agnews Fireplaces: (03) 9426 2900 or www.agnews.com.au Hobbler Stone: (03) 5248 6988 or www.hobblerstone.com.au

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obby Stephens, founder and director of Chill On Pty Ltd, came up with the concept of an ice bar for Melbourne after visiting the seminal Minus5° Bar in New Zealand with his daughter. She so loved the experience that Bobby thought, why not create something similar in Melbourne? And so he did.

On Russell Street since 2006, Chill On has now relocated to Southbank and added the Ski Lodge with dining options in the process. Since opening in mid-2011, business at the Southbank location has been growing steadily, drawing on both the Southbank tourist trade and a Melbourne public keen on distinct drinking and dining experiences. And the –10° atmosphere of the Ice Lounge with its 50 tonnes of sculpted ice is without a doubt distinctive.

On entering the Ice Lounge patrons are provided with custom-designed cold weather gear that includes fulllength ‘snow’ capes (sourced from Amsterdam’s Ice

Big Picture People: www.bigpicturepeople.com.au

Bar), sheepskin boots and gloves. Once kitted out in the atrium, patrons enter a winter wonderland, with everything from the glasses to the chairs constructed from ice. And to add even more to the magical experience, Chill On features themed exhibitions of ice sculptures created by local artists Rohan Donohoe of Donohoe Ice and Glen Smith of Down Under Ice Designs.

Rohan came up with the first theme for the new location, ‘Deep Sea Creatures’, which includes King Neptune’s throne and a 3m-high shark that patrons can climb inside for photo opportunities. Each sculpture can take up to 40 hours to construct, indicating the remarkable effort and attention to detail that has gone into creating the Ice Lounge. With the theme changing every few months, Chill On is also a great destination for kids, who are catered for until 7pm every day, including fruity ice drinks, kid-sized gear and the opportunity to host a unique birthday party surrounded by ice. You can imagine that a visit to Chill On might rate a

mention in ‘Show & Tell’ on a Monday morning…

Nicole Smith, CEO of Chill On, speaks enthusiastically about the addition of the Ski Lodge restaurant to the new location. Designed by Bobby Stephens, the Ski Lodge has all the welcoming warmth of a real ski lodge, with a decidedly Nordic look and feel in the use of richly textured wood panelling and stone fireplaces. Nicole says the menu is ‘Alpine-inspired with an Australian twist, with all the meals designed to be warming’ and, while popular in summer for obvious reasons, Chill On seems to offer a perfect winter destination. The Ice Lounge gives us a peek at the magic of the frozen winters of the Northern Hemisphere without the inconvenience of actually living surrounded by ice. And, once we’ve had our fill of ice, the Ski Lodge beckons with the lure of Polish dumplings or a steak pie and mash with a hot chocolate or whisky in front of the fire.

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MASTER PUBTICIAN

Story: Mark Davie Photos (The Prince): Earl Carter

Julian Gerner and his Melbourne Pub Group built on the Van Haandel’s modern hotel legacy and circled the bay with iconic venues. Now Gerner has been handed the keys to Melbourne hospitality royalty — The Prince of Wales — by the Van Haandel’s, cementing his reputation as Melbourne’s pub maestro.

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ulian Gerner’s black book only has a few entries; all of them, drop-dead beauties.

There’s the ‘down-to-earth Southerner from good stock’, the ‘middle child’, and the ‘dirty local’ he stripped right down. The latest he’s crossed off the list is the original sun-soaked slice of Melbourne royalty that drew him into the game in the first place. He’s had them all — the Albert Park Hotel, Middle Park Hotel, the Newmarket Hotel, and his latest prize, The Prince of Wales.

When Victorian publicans grumble about that upstart who raised the bar again, they’re talking about Gerner, his business partner, Tom, and their Melbourne Pub Group. The team have taken iconiclooking hotels and transformed them into truly iconic hospitality destinations that perfectly suit their well-to-do enclaves. It’s a model that originated in Melbourne many years ago; right in the place I’m interviewing Gerner, The Prince of Wales in St Kilda.

THE HAAND–OVER The Prince of Wales is the birthplace of Melbourne’s modern high-end gastro hotel. Before the Van Haandel brothers split, they built their reputation on the top-to-bottom model you still find at the legendary St Kilda venue. It’s a worlds-collide situation: the public bar is still the same old drinking hole spilling onto Fitzroy Street, the Prince Band Room endures as a stopover for mid-level touring acts, while The Prince proper still holds true to its origins as a hotel with first-rate boutique accommodation, and spa.

And Circa at The Prince is that combination of fine a la carte dining, in a place you don’t feel guilty just having a drink. It’s about being everything to every local, without being shy on class where it counts.

It’s interesting then to find Gerner, the modern day ‘descendant’ of the Van Haandels, back where it all started. And that black book? It’s his list of iconic hotels he’d one day like to buy. It’s not extensive, it’s only as long as he wants it to be, maybe another four or five. And every single one he’s had, has at one time been on the list. Which begs the question; did he ever plan on getting his mitts on The Prince?

Gerner: “Yes it was in the black book. I was eyeing off all the hotels, except the Newmarket, for a number of years. Funny story about this particular one is that I was going for a walk with my wife, which I don’t often do in the morning, and it was dark. We

were weighing up whether to go left towards Port Melbourne or right towards St Kilda and we decided to go right. We walked all the way up Canterbury Road and turned down Fitzroy Street as the sun was rising. The sun hit The Prince of Wales and I stopped in my tracks to admire the beauty of the building.

We went about our day and early in the afternoon I got a phone call from John Van [Haandel] asking to meet and have a coffee with me. That very afternoon he said, “How would you like to buy The Prince of Wales?” It was quite eerie. I said I’d love to, I just needed to work out how, and that was the start.”

MASTER’S APPRENTICE If ever there was a confirmation of the apprentice becoming the master, it was this. The hand selection of the man John Van Haandel deigned to continue his family’s legacy. Van Haandel, who had known Gerner for years, had apparently been weighing up moving on from The Prince. But with a continuing stake as the landlord, he needed to lock in an operator he could trust. It was dining at Middle Park Hotel that triggered the epiphany, and once he’d slept on it, had no hesitation handing the keys to Gerner.

Gerner: “John’s been in the industry for a long time, he’s had some personal situations that have made him rethink his life and lifestyle — he had a split with his brother which was much talked about and perhaps he felt that his time as an operator was up. He’s still the landlord, and still passionate about food and wine.

He’s been really, really great to deal with throughout the whole process and we remain good friends and talk regularly. It was a very friendly succession.”

FRESH PRINCE About two years ago, in the latter stages of the Van Haandel era, the restaurant on the sun-soaked Fitzroy Street-side was shifted to make way for function spaces. It was the way the industry was trending, and Circa was repositioned to give events the prime real estate, relocating a la carte dining to the internal courtyard. It’s a model that seemed upside down to Gerner, who has gone full circle and brought the restaurant back to its rightful place — reutilising the courtyard as a bar, and downsizing dedicated events space to a private dining room for 20.

He’s also internalised all the services. Which may sound like a no-brainer, but when you walk into a successful establishment, the temptation would be

to follow the status quo. Though for Gerner, it’s all about real estate, so the bar has moved from in front of the windows, to form part of the central island, helping to segregate the spaces, improve efficiency, and allow the spaces to breathe that little bit more.

It’s the Melbourne Pub Group’s business model: Attractive high-class eateries accompanied by approachable bars. But it also says much about a man whose finger is on the industry pulse, and not afraid to switch an entire business position, even of one well–established. But nowadays, if anyone knows what should work, it’s not the Van Haandels, it’s Gerner.

“There’s no doubt that the ‘Vans’ have quite a significant legacy in Melbourne hospitality,” said Gerner.

“It was groundbreaking when they purchased this historical venue in St Kilda and spent many millions of dollars developing it and creating new retail space and modern, expensive restaurants and bars. Not only were they creating a Melbourne legacy it was an Australia-wide legacy and something never seen before. Others have since gone down that path, developing larger hotels and multiple spaces, but the Vans were first, no doubt.

“My legacy would be that we took that direction and hopefully created new business models and great food and great environments. I don’t think we’re doing anything particularly groundbreaking. But I think that what we do, we do well, and hopefully my legacy will be that we provided some great venues and good, fun places.”

GET REAL ESTATES Of course, re-arranging the interior of a new venue would be pointless if you haven’t invested in the right one. With the current buyers’ market, there are plenty of struggling pubs out there looking for a break. Gerner gets his fair share of offers, but walked me through some of his criteria for a good buy.

“There is quite clear criteria for us,” said Gerner.

“First of all, the location and what suburb it resides in, and more specifically, the capacity of those businesses and the specifics of the location. Obviously the venues in Albert Park, Middle Park and Prince of Wales are quite iconic buildings. They’re historical buildings that preside over the villages they inhabit. The Newmarket less so, but we were particularly fond of that pocket of St Kilda and I think that’s going to prove to be a good decision in years to come. It’s developing quite heavily at the moment

“I’ve got my secret little black book of hotels but I can’t divulge them. I know which ones they are, and I’d like to think that one day they might be ours” — Julian Gerner

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and we’re comfortable with the bit of dirt we’ve got there. They’re all quite clearly chosen for their location, their stature and their capacity to do trade.

“The further we go down our journey, the smaller the number of interesting sites there are. I get offered quite a lot of stuff but there’s not a lot that interests me. There aren’t too many iconic hotels on the bay that aren’t under our control. There’s a couple, but I’m not sure I’d want to further compete with myself.

We’re not that interested in growth for growth’s sake.

It’s all about the specifics of a site.

“The only thing I would like to find at some stage is a really beautiful, iconic site in the city. That is, if we were to go to the next venue. If! There’s no plans or sites. I’ve got my secret little black book of hotels but I can’t divulge them. They are there, I know which ones they are, and I’d like to think that one day they might be ours, but maybe they won’t.”

NO TURNOVER TURNCOAT It’s no secret that the Melbourne Pub Group has a lot at stake. It’s invested huge amounts of capital in the start-up. To outsiders it might look like a snatch and grab situation: Set up high turnover businesses that look a sure bet to investors, and sell the whole, sexy stable for a multiple of turnover. But Gerner assures venue he’s here to stay. “I don’t hide the fact that I’m in this for the long term. I don’t believe in the ‘turnover of businesses’ [model]. I don’t believe that the multiples we’ve paid for hotel businesses are equitable in terms of what I feel their value is to me. I have long-term leases up to 30 years and to sell them at a multiple of four or five times turnover seems to me quite silly. I can see them earning for the next 30 years, so why would I sell them for four or five times [their turnover]? I have sold businesses before but it’s usually been with one eye on the next property.

I’m not going to sell!”

The question then becomes, how sustainable is this business plan of putting down whopping amounts on iconic hotels? We all like to buy the best, but sometimes the premium prices are too much to justify.

“There’s no doubt the business plan is heavy in capital expenditure at the start,” said Gerner. “We’re very much still in our infancy. The group was only a one-hotel operation for a number of years and has become a four-hotel operation in a very quick spurt.

But we’re very much still at the start of the curve and

it’s an expensive process. In terms of the approach’s sustainability, we need to justify the expenditure with appropriate turnover, and the numbers we’ve put together have done that. I would imagine, hopefully in not too many years ahead, that I’ll be able to make a dollar out of this venture.”

MONEY MAKES MONEY “It’s in an interesting space at the moment,” said Gerner about the viability of the hospitality industry, in which he has a sizeable stake. “Retail across the economy is in a tough spot. We’re a bit insulated from the true retail of goods and services. The beauty of what we do is it’s accessible. You can walk into any one of our pubs and have one beer and one plate. It’s not a restaurant where you have to commit to a full meal and bottle of wine. They’re accessible, they’re price-accessible, they’re comfortably usable and although I wouldn’t say we’re recession-proof, we’re certainly resistant. We’re going okay.”

If anything, the high capital expenditure — at a time when everyone else is cutting costs — is one of the things that Gerner credits as keeping his hotels above water. “Competitive differentiation,” he explains. “In any business environment you try and differentiate yourself from your competitors and you try and create barriers to entry. For us its by the investment we make in our fitouts and in our people, it makes it harder for people to compete with us — it sounds a little bit personal but ‘them’s the facts’.”

LIVE MUSIC STILL ON THE MENU As much success as the group’s model has brought them, and as welcome as it is in most suburbs around the bay, the fact is, St Kilda is still holding onto its last shreds of bohemia. So when the ‘faceless’ Melbourne Pub Group — who to the average punter’s eye only knew how to cater to the elite — took over the Prince Band Room as part of the package deal, it caused an uproar. With iconic live music venues getting paved to make way for new developments across the city, the fear was that Gerner had already planned to do the same. Which is ironic given that in his days as a nightclub promoter, Gerner actually helped cement the Prince’s music credentials.

Gerner: “People don’t want change and I understand that, but they’ll be up in arms until I can legitimately prove my vision. And the proof will be in the pud-

ding. What I do to these businesses will be received by people like all my businesses have done. For example, with the Newmarket people barked, ‘what are you doing to our local?’ I think the general public, the dining public and the drinking public have embraced it and we hope that we’ve added to the hospitality landscape.

“The Prince Band Room is quite an interesting space. It has a reputation of being a live music hub and it is, but people seem to forget that it was utilised as a nightclub quite early on. I was actually involved in that when it was One Love, and before that, Prince Saturdays. It was a number of years ago now but it’s been trading as a nightclub and a band room, so it’s not the wholly live music intitution that perhaps it’s recognised as.

“That said, it does add a lot of legitimacy to that live music story, so at the moment we’ve made some very minor changes to the décor and layout of the room and we’re trying as hard as we can to fill as many gaps with live music and electronic music. And that’s what we’ll continue to do till it doesn’t work anymore, as evidenced by the number of acts that are starting to flow through that room.

“If there was any change of that business model, I will guarantee that it will always hold that element of entertainment and live music.

“I guess that’s a very grey response, but we are committed to live music in St Kilda. For example, I’m bringing in 365 days a year of live music at The Public Bar — original artists, emerging artists, touring artists, anyone who wants a room that can hold a couple of hundred people.

“Band rooms have always ended up with dud real estate and makeshift sound solutions. We’ve actually got one of the best sound solutions, and — with the exception of one in-place structural pillar — one of the better rooms for live performances. So we’re not resolved as to whether we’ll invest in a best-practice, best-in-class live performance medium because we’re not sure that the market is there for it.

“The model is quite a unique one. It’s driven by promoters and band bookers who take all the door and pay the bands. We just get the bar, so it’s a tricky business model and one that’s unresolved. But again, there’s no intention to take live music out of that space.”

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few years ago in Sydney, licensing reforms and a reduction in red tape transformed the social life of Sydney. Since then, small bars have sprouted all over the inner city and, as venue discovered, the phenomenon has now found its way to the more northern suburbs as well.

Here we see new manifestations of current trends — pop-up, speakeasy, Mexican and tapas — and plenty of new ideas as well. It certainly makes me thirsty.

Story: Lucie Robson

SYDNEY SMALL BARS

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CANTINERO 18 Sydney Rd, Manly 0451 186 781 or www.cantinero.com.au

THE LOCAL BAR 8 Young Lane, Neutral Bay (02) 9953 0027 or www.thelocalbar.com.au

The imbibers of the northern Sydney beachside suburb of Manly will never stop visiting their big institutional pubs, but those who after more variety in the scene should be impressed by what has happened over the last year or so. Kieran Bailey and Adam Clarke, in particular, have been responsible for four distinct small bars opening up in Manly, all of which have drawn considerable attention (see our piece on Harlem on Central). With Cantinero they have turned their hands to the ‘pop-up bar’ phenomenon first seen in the inner-city.

In Mexico, the ‘cantinero’ is the main man at a cantina, a kind of establishment found all over the country. And cantinas are popping up all over Sydney these days, too.

A pop-up bar like Cantinero makes best use of limited space, which in this case is the black and grey low-key décor of a café called Ground Zero. But after dark, lanterns light the entrance and candles are lit in the outdoor terrace dining area, and the tequila starts flowing (recently launched Tequila Tromba takes centre stage).

Cantinero is known for feisty cocktails and Mexican dishes, created by executive chef Lupito Manzo Moreno. And it is part of the small bar revolution that has now found its way north.

“My favourite thing would be that you can enjoy a gourmet breakfast and espresso in the morning, and come back for a glass of wine and cheese plate at night,” says manager Sam Marsh, referring to what is appealing about the new wine and tapas venue in Neutral Bay that has a lot of people talking — The Local Bar. The star-studded ownership in particular has created a buzz — actors Sam Neill and David Wenham, sportsmen George Gregan and Phil Waugh, and Gregan’s wife Erica are among the proprietors. But The Local Bar is quite an unpretentious affair, hiding in a backstreet among other small restaurants and bars. It is very small indeed, a converted industrial space with a pressed tin and marble bar, cinder block walls, dark wooden furniture and a street-art style mural at the back.

After all, it is just a Local Bar. “Getting to know your locals personally and having them enjoy our venue is always great,” says Marsh, adding that a key focus for the venue was to create a day and night space where customers felt comfortable, and not to “overwhelm” them.

“The feel is a rustic, European-style laneway espresso and wine bar,” says Marsh. Inspiration was also apparently taken from small bars in Japan, where some of the owners have enjoyed holidays.

With the small bar trend now definitively established in Sydney, Marsh believes that venues like these only have good things to offer. “Sydney has definitely benefited from small bars,” he says. “I believe they remove the association of wine with upscale clientele and overwhelming wine lists, and replace it with a more casual and relaxing atmosphere, conducive to providing a unique customer experience, which Sydney has been missing.”

THE MAYOR BAR & DINING 400 Military Rd, Cremorne (02) 8969 6060 or www.themayorbar.com.au

Jorge Marrero wanted to open The Mayor Bar & Dining without too much fanfare and wait on a “slow burn” of success, and has been rewarded for his patience. Since October last year the venue has been serving food, wine and cocktails to Cremorne locals who were waiting for the small bar craze to hit their neighbourhoods.

Marrero and his wife Amy chose the old post office site next door to the Cremorne Orpheum cinema to create their first venue. It was a huge undertaking, requiring a complete transformation of the building, but has paid off in the form of a stylish spot that has been attracting good reviews. He says that the initial vision for the venue was simply a place that he and Amy (and people they knew) would enjoy going to themselves: “A warm, stylish destination, with a hint of city flair, but without the ‘posturing’”. The pair worked with Andrew Burns, a Sydney architect who takes a serious approach to sustainability and environmental responsibility.

Inside, The Mayor showcases clean straight lines, dark wood furniture, moss green walls and a rectangular bar as an island in the centre of the room. Marrero says that he and Amy wanted to create something timeless, rather than trendy, with dark tones and warm textures.

Plenty of natural light in the daytime, and ambient light at night, was important, too. “We were eager to offer our local area a level of choice (beyond big ‘blokey’ pubs, stuffy dining options and numerous Thai Restaurants), and cater to a more mature, sophisticated clientele.” He adds that The Mayor’s roaring success has inspired the construction of a new courtyard, to begin in the coming weeks.

As for the name, ‘The Mayor’ started out as an in-joke but ended up being a perfect fit for the venue, “offering what we were looking to build — timeless, classy, a little bit old-world, close ties to the community, familiar, powerful and a bit cheeky, perhaps. All words and terms that could easily apply to a government official, or Mayor.”

SYDNEY SMALL BARS

68 HARLEM ON CENTRAL Shop 4, 9-15 Central Ave, Manly www.harlemoncentral.com.au

JANUS 1 Bligh St, Sydney (02) 9223 3997 www.janus-sydney.com.au

LI’L DARLIN 235 Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 8084 6100 or www.lildarlin.com.au

Speakeasies — the illegal bars of the Prohibition Era in the USA, continue to have a hold on the public imagination. What is it about them that we like so much?

The allure of danger, the exclusivity, the style? Or maybe just the classic drinks, for serious drinkers. Anyway, Harlem on Central is a new kind of place for the beachside suburb of Manly. A little bit hip hop, and a little bit of speakeasy and Harlem Renaissance tribute, this late night lounge is the latest venture from Kieran Bailey and Adam Clarke, the men behind other popular Manly spots Miss Marley’s and Sugar Lounge (and Cantinero, which you’ll find on the previous page). The Sydney Morning Herald called the pair up-and-coming “bar tsars of the north”, and Miss Marleys was nominated for the Bartender Magazine Best Small Bar award. On the inside it’s as dark and sultry as you would hope, for a bartender’s bar that takes old-style spirits seriously — bourbon, cognac and gin poured on triple-frozen ice in crystal-cut glassware.

Members can buy locker space in the custom-made cabinetry and keep their favourite bottle away from the hordes. Dark wood floors, plenty of gold surfaces and plush bronzy furniture are found alongside a unique tiled bar, and decanter lights from UK designer of the year, Lee Broom. Harlem on Central does food, too — described as “a cheeky twist on modern soul food with one eye on authenticity and the other on the healthy Northern Beaches lifestyle” and “a sumptuous journey to 110th street and beyond.” Of course, the speakeasy experience would not be complete without some jazz — which you can hear at Harlem on Central as well.

They’ve thought of everything.

On the grander end of the small bar scale is Janus, actually a collection of three venues, two at the new green CBD address of 1 Bligh St, and the other in the Darling Quarter — two new financial hubs in the CBD. In 1 Bligh, the glassy sustainable skyscraper that was a collaboration between local firm Architectus and German firm Ingenhoven Architects, Janus’ locations can be divided into the lobby and garden hospitality venues. They are designed for breakfast, lunch, afterwork drinks for employees of nearby offices, and don’t forget macaroons, which make up a sparkling display at the counter.

Like many of us, owners George and Kristy Michael were dazzled by the simple but exquisite cuisine and hospitality that they found on trips to Italy. They channelled this into Janus (the name of ‘the god of all beginnings’ from European mythology), which features rustic Italian dishes, desserts and drinks. It’s already an impressive setting: a circular structure with floor-toceiling glass, the surrounding cityscape and a public art sculpture at the front, among the alfresco tables. The steel, glass and curves of the lobby café make a sleek and professional spot to eat pastries and drink espresso.

On the other side of the building, the main feature is the lush, tall green wall, around the alfresco area — this is the place for afterwork drinks, or anytime drinks. The bar here is a separate structure, round and metallic with a glass awning. Small bars have gone corporate!

The concrete beams and columns of Li’l Darlin reference its former days as a garage, before it became a Greek restaurant, before it became one of Sydney’s new brood of small bars. This means that the space is a bit “rough and ready”, says designer Chris Wilks from Giant Design Consultants, but is, of course, still an appealing place for women and men to drink and snack on tapas and pizza, helped along by custom Hummingbird wallpaper, fairy lights, cute tea lights and artificial greenery. A huge open window to Victoria Street adds space and light.

Wilks says that the elements left over from the bar’s past lives presented opportunities for adaptation into something new. “We removed a sandstone wall that separated the bar and restaurant and split the stone to reuse as cladding for the new bar face,” says Wilks. “We retained the central marble table, though split it into two for better access to the bar.” The stone, marble and wood are very prominent, sturdy features, but these are offset by the soft lighting and neutral colours. The distinct Mediterranean feel of the interior suits the menu, too.

The darlings of Darlinghurst, a suburb in the inner city, were already treated to plenty of small bars early on, but their popularity has not waned and there is always room for one more, especially one that finds its niche like Li’l Darlin. Also, word on the street is that they have slushie cocktails, which are always a bit of fun.

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WHAT’S THE RUSH? From a snatch ‘n’ grab brekky to a wee-small-hours cocktail, Rush has the Brisbane CBD crowd covered.

Story: Julia Langham Photos: Scott Burrows Rush Bar Dining Express 300 Queen St, Brisbane QLD (07) 3211 9511 or www.rushcbd.com.au

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ush has been reborn. The Brisbane CBD watering hole built on a former foundry site is now a lively entertainment venue that invites punters to arrive for breakfast and stay for late night drinks.

The metamorphosis of Rush Bar Dining Express (formerly Rush Lounge) was unveiled just before Christmas 2011 boasting a floor space triple its previous size and three cleverly designed separate yet flowing areas that take guests from coffee to cocktails with meals in between.

Owners Mounir Ibrahim and Elias Philipou are thrilled with the resulting space which took the best part of a year to achieve.

“From day one we’d been asking for more space, as the original lounge didn’t quite meet the needs of our clients. We felt there was huge potential to cater for not only our top-end business clients, but for the secretaries, office clerks — everyone in our surrounding businesses,” Mounir explained.

Eight years after opening Rush Lounge, an extended trip to Europe with his family to “take some time out” from hospitality, in which he had been immersed for 15-plus years, became a turning point.

Visiting Spain and France he saw the potential for a gracious, serious bar and dining experience that is almost an extension of one’s home or office.

“It made me fall in love with the industry all over again,” he said.

Coincidentally, while he was overseas, the landlord made an offer to expand the space, and Mounir knew it was now or never.

AGELESS, CONTEMPORARY The brief he gave KP Architects (which he had worked with on his other ventures such as Brisbane’s The Jorge and The Pavilion and the recent

Botanical Cafe functions and events) required the venue to “age gracefully” and look just as wonderful in 20 years time.

“I didn’t want people to come in and see something stark, modern and obviously brand new. I had in mind the wonderful places I’d seen in Europe that had been there for hundreds of years.

I wanted the new Rush to look like it had been ‘worn in’ and would have a classical beauty that wouldn’t date, while retaining a contemporary edge,” he explained.

As a result, the space has been devoted to timber in all its glory (chevron parquetry in spotted gum, for instance), and a liberal use of natural finishes such as marble and stone which will gain an individual patina with age, linked with classical features such as large mirrors, brass, pressed metal and wood slat ceilings with polished concrete flooring.

The owners were keen to preserve the history of the building’s industrial past, with custom-made wrought iron bars and panels used in the doors to the bar, the spectacular floor-to-ceiling wine wall and sliding screens to the day lounge.

CHALLENGES OF MULTIFUNCTION What makes Rush Bar Dining Express so unique and beautiful didn’t come without its challenges.

Kon Panagopoulos and Natalie Dixon (KP Architects) said the expanded space had morphed into an awkward triangular shape and included a commanding shopfront to the public square which required designing and building from scratch.

“The new design had to lend itself not just to business meetings and after work drinks, but to a multitude of experiences, be they work or social,” Kon explained.

“The venue needed to be partitioned to allow a

semi-detached kiosk to operate for the breakfast trade at the front of the building without having to open the whole venue up.”

It also needed to include a day lounge, a lunchtime area and evening lounge with private meeting/dining spaces.

Kon noted that this was achieved with a graduation of colour, from the bright black and white tiles at the front coffee kiosk (Rush Express), to the cream and gold day lounge, the black and gold dining and main bar and at the back, the discreet private lounge enveloped in layers of black.

“This idea of transitioning from day to night, night to day, was followed throughout the design process and through experimentation with layered patterning (pressed metal, marble, stone, wallpaper and fabrics) and intricate detailing with the result being an eclectic mix of materials themed by colour rather than by a specific style,” said Kon. “The sense of contradiction and inability to be shoe boxed or categorised is exactly the way our client wanted it.”

RUSH NO HURRY George Chebib from Brisbane Joinery & Shopfitters, agreed, saying although a challenging project, the result has been more than worth it.

“We had to create two to three separate areas with different uses and vibes, but it all had to work seamlessly overall. Unlike a nightclub that only has to look good at night, this venue has to look good all the time.

“My favourite part of the whole job would probably be the bar and mini bar,” he said. “During the day the marble lends a fresh, classy look to the place and at night the light shines through the marble and it glows — it looks fantastic!”

“We had to create two to three separate areas with different uses and vibes, but it all had to work seamlessly overall�

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CONTACTS KP Architects: (07) 3358 1188 or www.kparchitects.com.au Fielders Phillip Marshall (Facade Fascia): (07) 3260 6455 Brisbane Joinery & Shopfitters (Metal Sheeting, Brass Rail, Aged Brass Plate): (07) 3391 8910.

Wunderlite (Pressed Metal Sheeting): (02) 6334 4545 or www.wonderlite.com.au Concrete Coatings & Concept (Cement Flooring): 0422 377 608 or www.concretecoatings.com.au WK Stone (Mini Bar Marble): (07) 3100 8888.

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Caesarstone (Bar, Dry Bars, Servery Benchtops): 1300 119 119 or www.caesarstone.com.au Hartley Williams (Stained Glass): (07) 3881 1978.

Boral Timber (Parquetry): 1800 818 317 or www.boral.com.au/timber Dulux: www.dulux.com.au Laminex Group: 132 136 or www.laminex.com.au Baresque Australia (Wallpaper): (07) 3878 9983 or www.baresque.com.au

NIGHTCLUB LIGHTING In the world of Nightclub lighting, what you can’t see is sometimes more important than what you can.

Story: Adam de Guara, Glowing Structures

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eople go to an entertainment venue for a different experience. It’s a getaway, sometimes it’s an escape. What they don’t want is the same environment or the same feel that they get at home, or worse, at work.

This is why I approach club and entertainment lighting very differently to most other spaces.

Often for hospitality projects — and especially with bars and nightclubs — the venue owner/operator gives you free rein to do what you think is best, as long as it is an original-looking design. Owners who have multiple venues especially want something new and fresh, even if there is an underlying theme or concept across all the venues, it’s important to put a new spin on each experience.

I like to meet with the client first to get a feel for what they want, then meet with the architect or interior designer and work very closely with them. The best lighting designs are those where the lighting is seamlessly incorporated within the fabric of the architecture; we like to integrate with the design rather than just add it on. The sooner we are involved with the project, the better for everybody involved.

CURRENT TRENDS ‘Interaction’ has become very popular. Recently we had an entry lobby that was interactive, whereby as patrons entered the venue, the lighting was synchronised with them and followed them into the club.

Colour changing fixtures and LEDs have revolutionised how we use lighting designs. Having colour-changing LEDs allows a venue to be themed, as in, we can theme a particular night with a particular colour. However, too much colour isn’t always a great thing, sometimes it’s better to use the colour of the architecture or even the patrons themselves, rather than add yet another layer of colour in the space. The dancefloor lighting in itself is usually the melting pot of light, colour and effects, which is often more than one space can handle.

GLOWING STRUCTURES APPROACH My first rule of lighting a club is to light the features of the interior, totally independent of the dancefloor/stage lighting. I tend to limit the amount of direct task lighting, whereby we rely on spill light to provide the general light throughout the space.

Contrast and drama are paramount; the shadows are as important as the light itself.

To differentiate from the general space, the bar is usually illuminated with a more vibrant, crisp light.

It’s crucial to the nightclub’s revenue, so it’s extremely important to create a feature of the bar. I use light to create a sense of direction and subconsciously draw the patron toward the bar, at which point the brilliant lighting of the bottle display creates a whole new experience in the club. The colours of the bottles, the various sizes and shapes all create a stunning backdrop of colour, reflection and sparkle within the space.

Through fear, many people have a tendency to over light a space, but the good designs keep the contrast and the shadow because that creates the right mood. The dark areas and the shadows are just as important as the light areas. That said, it is important to allow the space to be flexible, as some venues may need to host a corporate function or event, which may require more light than usual, or there may be a particular artist performing, which appeals to a different audience; hence needing greater levels of light in the space.

LIGHTING CONTROL: IMPERATIVE In a modern venue, a lighting control system is imperative. I don’t think a successful hospitality project can exist without lighting control. As I mentioned above, certain situations may require more light than others, and it is much more difficult to go around and use a rotary dimmer to dim certain areas up and down. The ability to program certain scenes and levels makes life so much eas-

ier for the staff but, more importantly, it allows the lighting to be consistently perfect. The scenes we program usually cater for all scenarios, minimising the effort required by the staff, simplyfing their lives and ensuring the lighting is presented to its fullest potential.

Further to this is the energy efficiency aspect; being able to have all your lights dimmed has obvious energy savings and it helps reduce maintenance costs, which are both very important buzzwords in the industry these days.

STAGE V VENUE The stage lighting is a totally different installation to the rest of the venue, and is usually handled by the audiovisual designers. While we are usually aware of what they are using, they are two different environments, so we let them do whatever they want. This creates two different and distinct zones which is the way it should be. When punters are watching the band or the DJ, then flashing lights and constant colour changing is what they are after. But in other areas of the bar or in a quiet lounge area, subtlety is the key, and it’s important to keep these two spaces separate.

Every project we do is unique. My biggest tip is to get to know the design team and venue operator well enough to personalise the design to create a bespoke installation which is tailored to their vision. You can get inspiration from other spaces, but each design needs its own personality. If there is feature lighting to be used, we often custom design fittings so that a luminaire is unique for that venue. Most owners hate using fittings that they have seen down the street, or worse, in their opposition’s club.

Our objective is to use light to transform a space from one experience to the next, which can be done and it’s something that we have fun doing!

Adam de Guara spoke to Matt Caton.

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LONG WAY TO THE TOP

The Beresford Upstairs 354 Bourke St Surry Hills, NSW (02) 8313 5000 or www.upstairsberesford.com.au

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ROCKSTAR PA No expense was spared in designing and installing a topshelf PA for the Beresford Upstairs. For all its lovingly designed detail, ultimately here was a venue that needed to rock hard. The expectation was that Beresford Upstairs would join the ranks of established Sydney live venues, attracting high-quality acts from here and overseas. d&b audiotechnik is a name that provokes knowing nods of approval amongst engineers and artists worldwide. d&b builds high-quality PA equipment, from surfacemount install speakers to gigantic kick-arse concert touring line arrays systems. The Beresford Upstairs rig would be based

S

ince July last year the latest addition to the Merivale empire, Beresford Upstairs, has been luring artists, live music audiences and lovers of modern design to its vintage glamour interior. Kerry Phelan (director of KPDO) collaborated with stylist Sibella Court from Society, Inc. to create a new live music venue that is contemporary but with a foundation in classic venues from the past.

The Beresford Upstairs references many eras but most inspiring to Phelan and Court was the decadence of the Art Deco period. They looked to similar venues in New York and London in the creative process, aiming to continue the relaxed feel of the established pub downstairs but turn up the glamour for the upstairs space.

Designing a space that is both a stylish bar and an entertainment value (with capacity for 600 people) has inherent challenges. Furniture and soft furnishings need to survive heavy traffic from crowds. The main

part of this space has no windows, so the task at hand was to make it seem “airy, yet cosy”. This called for some innovative lighting solutions, often from found pieces as well as a custom designed brass chandelier.

Phelan and Court also wanted the venue to look “undesigned”, as if the product of years of evolution, rather than deliberately put together.

A key element to the interior design is the herringbone timber panelling on the walls and the bar front.

It’s eye-catching but fits with the intimate colour scheme of dark reds and chocolate shades. Beresford Upstairs is slick, but eclectic details abound: a Beethoven bust here, classical portrait-printed cushions there, and plenty of pot plants. The stage curtains are a highlight, tie dyed in the traditional Japanese method of Shibori. Phelan says that part of the Merivale success is thanks to venues that are good at “making people feel at home”.

on the Q series. A main array (comprising 4 x d&b Qi/Qi7 and 2 x QiSub) is supplemented by a Qi1 delay system halfway down the room and a further two smaller E Series delay/fills. Zoning is handled by BSS Soundweb London processing. An Avid SC48 ‘Venue’ console (another rider favourite) takes care of mixing duties.

National Audio Systems (d&b): 1800 441 440 or www.nationaudio.com.au Jands (BSS): (02) 9582 0909 or info@jands.com.au Avid: www.avid.com

CONTACTS: Beebo Constructions: (02) 9699 3506 or www.beebo.com.au Society Inc: (02) 9331 1592 or www.thesocietyinc.com.au 360° Landscape Architects: (02) 9212 2204 or www.360.net.au Kerry Phelan Design Office: (03) 9936 9899 or www.kpdo.com.au Shibori: (02) 8090 4153 or www.shibori.com.au

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FOR THE BIRDS

CONTACT: Light Dimensions (Audiovisuals): (03) 9416 8996 or www.lightdimensions.com.au Scandinavian Wallpaper Décor: (08) 9444 2717 or www.wallpaperdecor.com.au Revive Design (Curtains): 0418 383 182 or www.revivedesign.com.au Habitat 1 (builders): (08) 9441 8400 or www.habitat1.com.au

Story: Lucie Robson

The Aviary 140 William St, Perth (08) 9226 0259 or www.theaviaryperth.com.au

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erth has been all aflutter for The Aviary. A two-level venue in the middle of the city, it has a restaurant, circular lounge bar and rooftop bar, and quirky birdy motifs galore. Opening to acclaim in November last year, it is the latest high-flying venture of John Ahern and Steve Garcia’s The Publican Group, with its interests split between Perth in the west and Melbourne in the east.

Garcia says that he and business partner Ahern spent years searching far and wide for the perfect rooftop bar location, something they saw as lacking in the city. “There are so many in Melbourne, and Perth definitely has the weather for it.” 140 William St proved to be a winner, and is conveniently above an underground train station. By chance, the space on the rooftop reminded the pair of something — a bird’s nest — and thus, The Aviary was hatched.

“Bird wallpaper [custom made, from Scandinavian Wallpaper Décor], carpet, stuffed birds, bird cages, small ceramic birds on the wall plus plenty more,” says Garcia of the way the bird theme has been implemented to the max. He and Ahern sourced the collection of different furniture pieces from around the globe.

PECKING ORDER “The venue is split over two levels with the restaurant [The Birdcage] and lounge bar on Level One want-

ing a more sophisticated and chic feel,” he continues.

“We used lots of warm textures and different wallpaper to give this feel along with lining the walls with jarrah. The floor to ceiling windows that overlook Murray St mall let in a huge amount of natural light and at night we use a sheer curtain over the top along with extensive floor lighting to give that intimate feel. Our carpet uses the hummingbird from our logo imprinted into it, tying the theme back into the restaurant.” The natural light is used to great effect with the pale colours and bright blue, helping the space remain open and breezy. The windows also make use of The Aviary’s unique placement in the middle of the Perth cityscape.

But the rooftop bar, known as The Nest, is the real star attraction, making the most of its 500 square metre area, sunshine and views (although the big stuffed peacock downstairs might have something to say about it). Astroturf and live trees suggest an inner-city oasis; it has a bright colour scheme, sleek wooden furniture and is even endowed with a bowling green. Construction presented some challenges, including the need to place building materials on the rooftop with a crane in the middle of the night, but it was well worth the trouble. “I wanted a fun, quirky use of this area to ensure that the largest rooftop bar in Perth was done right and to give a sophisticated playground for Perth’s social scene,” says Garcia. According to him The Nest is even the

largest rooftop bar in Western Australia. The Aviary has capacity for 600 guests and has already started hosting regular events. For audiovisual equipment Ahern and Garcia returned to Victoria-based Light Dimensions, which equipped its other venues.

FLOCKING TOGETHER Elements like the marble bars and jarrah wall panelling run across both levels and bring cohesion to the different spaces. Astroturf and plants are also seen on the ground level, as is, naturally, the signature bird wallpaper. On a much larger scale, The Aviary is somewhat integrated into the portfolio of venues established by The Publican Group. Ahern and Garcia formed the group in 2008 and since then have opened The Byrneleigh in Nedlands and The George, also in the Perth CBD. Garcia describes The Aviary as being suited to more of a leisure crowd, as opposed to the more corporate atmosphere of The George and more local-pub Byrneleigh. “Each venue works independently but also within the group,” says Garcia. Marketing strategies that include more than one venue are one way the venues pool its resources, and there’s some natural staff transition through the different venues as well, he says, which helps with the labour shortage.

A little birdy told venue that The Aviary was quite the place to be over the summer. And The Publican Group won’t stop there, with more venues still to come.

77

PREFERRED SUPPLIERS ACCESSORIES

Allplastics Engineering Pty Ltd Unit 20 / 380 Eastern Valley Way Chatswood, NSW 2067 Sydney, Australia Contact Phone: +61 2 9417 6111 Fax: +61 2 9417 6169 Mail: sales@allplastics.com.au

AUDIO EQUIPMENT BERGSTROM ARCHITECTS Suite 103, 3 Eden Street, North Sydney NSW 2060 t: + 61 (0)2 8920 1499 f: + 61 (0)2 8920 1599 info@bergstromarchitects.com.au Arkhefield www.arkhefield.com.au Axil Architecture www.axil.com.au Baenzigercoles www.baenzigercoles.com.au Brown-foreman www.b-f.com.au

LouvreSpan 1 Comserv Close, West Gosford, NSW 2250 Ph: 1300 568 873 Fax: (02) 4323 1951 info@louvrespan.com.au www.louvrespan.com.au Bar Icon Group www.bar-icon-group.com Enhanced Business Solutions www.enhancedbusiness.com.au JamFactory www.jamfactory.com.au kennards www.kennards.com.au Mezzanine wine www.mezzaninewine.com.au PILA Group www.pilagroup.com raypak www.raypak.com.au Technogym www.technogym.com AMMENITIES Dyson www.dyson.com.au Jet Dryer www.jetdryer.com.au Tradelink www.tradelink.com.au RBA Group www.rba.com.au ARCHITECTS

Cox Richardson www.cox.com.au Goodwin Design www.goodwindesign.com.au Group GSA www.groupgsa.com Jackson Clement Burrows www.jcba.com.au

www.altisarchitecture.com

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Beyond AV www.beyonddav.com.au

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BE Productions www.beproductions.com.au

Electric Factory www.elfa.com.au

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make www.make.net.au

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BY Architects www.byarchitects.com.au Christine Wood www.christinewood.com.au

Webb Australia www.webbaustralia.com.au Woodhead www.woodhead.com.au

AMX Australia 5 Commercial Drive Southport Qld 4215 07 5531 3103 info@amxaustralia.com.au www.amxaustralia.com.au AMX New Zealand Unit B5, 396 Rosedale Rd, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand Phone: 09.415.2257 Fax: 09.915.8488

Advance Audio Australia www.advanceaudio.com.au

kp architects www.kparchitects.com.au

McGlashan Everist www.mearchitects.com Altis Lower Deck Jones Bay Wharf Suite 123 / 26-32 Pirrama Road Pyrmont NSW 2009 p 61 2 9364 9000 f 61 2 9571 7930 e info@altisarchitecture.com

CMI Music & Audio t +61 3 9315 2244 f +61 3 9315 2115 36-38 Export Dve, Brooklyn, Victoria, 3012 info@cmi.com.au www.cmi.com.au

AUDIOVISUAL INSTALLATION

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Bose Australia www.bose.com.au BOSCH www.boschsecurity.com.au Canohm www.canohm.com.au Castel Electronics www.castel.com.au Clipsal www.clipsal.com.au Clearlight Shows www.clearlight.com.au DJW project www.djwprojects.com.au DMC Lighting & Sound www.dmcdj.com Dynalite www.dynalite-online.com Em Stream www.emstream.com.au Epsom www.epson.com.au Herma www.herma.com.au Harvey Norman Commercial www.hncommercial.com.au Impact AV www.impactav.com.au JBN www.jbn.com.au Laser Vision www.laservision.com.au LedFX www.ledfx.com.au

TAG www.tag.com.au

Milestone Solutions www.milestone.com.au

yamaha www.yamahamusic.com.au

Pulse AV www.pulseav.com.au/ Venutech www.venutech.com.au video pro www.videopro.com.au

YSI www.ysi.com.au CONSTRUCTION Arcon www.arcon-nsw.com.au Capital Design work www.capitaldesignworks.com.au

Fremont Design www.fremontdesign.com.au Igloo www.igloo.com.au Innersphere www.innersphere.com.au Inset Group www.insetgroup.com.au

ENTERTAINMENT Platinum TV www.platinumtv.com.au Nightlife www.nightlife.com.au Eco Concepts www.ecoconcepts.com.au

Joshua bacon design www.joshuabacon.com.au

Rocks On sales@rockson.com.au

Kojo Events www.kojo.com.au

FABRIC

Rohrig www.rohrig.com.au

Merrill Design www.merrilldesign.com.au

Dickson-Constant www.dickson-constant.com

Isis www.isis.com.au

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Warwick Fabrics www.warwick.com.au

James Clifford Construction www.jamesclifford.com.au

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Kvadrat Maharam australia@kvadratmaharam.com

Liquid Lines www.liquidlines.com.au

Origin Didier Design www.origindidier.com.au

Paynter dixon www.paynterdixon.com.au

Platinum Interiors www.platinuminteriors.com.au

Crown Commercial www.crowncommercial.com.au Gibbon Group www.gibbongroup.com.au

premier club constructions www.premierbuild.com.au

Quattro Design www.quattrodesign.com.au

premier building group www.premierclub.com.au

Response Group www.responsedesigngroup.com.au

Quality Project Management www.qpmgt.com.au

Ryder Hampton www.ryderhampton.com

Reed Constructions Australia www.reedgroup.com.au

DISPLAY

DESIGN

Barbara and fellows www.barbaraandfellows.com.au Bleux www.bleux.com.au cso interiors www.csointeriors.com.au/ Creation Baumann www.cbaustralia.com.au Dasch Associates www.daschassociates.com D4 Residential & Commercial Design www.d4designs.com.au DBI Design www.dbidesign.com.au Dreamtime www.dreamtimeaustraliadesign.com Edge Commercial Interiors www.edgecommercialinteriors.com.au Excell Interiors www.excellhomes.com.au

Afficionados of the Nod www.afficionados.com.au Alloy Design www.alloydesign.com.au Armstrong www.armstrong-aust.com.au Art League Houston www.artleaguehouston.org Artbank wwwartbank.gov.au Axolotl Group www.axolotl-group.com

Mitsubishi Electric 348 Victoria Rd Rydalmere, NSW Phone: 0211602 9684 7777 www.mitsubishielectric.com.au Paul Kelly Design 77 Bay St. Glebe. NSW 2007 Phone +612 9660 8299 www.paulkellydesign.com.au

FINISHES

blueandbrown www.blueandbrown.com.au Bravo print www.bravoprint.com.au Caesarstone www.caesarstone.com.au

Aquavision www.aquavisiontv.com.au

Casf www.casf.com.au

Hitachi www.hitachi.com.au

Digiglass www.digiglass.com.au

Innovizion www.innovizion.com.au JVC proffesional www.jvc-australia.com Mitsubishi www.mitsubishielectric.com.au

Eco Outdoor info@ecoconcepts.com.au Hot Metal www.hotmetal.biz

marblo ww.marblo.com Mermet enquiries@mermet.com.au Mokum Textiles www.mukumtextiles.com Pet Shop Studio International info@petshopstudio.com.au Pilkington www.pilkington.com.au Porter’s Paints www.porterspaints.com.au FLOORING

Tappeti Level 2, 13-15 Levey Street Chippendale 2008 phone:+61 2 9698 2735 fax: +61 2 9698 2788 designstudio@tappeti.com.au Academy Tiles info@academytiles.com.au Altro Flooring info@asf.com.au Amber Tiles www.ambertiles.com.au Ardex www.ardexaustralia.com.au Belmondo tiles www.belmondotiles.com.au Boral Timbers www.boral.com.au Brintons www.brintons.net cavebrem www.cavbrem.com.au Classic Floorcoverings www.classicfloorcoverings.com.au Dalsouople Australasia info@dalsouple.com.au DĂŠcor Stone sales@decorpebble.com.au Designer Rugs www.designerrugs.com.au

NEC www.nec.com.au

Hunter Douglas Architectural Products enquires@luxalon.com.au

Panasonic www.panasonic.com.au

IDC www.idcfinish.com

Eco Flooring Systems btbamboo@ecoflooring.com.au

Samsung www.samsung.com.au

Instyle Contract Textiles www.instyle.com.au

Eco Tile Factory sales@ecotilefactory.com.au

Sony www.sony.com.au

Interior Art Image www.interiorartimage.com

Wilson Gilkes www.gilkon.com.au

Flood Australia www.floodaustralia.net

Interior Decorative Coatings www.idccolourfield.com

Forbo www.forbo-flooring.com.au

Viewsonic Australia www.viewsonic.com

Liquid Metal Technologies www.liqmet.com

Godfrey Hirst www.godfreyhirst.com

Llias www.ilias.com.au

Gunnersen Inspirations www.gunnersens.com.au

Marks & Co sales@marksco.com.au

DTAC www.dtac.com.au

PREFERRED SUPPLIERS ACCESSORIES InterfaceFLOR www.interfaceaus.com.au

Unit 20 / 380 Eastern Valley Way lionco Chatswood, NSW 2067 Sydney, www.lionco.com Australia Living Tiles Contact Phone: +61 2 9417 6111 www.livingtiles.com.au Fax: +61 2 9417 6169 National Tiles Mail: sales@allplastics.com.au www.nationaltiles.com.au

Comax www.comaxaustralia.com.au BERGSTROM ARCHITECTS Corporate Culture Suite 103, 3 Eden Street, North sandra@corporateculture.com.au Sydney NSW 2060 t:Corporate + 61 (0)2 Express 8920 1499 f:www.ce.com.au + 61 (0)2 8920 1599 info@bergstromarchitects.com.au Design Arkhefield www.cfdesign.com.au www.arkhefield.com.au ECC Axil Architecture www.ecclightingandliving.com www.axil.com.au Echelon Baenzigercoles www.echelonproducts.com www.baenzigercoles.com.au

Polyflor Australia info@polyflor.com.au

Evostyle Brown-foreman www.evostyle.com.au www.b-f.com.au

RMS Natural Stone www.rmsmarble.com LouvreSpan 1Stone Comserv Art Close, West Gosford, NSW 2250 www.stoneartaust.com.au Ph: 1300 568 873 Fax: (02) 4323 1951 Tascot info@louvrespan.com.au info@tascot.com.au www.louvrespan.com.au Tascot Carpets Bar Icon Group www.tascot.com.au www.bar-icon-group.com The Andrews Group Enhanced Business Solutions info@theandrewsgroup.com.au www.enhancedbusiness.com.au The Rug Collection JamFactory www.therugcollection.com.au www.jamfactory.com.au

Cox Richardson Eurofurn www.cox.com.au www.eurofurn.com.au Goodwin Form andDesign Function www.goodwindesign.com.au www.form-function.com.au Group GSA Four two www.groupgsa.com www.fourtwo.com.au Jackson Clement Burrows Furniture Options www.jcba.com.au www.furnitureoptions.com.au kp architects Gadget King www.kparchitects.com.au www.gadgetking.com.au marchese www.marchesepartners.com.a Globe West www.globewest.com.au make

Karndean International www.karndean.com Laminex www.laminex.com.au Allplastics Engineering Pty Ltd

Tsar Carpets and Rugs kennards www.tsar.com.au www.kennards.com.au Mezzanine wine Australia Casino Consoles www.mezzaninewine.com.au www.casinoconsoles.com.au PILA GroupImports Whitecliffe www.pilagroup.com www.whitecliffe.com.au raypak www.raypak.com.au

FURNITURE Technogym www.technogym.com AMMENITIES Dyson www.dyson.com.au CAFE CULTURE AUSTRALIA Jet PTYDryer LTD www.jetdryer.com.au 1/1-25 Adelaide Street Surry Hills NSW 2010 Australia Tradelink Phone (02) 9699 8577 www.tradelink.com.au Fax (02) 9698 3802 RBA Group www.rba.com.au Aero Design www.aerodesigns.com.au Baseline furniture ARCHITECTS www.baselinecf.com.au

www.make.net.au Great Dane Furniture info@greatdanefurniture.com nicholas associates www.nicholasassociates.com.au Hospitality Furniture Concepts peckvonhartel www.hospitalityfurniture.net.au www.pvh.com.au Hughes Commercial Furniture pikewithers Www.hughescf.com.au www.pikewithers.com.au Iken 2rks architecture and design www.iken.com.au www.2rks.com.au Instyle Seating six degrees architecture www.instyleseating.com.au www.sixdegrees.com.au Interstudio sjb www.interstudio.com.au www.sjb.com.au Insitu Furniture squillace nicholas architects www.insitufurniture.com.au www.squillace.com.au Stanton Creative Group James Richardson www.stantoncreativegroup.com.au www.jamesrichardson.com.au Tonkin JardanZulaikha AustraliaGreer Architects www.tzg.co.au www.jardan.com.au

BY Architects JMH Hospitality Furniture www.byarchitects.com.au www.hospitalityfurniture.com.au Christine Wood Matt Blatt www.christinewood.com.au www.mattblatt.com.au McGlashan Everist

Blok Furniture www.blokfurniture.com.au Altis B Seated Global Lower Deck Jones Bay Wharf www.bseatedglobal.com.au Suite 123 / 26-32 Pirrama Road Pyrmont NSW 2009 BINDI Furn p 61 2 9364 9000 www.bindifurniture.com.au f 61 2 9571 7930 eBotton info@altisarchitecture.com & Gardiner www.bottongardiner.com.au www.altisarchitecture.com Contempo Furniture www.contempofurniture.com.au

www.mearchitects.com Nufurn www.nufurn.com.au Webb Australia www.webbaustralia.com.au PGR Furniture Woodhead www.pgrfurniture.com.au www.woodhead.com.au Prototype Commercial Furntiture www.prototypeproducts.net.au

Cubus www.cubusconcepts.com.au

Ross Didier www.origindidier.com.au

Chairbiz www.chairbiz.com.au

Schiavello www.schiavello.com

Pomp Furniture www.pomp.com.au Robert Plumb www.robertplumb.com.au

AUDIO Sebel EQUIPMENT www.sebelfurniture.com

Somfy AUDIOVISUAL INSTALLATION www.somfy.com.au

Space spacefurniture.com.au

Tint Design www.tintdesign.com.au AMX Australia Woven Image 5www.wovenimage.com.au Commercial Drive Southport Qld 4215 07 5531Wall 3103 Woven info@amxaustralia.com.au www.wovinwall.com www.amxaustralia.com.au Viridian Glass AMX New Zealand www.viridianglass.com Unit B5, 396 Rosedale Rd, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand Phone: 09.415.2257 Fax: 09.915.8488 LIGHTING

Stylecraft CMI Music & Audio www.stylecraft.com.au t +61 3 9315 2244 fTait +61 3 9315 2115 www.tait.biz 36-38 Export Dve, Brooklyn, Victoria, 3012 Zenith Interiors info@cmi.com.au www.zenithinteriors.com.au www.cmi.com.au Acoustica HEATING www.acoustica.com.au Advance Audio Australia www.advanceaudio.com.au Atlas Sales & Marketing www.asmaust.com Audio Product Group Bromic Heating www.audioproducts.com.au Head Office: 1 Suttor Street, Audio Telex Sydney NSW 2128 Silverwater, www.audiotelex.com.au Australia T: 1300Audio 276 642 (within Australia) or Bishop +61 2 9748 3900 (from overseas) www.bishopaudio.com.au F: +61 2 9748 4289 Electric Factory www.elfa.com.au Celmec International Funktion One www.celmec.com.au www.funkton-one.com.au Climate Australia Group Technologies www.climateaustralia.com.au www.gtaust.com Devex Systems Jands www.devexsystems.com.au www.jands.com.au EcoSmart Fire JB commercial www.jbcommercial.com.au www.ecosmartfire.com JVG sound Everdure www.jvgsound.com.au www.everdure.com/ Len Wallis Audio Gasmate www.lenwallisaudio.com www.gasmate.com.au Magna Systems Jetmaster www.magnasys.com.au www.jetmaster.com.au Max Home www.maxhome.com.au Keverton www.kevertonoutdoor.com.au McCalls www.mccallsservices.com.au Parasol Heaters Meyer sound www.parasolheaters.com.au www.meyersound.com.au Pure Heat Music Link www.pureheat.com.au www.musiclink.com.au Realflame National Audio Systems www.realflame.com.au www.nationalaudio.com.au

Night Works Audio www.nightworksaudio.com.au INTERIORS One Productions www.oneproductions.com.au Pioneer www.pioneer.com.au Di Emme Creative solutions Production Audio Services Unit 3, 87-89 Moore Street www.productionaudio.com.au Leichhardt NSW 2040 Syntec Phone: International 02 9550 0811 www.syntec.com.au www.diemme.com.au TAG Crown Doors International www.tag.com.au www.crowndoors.com.au yamaha www.yamahamusic.com.au Ke-Zu www.kezu.com.au Silent GlIss www.silentgliss.com.au Smartstone www.smartstone.com.au

Audio logistics Balanced Technology www.pulseav.com.au www.balancedtech.com.au Avocent Australia Display Design www.connectivity.avocent.com www.displaydesign.com.au Axiom Element Labs www.axiompl.com.au www.elementlabs.com Beyond AV Euroluce www.beyonddav.com.au www.euroluce.com.au BE Productions Haron Robson www.beproductions.com.au www.haronrobson.com.au Bose Australia Illumanon www.bose.com.au www.illumanon.com BOSCH www.boschsecurity.com.au Innermost www.innermost.com.au Canohm

www.canohm.com.au Illumination Physics www.illuminationphysics.com Castel Electronics www.castel.com.au LSW Clipsal www.lsw.com.au www.clipsal.com.au Mance Design Clearlight Shows www.mance.com.au www.clearlight.com.au Mayfield Lamps DJW project www.mayfieldlamps.com.au www.djwprojects.com.au MegaLighting Vision & Sound DMC www.megavision.com.au www.dmcdj.com Optique Dynalite www.optique.com.au www.dynalite-online.com Optic Fibre Lighting Em Stream www.opticfiberlighting.com.au www.emstream.com.au Epsom Osram www.epson.com.au www.osram.com.au Herma Passive Lighting www.herma.com.au www.passivelighting.com.au Harvey Norman Commercial PointOfView www.hncommercial.com.au www.pov.com.au Impact AV Pulse Show Lighting www.impactav.com.au www.pulse-ent.com.au JBN Satelight www.jbn.com.au www.satelight.com.au Laser Vision Studio Italia www.laservision.com.au www.studioitalia.com.au LedFX www.ledfx.com.au Tenrod www.tenrod.com.au Milestone Solutions www.milestone.com.au Yellow Goat www.yellowgoat.com.au Pulse AV www.pulseav.com.au/ Xenian Venutech www.xenian.com.au www.venutech.com.au WhiteLite video pro www.whitelite.com.au www.videopro.com.au

OUTDOOR Skyspan Umbrellas www.skyspan-umbrellas.com

SIGNAGE

Supershades www.supershades.com.au

Albert Smith Group www.asggroup.com.au

The Fire Company www.ecosmartfire.com

Elite IDS www.eliteids.com.au

ULA www.ula.com.au

Vergola www.vergolansw.com.au Nightkey www.metropolisfremantle.com.au POINT OF SALE OPOC

Face Visual Marketing Group www.facevmg.com.au

OUTDOOR

www.opoc.com.au Fedeltapos www.fedeltapos.com

Skyspan Umbrellas www.skyspan-umbrellas.com Supershades www.supershades.com.au The Fire Company www.ecosmartfire.com Vergola www.vergolansw.com.au

POINT OF SALE Fedeltapos www.fedeltapos.com

Impos SIGNAGE www.impos.com.au Albert Smith Group Macro Solutions www.asggroup.com.au www.macrosolutions.com.au Elite IDS Micros Systems www.eliteids.com.au www.micros.com Face Visual Marketing Group Omnipos www.facevmg.com.au www.omnipos.com.au Fen Systems Australia Redcat www.fensystems.com.au www.redcat.com.au

SECURITY

Impos www.impos.com.au Macro Solutions www.macrosolutions.com.au

EOS www.eos.com.au

Micros Systems www.micros.com Omnipos www.omnipos.com.au

Fen Systems Australia www.fensystems.com.au

RBA’s Water Saving Tapware RBA’s Water Saving Tapware line embodies our goal to be efficient and environmentally friendly. Every model in the RBA Water Saving Tapware line has the highest possible Water Efficiency Rating of 6 stars. The tapware comes in a variety of aesthetically pleasing and useful designs including stainless steel and disabled compliant models. It’s perfect for a variety of different applications such as offices, schools, shopping centers, stadiums, airports, public washrooms, or any infrastructure being built with the goal to be water efficient and environmentally friendly. RBA’s Water Saving Tapware line features a pre-set timed flow of seven seconds. A number of RBA’s Water Saving Taps are also vandal resistant, making them suitable for public areas. Benefits also include simple installation, easy operation and low maintenance.

RBA: 1300 788 778 or www.rba.com.au

Redcat www.redcat.com.au

SECURITY

Noise Complaints?

EOS www.eos.com.au

problem solved The Jbn Sound Ceiling speaker system Providing sound solutions in venues around the world ~ Indoor and Outdoor ~

www.jbn.com.au / 0409 931 704 / sales@jbn.com.au

The Intelligent Sound System

The Beach Hotel - Albert Park • Mansions - Adelaide • Woolshed - Docklands • Gilligans - Cairns • Burswood Casino - Perth • Dust Till Dawn - Hong Kong • PJ 0' Briens - Cairns Envy - Surfers Paradise • Felix Bar - Melbourne • Sky City Casino - Darwin • Stamford Grand Hotel - Adelaide •Cypress Lakes - NSW • Boracay Regency - Manilla The Doutta Gala Hotel - Melbourne • Africa n Club - Tokyo • Curly's Bar - Tasmania • The Queenslander Hotel - Bundaberg • A Bar Called Barry - Balcony Bar O Malleys Irish Tavern - Mildura • The Australian Hotel - Canberra • The Loft - Melbourne • Court House Hotel - Port Douglas • Station 59 - Melbourne • Pastoral Hotel - Dubbo The George Hotel - Ballarat • Bullion Bar - Outdoor Nightclub • Lamana - Port Moresby • Moorebank Sports - NSW • Campbelltown RSL - NSW •Felix Bar - st Kilda

Bread Street Kitchen,

London

82

You Wish

Gaze at the photo and you could be excused for thinking Gordon Ramsay’s latest venture is tucked into a steam punk corner of St Pancras station. Not so. Bread Street Kitchen resides in a brand new shopping centre in the city of London. Remarkably, the designer, Russel Sage Studio, has managed to create an atmospheric environment in something as sterile as a Safeway carpark.

The restaurant is big, offering a whopping 300 covers, and split over two floors. The look is eclectic, mixing industrial and reclaimed/found items and materials. Illuminated timber clad columns and traditionally styled brass fittings suggest the grandeur of a Victorian railway station while steel, mesh and exposed ductwork add a more edgy and contemporary feel. Of note is the wine display, housing around 2000 bottles.

Those reading who’s job it is to install audio systems will be breaking out in a cold sweat looking at Bread Street Kitchen — it’s cavernous and acoustically unforgiving. CGA Integration took the job on, employing 20 x Electrovoice ZX3 loudspeakers, using CPS8.5 Class-D amps and NetMax control and distribution. After some exhaustive testing and measurements, seven zones were employed in the venue. PWS-4 wall panel controllers provide user-friendly control for staff to manage the system. No mention of a manual over-ride of the PA for the dulcet tones of Gordon’s encouragement to staff.

YoU CReATe A CUsToM soLUTIoN FoR eACh INsTALLATIoN.

We created an easier Way to do it.

Design I Performance I Support

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Live concert-quality tonal balance. Consistent performance. Reliability and efficiency. You want the same results for every job. Yet every system you create has to be different. At Bose®, we launched a research project to see if we could make designing fixed-installation sound systems easier – and better. Along the way, we shared our research with leading designers in the industry and asked for their feedback.

The results are the new Bose RoomMatch™ array module loudspeaker and the PowerMatch™ configurable professional power amplifier. Now you can create a custom solution from standard components, and achieve the best possible performance, regardless of system configuration or room characteristics.

PowerMatch™ configurable professional power amplifier

RoomMatch™ array module loudspeaker To learn more call us on 1800 659 433 Visit pro.bose.com/info or email us at info@bose.com.au

With the RoomMatch loudspeaker, you simply choose from 15 different coverage patterns and assemble them to form Progressive Directivity Arrays, so they deliver the coverage you need while behaving as a single loudspeaker.

That flexibility is matched in the electronics. Using proprietary Bose technology, the PowerMatch amplifier can be configured in single module, dual module or four module modes, delivering best-in-class audio performance, regardless of configuration.

We believe these products are a fresh approach compared with conventional solutions, and we invite you to hear them for yourself. For more information, visit our website.

Fifteen different coverage patterns Horizontal - 55º, 70º, 90º, 120º Vertical - 5º, 10º, 20º, 40º, 60º

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2-channel, 2kW; 4-channel, 1kW; 8-channel, 500W or any combination

PowerMatch™ configurable professional power amplifier