Venue #55

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Star Bar The Emerson Woolwich Pier Hotel The Duke

Take a closer look The new range of Samsung Commercial Displays The new Samsung ME-C, PE-C, UE-C and UD-C series LED BLU* displays have all received important upgrades from the previous models, offering great new features for digital signage applications, video wall set ups and information sharing.

The new Samsung Smart Signage Platform with MagicInfo™ Premium S Enabling web based^ multi-display signage networks** without the need for external media players!

Included with the latest ME-C, PE-C, UE-C and UD-C series displays, SSSP eliminates the need for external PC media players, streamlining display and content management.

Combine with MagicInfo™ Premium S** software, to create, schedule and deliver content to either a single display or multiple displays over a network**^ Easy Image Rotation – use the display settings to rotate your content The image rotation feature enables simple rotation of screen content using display menu functions. This feature is designed to allow content to be reoriented without losing its aspect ratio, and can also be delivered to multiple screens via DP1.2 loop out (daisy chain), eg. to expand landscape content across 3 displays in portrait mode (as shown).

DP1.2 Ultra High Definition Loop Out for 2 x 2 Video Wall Configurations The new Samsung ME-C, UE-C, PE-C and UD-C series displays utilises DP1.2 technology to help enable delivery of UHD content across 4 separate displays (each display sold separately) when set up in a 2 x 2 landscape video wall configuration. Simply loop out of the first display with a DP1.2 cable,* daisy chain the displays and they are ready to accept Ultra High Definition (3820 x 2160) content.** *DP1.2 cables sold separately (4 required) **Content delivery device must be able to deliver UHD content via DP1.2 to the first display

HDCP Support using DP1.2 loop out* The new ME-C, PE-C, UE-C and UD-C Series, now offering the DP1.2 loop out, also offer HDCP support through DP1.2 loop out for up to 7 daisy chained compatible displays.

This helps to overcome HDCP compliance issues for multi screen deployments or video wall applications where you need to deliver protected content from one device to multiple displays. *DP1.2 cables sold separately

Share Content to multiple displays with DP1.2 Loop Out daisy chain*

The new SSSP, streamlining content and display management

*HDCP up to 7 displays.

Easy content rotation

Create, collaborate, communicate

Images simulated for illustration purposes only. Cables and computer not included. *Samsung LED BLU Commercial Displays use LCD display panels with LED back or edge lighting. **MagicInfo™ Premium S software is included with displays for stand-alone applications only. For network applications, server licenses are required at additional cost. ^Internet connection required. Data and subscription charges may apply. Usage may be subject to third party service provider agreements.

There is more to see!

www.samsung.com/au/business it.sales@samsung.com

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shopped at Chaddie one week before Christmas and lived to tell the tale.

For those who don’t know, Chadstone Shopping Centre is a retail leviathan that squats monolithically in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. I’m sure there are people who actually reside in Chadstone (the suburb) but the name says only one thing — shop ’til you drop.

When it was originally constructed, shopping was a very different necessity/pastime. Suburban shopping malls were largely still an American oddity. And if you wanted to buy a lounge suite or a good frock, you caught a tram into the CBD. Now, the likes of Chaddie are the 300-pound gorillas on the retail scene. Chadstone packs everything from the $2 ‘junk from China’ shop through to the ‘wait in a line until the doorman lets you in’, über-pricey, ‘house of luxe’ retailer. And everything in between.

Chaddie has been on my mind, not only because Issue 55 is our Retail & Commercial fitout special, but because Christmas shopping madness is in full swing as I put pen to paper.

2013 is another year in which the internet takes another swing at the jaw of Australian retail. And as every year rolls by, retail takes another meaningful look in the mirror and asks itself: what have I got that the Net doesn’t?

One thing’s for sure, just about everyone with a computer has now bought something online. It may only be a gas bill, but the web holds very few fears for those with a credit card. eBay’s influence only grows, and, the occasional Visa-related horror story notwithstanding, shopping online is quick, easy and safe.

I mean, who’s going to leave their couch to buy a theatre seat in the stalls, that latest Top 40 single, or an interstate airline ticket? Some purchases are so generic and commoditised that most of us have forgotten there are brick and mortar alternatives to buying online.

Naturally there are some decisions best made in store, and few people would be brave enough to purchase an engagement ring, shoes, or carpet without first experiencing their suitability.

I recall a story regarding someone who thought they’d scored the online bargain of the century, buying an Eames furniture design for less than half what you’d pay in the store. When the furniture arrived it was actually a mantlepiece version of the design classic, not the full-size loungeroom edition. Effectively our friend was totally dudded — paying 10 times the retail price on a souvenir replica.

It does illustrate one point we all instinctively know: the internet is an imperfect way to browse and experience a product or service.

So what are you offering that your customers can’t get at home? If you’re finding it increasingly difficult to answer that question then now might be time for a serious reappraisal of your operations.

In the meantime, I hope the lessons learnt and the measures taken by the operators in this issue of venue provide you with some food for thought.

I hope Christmas and the holidays have been a happy and prosperous season for you. And I wish you an even better 2014.

Christopher Holder Editorial Director, chris@venuemag.com

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JANUARY

Nº55

Contents “We’re interested in bringing the nightclub back to where it should be: enjoying good music, meeting good people, new people, and doing it in a safe, healthy environment” Mark Hinkley, The Emerson — pg28

Star Reborn Star Bar: The Maloney Hotel Group shining example

pg44

CONTACTS: Advertising Office: (02) 9986 1188 PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086

CONTENTS

Editorial Office: (03) 5331 4949 PO Box 295, Ballarat, VIC 3353 Editorial Director: Christopher Holder (chris@venuemag.com)) Publication Director: Stewart Woodhill (stewart@venuemag.com) Publisher: Philip Spencer (philip@venuemag.com) Art Direction & Design: Dominic Carey (dominic@alchemedia.com.au)

Retail & Commercial Special

Music Connection Central Kitchen Hunt Leather George P Johnson Bonds Kids Prada Sportsgirl Black Toe Shoes

pg14 pg16 pg18 pg20 pg22 pg24 pg26 pg27

Pubs, Clubs & Restaurants

The Emerson Waitan Barry Pabu Woolwich Pier Hotel Star Bar The Duke Rushcutters

pg28 pg32 pg34 pg36 pg38 pg44 pg50 pg54

Regulars

Smooth Operator Sit Kit Lit Preferred Suppliers You Wish: Shinola, New York

pg13 pg56 pg58 pg60 pg62 pg66

Graphic Designer: Daniel Howard (daniel@alchemedia.com.au) Circulation Enquiries: (subscriptions@alchemedia.com.au) Accounts: Jaedd Asthana (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 2013 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.

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SMOOTH OPERATOR Big Apple Bites.

Matt Mullins is a partner in Sand Hill Road hospitality group

W

e’re putting the finishing touches on the design of our new pub, the Terminus Hotel. Famous for so long as Melbourne’s first and best grungy, eclectic, sticky-carpet boozer, there’s barely a Melbournian born between ’69 and ’80 who didn’t at some point in their wasted youth play Drag-Queen Bingo at the Termi. When it reopens next year, it’ll again be famous for Drag-Queen Bingo. But it’ll also be unique for the fact it has one of the biggest beer gardens in town, overlooked by so many towering high-rise apartments it’ll feel like a Manhattan rooftop. So it was only appropriate that we headed to New York to see how the experts did it.

There are three places in the world you can tell people you’re going to, where a long list of do’s and don’t’s will surely be forthcoming. The Bali list is overflowing with restaurants in Seminyak, bars at Jimbaran, leather shops in Kuta. But the New York list is 10 times bigger. It’s many pages longer. It’s broken into whole chapters. There are entire books written on the subject. There are hundreds of online lists. There’s even a compilation blog listing the best compilations of lists about stuff to do in New York. (The third place, in case you were wondering, after Bali and New York, is jail. I’ve never seen that list, but I’m sure if I’m ever heading that way, I’ll be grateful for some expert advice.)

GASTRONOMIC EPIPHANY Call it a list, or merely the musings on a gastronomic revelation, but this is what I found while I was there: My first New York revelation had nothing do with food or wine. I woke early our first morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. Which was weird, cos I was exhausted. Soph and I had left our two-year old at home, and as most of you know, having a two-year old means you haven’t properly slept for two years. But if the preceding years of sleep deprivation hadn’t made me tired, the flight over certainly should have. And yet I couldn’t sleep. See, New York is a Siren call, the whole damn city is beckoning you out. So I went for a run, through the giant glass canyons of the Upper East Side, to Central Park. Jogging home that morning I stumbled out of Central Park onto 5th Avenue, looked up and nearly cried. There was the Guggenheim: Frank Lloyd Wright’s mid-century masterpiece, all curves; all lustrous white concrete; architecture so beautiful

it literally took my breath away (then again, I had been running… nah, who am I kidding? It wasn’t the running, it was the building). I’d studied Wright’s work, seen a thousand photos of this and other buildings. Yet nothing had prepared me for the sheer majesty of the real thing. This was concrete evidence of why design matters, of why our decades-long obsession with matching architecture and hospitality is worth it.

The first thing you notice about New York hospitality is the service. Without exception, over 10 days and perhaps 40 venues, wherever we went in New York we were greeted with the best service I’d ever experienced anywhere in the world.

GREAT FOOD DONE SIMPLY The second thing we noticed was the quality of the food. At delis, pizzeria, bars or restaurants, the food was exceptional, exceptionally fresh and well priced. Interestingly, menus were generally simple. I was regularly surprised at a higher-end bistro like Monkey Bar, or a super-cool little pub like Sons of Essex, just how simple the menu was, and how affordable. Most venues would have a culinary flourish of their own somewhere on the list, but by and large New York menus look like a good Australian pub menu. Burger, steak and fries, fish and chips were staples. (Interestingly, I never saw a chicken parmagiana on a menu, but you just felt that was only cos the chef hadn’t been to Melbourne yet!)

At the famous little gastro-pub The Spotted Pig, we received incontrovertible evidence that the traditional Aussie burger’s days were numbered.

Often called the world’s best burger, the Spotted Pig’s burger — like most US versions — eschews our 10 ingredient, pile-it-as high-as-you-can style. This burger is thin, the beef so tender, the bun the lightest brioche, with a Roquefort sauce and… nope, that’s it. Nothin’ else required. It was sublime, and edible, which is more than we can say for most Aussie burgers that will only fit in your mouth in pieces, eaten with a knife and fork.

In a hard-to-find pocket of Brooklyn, we were told, was a pizza place called Roberta’s — perhaps the best in the world. You don’t tend to believe praise that high, unless you’re in New York. In New York, you come to assume it’s probably true.

Sure enough, after Google-mapping our cabdriver through some tough-looking streets, we pulled up at a garage door that looked like the door of… well, a garage. Within those beaten up

old walls though, was indeed the best pizzeria in the world. It was here we received service so good we tipped 100%. This is the sort of service that makes your day come alive, that makes beer taste fresher, that makes food taste better — and the pizza was already the best in the world! From Roberta’s we landed on Bedford St, Brooklyn’s cool new strip, where the original hipsters come from. Hotel Delmano is like a beautiful old public bar, without the rest of the pub attached. Here we had cocktails so perfect, yet so swiftly-made, by staff so attentive, the sum-total creation was a perfect blurry storm that seemed to last one drink, but probably lasted nine.

We moved downtown to Soho for a night at the Crosby Street Hotel, opposite the venerable French Brasserie Balthazar — hard to get in to, but again, simple fare, well-priced. We’d tried several times from home to book in to renowned Mexican cantina La Esquina, only to be told time and time again that it was fully booked. In desperation, we emailed the general enquiries address at Crosby Street Hotel, for any advice.

An hour later the concierge emailed back: “Mr Mullins, I have called the manager at La Esquina and confirmed your booking. Where else do you want to eat?” Elated, I replied that as we were only staying with them the one night, just the La Esquina booking would be fine. An hour later: “Happy to get you in anywhere, any night, no matter where you’re staying.” And that’s how we lined up 20 bookings in 10 days, at some of the hardest-to-get-into places in town. And that’s how the concierge earned a huge tip. And that’s how in Australia, if we want better service, we have to pay for it, and if staff want to get paid more, they have to give better service. It’s a circle, not vicious, but virtuous, when it works.

Some of our faves we found on lists. Some we found by accident. So maybe you’re better off ignoring all the lists and just working it out for yourself. Same for Bali. (Not so much for jail though.)

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MUSIC CONNECTION Retail & Music: Completing the Customer Experience Stuart Watters is a Director of Morph TV and consults for Nightlife Music

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couple of years ago, global creative and advertising agency, DDB, rolled out a marketing campaign in Singapore for a concept called the Musical Fitting Room where they fitted RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags to clothes and then equipped the fitting rooms with RFID readers that would be triggered by the tags to play music that related to the garments being tried on in the change room. In short, they were matching songs to the demographic of the audience in a closed room and making a measured assumption as to who that demographic is. The next question is: Why is this important?

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DEMOGRAPHIC When doing a branding profile, one of the first questions to ask clients is “What are you trying to sell and who are you trying to sell it to?” In most cases the answers will be: “I am trying to sell fashion to the 25-30 demographic”, “wine to the 35-50s”, or “Vinyl records to ’90s diehards”.

What you really need to find though is ‘where does your product fit in your customers’ lives?’, ‘why should they be searching for it?’, and most importantly ‘how are you understanding the role you play within this?’. Value is not just about the specific product that is being sold, but the environment the product occupies in the lives of your most important advocates — your customers.

This is where the line between a brick and mortar experience and a virtual one can be complex: while we may buy clothes or other products and take them home in a physical sense, we usually do so with the intention of making some form of social or emotional connection when we use them. The point here is that creating value means understanding far more than how to sell something for profit; it is also about creating identity beyond the point of sale.

EXPERIENCE Music has long been one of the most crucial elements in breathing life into commercial spaces: the right music, at the right time, creates a deep emotional connection. Music also serves the purpose of filling all of the gaps between all the other stimuli, and can drive the tempo and vibe. There have been a number of studies on the positive effects of using the right music at the right times, and there are clear connections between these elements and the style, pace and consistency of customer transactions with the business. In Australia, there are companies like

Nightlife Music that provide a complete service for making this easy. Working with a managed service allows you to set a different ambience for different times of the day, week or for special occasions that will encourage the right kind of behaviour to not only increase transactions, but help continue the value chain beyond the point of sale.

Every single element of the experience should ideally reinforce an outlet’s overall brand concept at a detailed level. Obviously this would start with how the customer is invited into the space, and continue from there. The colour palette, lighting, and displays then ideally work to continue the introduction, with the distinct goal of stimulating the consumer imagination through intricately crafted signals. The advantage a brick and mortar shopfront has in this context lies in how they can explore the consumer senses beyond sight and sound alone. Creating a deliberate atmosphere is a powerful tool in the right hands, and this is really about telling the right story to the right people.

While this can be as simple as offering samples of food that match wine in a cellar; matching music to that equation will further reinforce those notions of how a customer is going to remember their experience. A positive experience will not only bring them back, but will encourage them to share it with other like-minded future customers.

IDENTITY & PRESENCE One of the most obvious aspects of identity, in a retail context, is the notion of ‘presence’. Creating presence is more than getting the right physical retail space in the right part of town, designing some glossy letterbox fodder, a Facebook page linked to your Wordpress site and crossing your fingers. Identity is about aligning all the elements of your business to tell a story that invites your product into the lives of your customers. It would be naive to presume that this can be done without a repetitive design process attached to it, and this process can be brutal, but if there is a consistent story to tell, the benefits become exponential.

When you understand the place you are trying to occupy in the lives of your customers, a lot more can go into creating the kind of presence that will resonate beyond the point of sale. This is really about designing the shell that can enable all the small elements down the chain to continue this throughout your business, regardless of your market. It is here where the sensory difference between the online and in-store experience also becomes clear. There are only really two senses

at play online — sight and sound — while in a ‘real life’ experience, the whole spectrum can be stimulated in very deliberate ways.

That said, it is also critical to establish how a retail store can capitalise on the current online environment to apply a degree of consistency across all mediums in the development of an ‘identity’. Enabling the customer to not only appreciate what they’re listening to while instore, but also enabling a takeaway/mobile culture as well. Aligning in-store music use to the various social networks an outlet manages, also reiterates brand identity at every step along the way. Integration of music into the online space a business occupies is only going to broaden in the very near future, and will not only enable retail outlets to reach and connect with their customer base, but will also provide a breeding ground for sharing and exploring music that hasn’t previously been possible. Technology currently being developed globally, including at Nightlife, is providing new and intuitive ways to connect the customer and the venue in a meaningful dialogue that is all underpinned by, you guessed it… music.

creating value means understanding far more than how to sell something for profit; it is also about creating identity beyond the point of sale

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HOT IN THE KITCHEN Story: Julia Langham Central Kitchen: Central Park, Chippendale NSW www.centralparksydney.com

If the kitchen is the ‘heart of the home’, then the gleaming new food court, Central Kitchen, on Level 2 of the $2 billion Central Park development is well and truly in the thick of it.

will replace their own kitchens with Central Kitchen as the range, quality and price of eating out usurps traditional student fare.

Officially opened in October, Central Kitchen boasts a sweeping 4000sqm of space and abundant natural light, 13 food tenancies with four anchor units and nine kiosks serving everything from Mexican to hawker and innovative street food. Seating capacity is 651 indoors and 54 spaces on an outside terrace overlooking the very pleasant Chippendale Green.

FOOD FOR COURT

Frasers Property Australia and Sekisui House Australia are behind the ambitious project to transform an area once home to the 165-year-old Carlton & United Breweries in once grungy inner city Chippendale. Ateliers Jean Nouvel Architects, and PTW are at the helm, leading the design with a jaw-dropping glass and steel cantilever unfold, while stunning vertical gardens designed by French garden guru, Patrick Blanc, cascade down its western facing walls.

Central Park will be home to young professionals and retired downsizers and, with its proximity to UTS, Sydney TAFE and Sydney University, plenty of students. Many more

Central Park project director, Mick Caddey, said it was vital that the food court and retail space offer first and foremost a destination that is full of life. With living, working and study spaces blurring, it was also important the space have seating zones able to be used for different occasions as well as free wi-fi and a smooth breakfast-to-dinner vibe.

“We wanted to create a shopping mall unlike the ‘carbon copy’ of shopping centres; one that has natural light, open spaces and a vibrant atmosphere to not only shop, but eat, drink and meet friends… in other words, not a dark food court in a basement. We also wanted the design of each outlet to be different in terms of look and character, to appeal to a broad range of visitors,” he said.

Design Clarity, led by Kristina Hetherington, was the team chosen to realise this brief and transform the cavernous second level space into a global leader in commercial communal dining. The team aimed for a unique, fresh

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design that complemented the overall architecture and appealed to a demographic of diners where food, fashion, art and technology collide.

“In the past food courts have been very formulaic, with a run of perimeter tenancies and a central seating cluster with ‘captured’ customers,” Kristina explained.

“Calling the space a food court is now very much a faux pas.

The term has quite a strong negative connotation; being linked with tired fast food offerings. Now the space needs to demonstrate the unique global mix of food retailers and say something about the flavours and the diversity and the vibrancy of the food to be tasted.”

She says the global trend in food halls is placing more of a focus on provenance and theatre as diners care more about their global footprint, where their food is sourced and want to watch it being made fresh, right before their eyes.

CLARITY OF THOUGHT Design Clarity kept the plan deliberately minimal, neutral and constrained in material selection, allowing the street food retailers to pop with their own colour and movement. A

black and white colour scheme predominates, injected with natural recycled timber and granite floor tiling throughout to add warmth and comfort. The strong focus on the living architecture and the internal herb troughs and large planters keep that link to the façade and the inner atrium below.

She cited one of the biggest challenges was finding a solution for the four wall sections that break up the span of glass (housing the living planting on the exterior).

“We went through so many options including light sculptures and street graffiti before finding the Eboy wall art which hits the right tone for the mall’s attitude,” she explained.

Central Kitchen’s layout also shows one of the most significant trends in food court design; one where the tenancies now live in the centre of the space and visitors mill around and between them, with a variety of seating types to suit diners’ moods and group sizes.

Colour is also used in exciting new ways, with recycled timber strip cladding and multi-coloured highlight slats as a way to differentiate different spaces — be it food, fashion or the global grocer. The food court of the future has arrived.

CONTACTS Design Clarity (Design & Bespoke Joinery): (02) 9319 0933 or www.designclarity.net PTW (Architect): www.ptw.com.au Ateliers Jean Nouvel (Architect): www.jeannouvel.com Chairbiz: (03) 9429 3388 or www.chairbiz.com JR Group: (03) 9428 1621 or www.jamesrichardson.com.au Ke-Zu: 1300 724 174 or www.kezu.com.au Tait: (03) 9419 7484 or www.madebytait.com.au Koda Lighting: (02) 9699 6007 or or www.kodalighting.com.au JSB Lighting: (02) 9571 8800 or www.jsblighting.com.au

IN THE HUNT Hunt Leather: The Strand Arcade, Sydney NSW 1800 083 355 or huntleather.com.au

Back in 1975 John and Elizabeth Hunt recognised a potential market in Australia for fine luggage and leathergoods, opening a store at the MLC Centre in Sydney. Not far from the original site, and after years of formidable expansion, Hunt Leather has opened its flagship store in Syndey’s Strand Arcade.

“After some years of searching, we’re so pleased to have found the perfect location for our new store. It is not a decision we have taken lightly, after so many years in our previous home, but the Strand Arcade is the perfect fit for us in terms of style, fashion and heritage,” noted Managing Director, Sophie Hunt.

CONTACTS Richards & Spence: (07) 3257 0077 or richardsandspence.com

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Designed by architect Adrian Spence (one half of the firm Richards & Spence), the 170sqm boutique is set over two levels, with dedicated larger spaces for luggage, handbags and fine leather accessories. The new store is positioned at the George Street entrance the arcade and has some good neighbours in Apple and Louis Vuitton.

Richards and Spence has been working with Hunt Leather on its bricks and mortar retail brand since 2007. According to Andrian Spence, Hunt leather takes a long view for its retail stores, building stores that endure the vagaries of seasonal fashion. Its shops strive for authenticity through quality materials and classic form — designing for the space rather than a cookie cutter, franchise feel.

In this case, the Adrian Spence design works with the colonial grandeur of the historical arcade. The motif of the tessallated tiles of the street level is repeated as a pattern on a grand scale inside the store. A large proportion of the street level floor was removed for a new central oval stair, opening up views to the lower level gallery. Borrowing from a broader colonial theme, Dutch colonial antiques imported from Sri Lanka furnish both levels. Sisal carpets and parlour palms reference Sydney’s subtropical context and the romance of travel’.

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

OUTSIDE THE BOX George P Johnson: 70 Riley Street, Darlinghurst NSW

In deepest Darlinghurst resides the offices of George P Johnson. You’d be forgiven for thinking George P Johnson could well be a solicitor, an undertaker, or a bespoke tailor, but rather, GPJ (as we’ll call them for the sake of brevity) is an ‘event and experience’ marketing agency.

This being the case, GPJ wanted a less than conventional work environment, representing their ability to think well outside the box.

GPJ approached another free thinker, Bergstrom Architects, for a cost effective design that would delight and inspire. There was a very strong design brief to challenge the norms. Carpet was strictly verboten, and the existing ceiling tiles needed to be de-constructed to break down the standard office elements.

The design emphasises raw materials, using brick, timber, hemp rope and the concrete floor in an attempt to present the space in an honest and creative way. The ceiling grid was necessary to retain existing services however in areas of the open office the tiles are removed exposing the services above and giving the work space a more industrial feel. The lift lobby and foyer have a black paint finish with raw timber features that create a sense of movement in the confined space.

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Recycled timber panelling and raw recycled bricks bring texture into the space and provide a backdrop for the many art works and eclectic furniture, much of which GPJ already owned. This project was very much a collaboration between Bergstrom Architects and the client GPJ, which not only contributed the brief but on every level of the design process. Just what you’d expect a group of free-thinking, stay-with-me creative types!

CONTACTS Bergstrom Architects (Architect): (02) 8920 1499 or www.bergstromarchitects.com.au Havwoods (Timber Wall Cladding): 1300 428 966 or www.havwoods.com.au Satelight (Pendant Lights): (03) 9399 5805 or www.satelight.com.au

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AUSSIE KIDS Story: Lucie Robson Bonds Kids Concept Store: Westfield Doncaster, Doncaster VIC

Before too long, Bonds will be 100 years old — Australians have been wearing the same brand of T-shirts and undies for nearly a century. Now, medium-sized littlies can join in the fun, with the recent launch of Bonds Kids.

Until now, only babies up to Size 2 were catered for. Now, Bonds is making products for Size 3 to Size 7 (only available in Bonds stores and online at this stage), and have launched a new store concept to celebrate. The first Bonds Kids store, in the black-label Westfield Doncaster, stocks clothing and underwear for both babies and kids.

The brand teamed up with Design Clarity for the store concept and worked on the project for around five months before the store opening. Belinda Barlow, the general manager at Bonds, Underwear — Retail, says that the look and feel of the store is just a bit whimsical.

“It almost has a sort of fairytale-esque kind of feel,” she explains. “There’s lots of yarn, and wall buttons that flow right through; from mini-size mirrors on the walls for the littlies to look at themselves, right through to fitting room hooks where mums can hand products on, for trying on their little ones.”

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A key part of the finished design is the dedicated ‘Kids’ Cafe’ space, with a mini table and Acapulco chairs in the play area. This is a favourite of the team at Design Clarity — Kristina Hetherington, Danielle Lloyd and Vici Schneyer — who say that their finished product draws on the best aspects of existing Bonds store designs, but adds “colour, fun, a child-like influence, a touch of theatre and joy”, as well as some space for prams.

“It’s kept the essence of our Bonds store concept by having a clean/white backdrop but overlays some bright and fun colour, to really bring the essence of the Bonds brand to life,” Barlow continues. “We really wanted to create an environment which was pretty fresh and new in the kids space, and also give our customers a wonderful experience and make a bit of an impact in that first store.”

Barlow explains that Bonds’ status as an iconic Australian brand means that its enthusiasts feel strongly about the brand and freely publicise positive as well as negative experiences. Therefore, the new store concept was designed to appeal broadly to parents and kids. “We really wanted the store to appeal to everyone, because we think Bonds does have a product for everyone,” she explains. “But we wanted the store to take customers on a journey as well. So we tried not to hark too much on the heritage; we felt it was really important to create a fresh environment that would take the brand forward.”

PRODUCT IS THE HERO The designers say that their challenges included balancing product density with ample space for customers, as well as “making certain the store remains the backdrop, and the product is the hero.” Another challenge comes in the form of creating a rewarding customer experience.

“It’s all about the customer journey, now more than ever,” says Hetherington. “We may like the convenience of shopping online, but we also love finding beautiful stores to explore — where tactility, accessibility and effortlessness are all key. We still want to see the product in our hands, feel it, stretch it, smell it, try it on. Our main aim is to make that experience stand out.”

The Australian retail industry has been facing tough times in recent years, but Barlow says that Bonds is fortunate to have largely weathered the storm, and is confident that Bonds Kids stores are giving buyers what they want — citing many repeat customers at the Doncaster store in its first two months. But putting effort into creating an enjoyable shopping experience is a worthwhile investment, in any case. “People do expect a lot from Bonds,” Barlow says. “So to be able to take them on that journey and to have them leave feeling even happier about Bonds than when they walked into the store, is a really positive thing.”

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READY TO WARES Prada: Westfield Shopping Centre, Sydney NSW prada.com

Prada has joined a formidable coterie of luxe brands with its new store in Sydney at the Westfield Sydney downtown shopping centre. The space, designed by Roberto Baciocchi, extends over two levels covering a total surface area of 850sqm and houses the Prada collections of ready-to-wear, bags, shoes and accessories for both women and men.

The external façade has a strong visual impact: cones of various steel sections are combined to create a large nuanced wall. The result has a unique optical effect, strengthened by the choice of matte black. The beautiful play of light and shadows generated by this particular surface gives a strong identity and dynamism to the entire storefront in a fluid series of windows and light-boxes.

The two entrances, one external and one internal by the mall, open to the ground floor of the store, in which the distinctive elements of all Prada stores around the world are presented: ready-to-wear, footwear, handbags and women’s accessories are displayed in green and pastel niches and in precious crystal and polished steel showcases.

The interior spaces, enclosed by walls covered in green canvas panels in wax-coloured saffiano leather and smoky mirrors, are completed by fine white and black checkerboard marble floors and purple velvet sofas.

A black marble staircase leads to the first floor which is entirely devoted to men’s collections. The atmosphere of this space follows a museum inspiration: polished steel and glass display cases are placed in niches — some covered in smoky mirrors, some in ebony wood — exposing the product with an elegant touch.

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THATTA GIRL Sportsgirl: Highpoint Shopping Centre, Maribyrnong VIC www.sportsgirl.com.au

There are few more enduring names in Australian fashion retail than Sportsgirl. But in the fickle world of young ladies’ clothing, these decades of ‘runs on the board’ scarcely count for anything — it’s all about how you connect with this super savvy generation now.

chandising system and layout, the expertly-realised architectural lighting design, and a prominent till point, along with bespoke Sportsgirl furniture and fitting rooms and elements such as the shoe and beauty area — all help to ensure an amazing customer experience at every touch point.

Thanks to the ubiquity of internet access (and, increasingly, mobile internet access), the Sportsgirl demographic know what’s hit stores in London, New York and Tokyo virtually in real time. And Sportsgirl needs to stay on top of what’s on trend, serving a smorgasbord of fashionable options that allows shoppers flexibility, changeability, and reasons to return.

I’m sure there must be at least one Sportsgirl customer that’s shopping without a smartphone, but the Amish community from which she escaped will soon want her back! Little wonder then that ‘digital’ has become increasingly important in the way in which Sportsgirl communicates with the girls — from the responsive website to Sportsgirl’s Augmented Reality app ‘Sportsgirl Explore’, which enables girls to scan digital signage in the store’s beauty units and watch beauty tutorials on how to use the products; to each of the Sportsgirl stores having an Instagram account where they post new products, how-towear styling and in-store events. It’s clear that Sportsgirl understands the importance of digital in its girls’ lives, so much so that in March the retailer will roll out digital/film in some of the top store windows.

Sportsgirl’s interactive website helps the retailer achieve an ongoing connection with its constituency, but it knows the best way to communicate with shoppers is in store.

Sportsgirl has always had a strong, cohesive identity, but it’s hard to be dynamic, exciting and consistent at the same time. Yet its latest outlets manage to achieve this. With the help of its builder Ramvek, Sportsgirl manages to construct a retail environment that embodies the brand, as well as being packed with visual interest. Most obvious is the 3D moulded shopwindow facade, but just as important are the inspirational visual merchandising displays, and the signature Sportsgirl aroma within the store (yes, Sportsgirl has its own smell), all of which contribute to a vibrant, interactive beauty destination.

CONTACTS Ramvek (Builder): (03) 9794 9342 or www.ramvek.com.au

The new store design might be dynamic, but well-worn retail truisms still prevail: there’s a simple and flexible mer-

The Sportsgirl store is a masterful example of manifesting a brand’s DNA in bricks and mortar. Ramvek’s role as builder cannot be underestimated, from the showpiece 3D shopfront all the way through the store to the changerooms with their matching carpeted design.

As retailers are increasingly corralled into e-commerce, creating a unique store experience, to drive footfall and connect to the customer, has never been so important.

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ON THE HOOF Black Toe Running: Toronto, Canada

Here’s something international that caught our eye: the interior design house, +tongtong, recently completed a boutique retail space for the charmingly-monikered Black Toe Running, a new high-end running store situated in downtown Toronto. Inspired equally by elite running culture and its urban locale, the space is nestled at the base of a condo building on King Street West — a major artery for condo development and a common route for urban runners. “It’s an interesting location,” Principal John Tong explains, “You might expect a café or a corner store, but Black Toe offers something that a lot of people who live and work in the neighbourhood actually engage with.”

The space is narrow, long and tall. On the back feature wall, a photograph of spectators wearing ‘GoPre’ t-shirts is magnified. The image is from a race that Steve Prefontaine was competing in, the legendary, American long-distance runner who’s thought to have kick started the running boom in the 1970s.

The name of the store is also a nod to runners — Black Toe is a condition where a toenail turns black and eventually falls off from constant running, a rite of passage for longdistance runners.

CONTACTS +tongtong: www.tongtong.co

John Tong worked closely with his client to design a dualpurpose space that connects with the culture of the elite runner, striking a balance between design and function, elegance and the surrounding landscape. He chose urban materials such as concrete, slate, wood and chain link to emphasise the environment where many Toronto runners train: along the waterfront and major streets, beside rail-

way tracks, ravines and city parks.

The space flows in a circuit around a black steel monolith artfully displaying Black Toe’s shoe selection. Topped with concrete, the centrepiece features the footprints of local runners from the community. To accentuate the clean lines and the dynamic shift in elevation, Tong split the case down the middle. Oak planks were chosen for the path, riffing on the look of a boardwalk, lit by small exterior lights usually found outside on walking paths — a balance of the outdoor-meets-indoor language.

Unlike most running shoe stores that overwhelm with their walls of shoes on tiny shelves or pegs, Tong’s intention was to focus attention on the main products at Black Toe on a display at table and counter-height.

Flanking the ends of the store are large sculptural elements made of chain link fencing and geometric wooden structures cantilevering forward, which speak to each other from across the space. To exaggerate the height of the store, the ceiling above the counter was compressed by creating a second, lower ceiling of wood slat fencing.

On one side of the store, multi-purpose bleachers were constructed. “Visually, it signals social gathering, anticipating a senses of spectacle,” says Tong, “but it’s also purely functional as a place to try on shoes and display products.”

The bleachers also will be used as a hub to host seminars and events, as well as the meeting place for group runs Black Toe plans to organise. (Photos: Colin Faulkner Photography)

HIGH LIFE

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a 19thcentury bon vivante. No doubt he’s raising a celestial glass in approval.

Story: Christopher Holder Photos: William Watt The Emerson: 143-145 Commercial Road, South Yarra VIC (03) 9825 0900 or theemerson.com.au

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or most of his working life, Mark Hinkley has been a city oil trader. Work hard, play harder, take big risks, make big money, and enjoy the trappings of that success. It’s a background that hardly screams ‘finesse’.

He’s not the first person you’d imagine to have the patience to see through an elongated, two and a half year build, or, indeed, the grind of establishing something worth that wait — building a multi-modal venue for the ‘right’ reasons, rather than a smash ’n’ grab booze barn.

Happily, Mark Hinkley is less ‘rogue trader’ and more true believer. He doesn’t fit the shiny-suited nightclub, playboy proprietor... He’s smart without being a wiseguy; savvy without being slick. “Not long into my first solo foray running a bar, I quickly discovered there are two types of people: those who have worked in hospitality and those who haven’t.”

Coming from anyone else, you’d probably glaze over, but the cliché does provide context: Mark’s teenage years were shared with his parents pub in country Victoria. He knows the rewards and, more importantly, the enervating, neversleep challenges of hospitality. “You’ve always got to be ‘on’. I can come to work having got out of the wrong side of the bed, but as soon as I’m here, I’ve got to be optimistic and friendly.

If you can’t do that, then choose another line of work.”

After graduating, Mark and and his future wife were recruited to the financial sector in Singapore. For 10 years they enjoyed a child-free, ex-pat lifestyle of disposable income and plenty of opportunities to party. Even if it wasn’t exactly home. “I think one of my friends summed it up best when they said, you can feel like Roger Rabbit. You’re a carton walking around in a real movie and you know it’s only temporary.”

While in Singapore Mark met his mentor, John Hatherley, working for his oil trading and shipping business. John sold his business and brought Mark in on a new venture, Tadcaster Holdings. Tadcaster wasn’t intended as a hospitality-focussed vehicle (resources and property development still occupy most of the balance sheet), but experiences with a bar/ restaurant called Bull & Bear in Singapore whetted their appetite. “Hospitality suits our personalities. You have to work very hard to make it successful, but it’s also a bit of fun, and if you do it well and you have a good night… then it’s enormously satisfying.”

$12M PLAY The back story is fascinating, because it’s rare to have a company fresh to the Melbourne hospitality scene splash $12m+ on such an ambitious project. The Emerson has a 675-person license over three floors and it has high hopes.

The ground floor is more your traditional, good-time discothecque with a large bar, parquet dancefloor and a thumping Dynacord sound system. “It’s like the loungeroom you always wanted. We encourage people to make it their own.

Relax. Kick off your heels and dance on the furniture. Enjoy.”

Upstairs offers another level of sophistication, with a cocktail lounge canopied by a remarkable lighting feature: “This area is all about intimacy. That’s why we’ve got the one-and-a-half seat couches. You can sit there with your girlfriend or your wife and share a drink and an intimate conversation.” The booths serve to break up the space further. Sliders in the long banquette can move to accommodate different size groups.

There’s flexibility and you can define your space.

Elsewhere on Level 1 a void makes for more DJ theatre, as punters enjoy the dancefloor mayhem from above.

The rooftop venue is something to behold. Mark likes to think of it as a touch of St Tropez or Monaco (where he likes to head for his annual GP pilgrimage). It has a license for 300 and is replete with sun lounges, dry bars, and cabana-style seating options. The views are as amazing as they are uninterrupted.

“It’s a place for people to relax. We want people to feel comfortable about taking the lift up to the rooftop in their shorts and polo shirt, chill with a drink and some live acoustic music, and not be belted over the head with doof-doof.”

IVY? WHAT IVY? Emerson is unlike any other venue in Melbourne. If anything it’s more like a smaller version of The Ivy in Sydney. Mark wouldn’t know, he’s never been. “We wanted the Emerson to be its own venue. We didn’t want it to be three different different destinations [like a Kit & Kaboodle or Curtin House]. We’ve been compared to the The Ivy, but having lived in Singapore until recently I’ve not had the chance to go. But like The Ivy we really wanted it to be a multipurpose venue. We wanted people to relax on the rooftop, dress up on Friday, Saturday night if they want to, enjoy the cocktail bar for private functions… venue: So no door bitch telling me she doesn’t like the cut of my denim jib?

Mark Hinkley: No, we’re more relaxed than that. If you want my philosophy on clubbing, it shouldn’t be about having dinner somewhere, then drinks somewhere, and then going for a dance, getting smashed and then going home. That’s not the way to go about it. For me, the weekends are about meeting up with your best friend or, indeed, meeting your new best friend, even for 10 minutes and learning everything

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DJ Theatre: Level 1 provides a bird’s eye view of the DJ booth below and a voyeuristic vista of the dancefloor mayhem. (Below left): The Level 1 cocktail bar with its distinctive lighting feature, somewhat dictated by the angles of the 19th century rafters.

(Below left): The rooftop bar is far more than a smokers’ retreat, it’s a venue unto itself.

Home on the Dancefloor: The Emerson dancefloor system is enviable. A thumping Dynacord PA (installed by Light Dimensions) is complemented by a large, curved LED panel.

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about their life for half an hour and never seeing them again.

It’s about having one drink with a stranger and enjoying that experience. It’s not about getting boozed up. And perhaps this is where nightclubs are on the nose. We’re interested in bringing the nightclub back to where it should be: enjoying good music, meeting good people, new people, and doing it in a safe, healthy environment.

Admittedly our clientele is probably not the 18-21 year old bracket. We’ve got a good feel for the 23-plus age bracket.

EMERSON LOVE There’s a lot of love lavished on the Emerson. While the white façade gives nothing away, the interior is a sophisticated mix of elegance, superb finishes and bespoke features. It was designed by M-Use, the New York firm behind superstar venues China Grill (New York, Las Vegas, Miami) with local support from Prahran-based DC Group.

It’s an old structure with its idiosyncrasies, which contributed to the delays and difficulties: “We never envisaged for it to take this long — we thought it’d take 12 months max. From working with Council to taking our application to VCAT, dealing with the VCGLR… and just getting our own design processes right — it took time. We never thought when we bought the building we would have to dig out six foot of dirt and cover up the basement. We never thought that we’d have to put in so much acoustic treatment throughout the whole venue. But at the same time, now that we’ve done it and it’s finished, I think what we’ve designed to fit this space really fits. We’re enormously proud.”

CONTACTS Ramvek (Builder): (03) 9794 9342 or www.ramvek.com.au M-Use (Architect): www.m-use.com DC Group (Architect): www.dcgroup.com.au Bosch Commuications Systems (Dynacord PA): (02) 9683 4752 or boschcomms@au.bosch.com

“clubbing: it shouldn’t be about having dinner somewhere, then drinks somewhere, and then going for a dance, getting smashed and going home” Mark Hinkley, The Emerson

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BEST CHINA Story: Lucie Robson Waitan: (02) 8218 1000 405 Sussex St, Haymarket NSW

Waitan is sumptuous. In the heart of Chinatown, surrounded by food courts, noodle bars and novelty stores, Asian hospitality groups Xiang Er Qing from China and Tung Lok from Singapore have spent over $10m on a restaurant fitout that is truly eye-popping.

With three different bars (all with brand-new Hoshizaki ice machines for cocktail-making), private dining areas and a unique opium-den-style lounge (more on that later), Waitan has the interiors to match its opulent menu (designed by chef John Rankin) that features Peking duck slow-cooked for days, with buckets of champagne to wash it down while you consider buying a $10,000 membership.

Interior designer Thuan Teh has worked on hotels The Kirketon, The Diamante and restaurant Chef’s Gallery. He says that Waitan tells a story through its spaces: “a vivid outpost of traditional and modern China”.

“China’s street scenery is brought to life by the bird cages, bamboo light fittings and red lanterns hanging from the ceilings,” says Teh. “Motifs surrounding the restaurant pick up the traditional elements used in various Chinese architecture. They are blended into a playful mix, of a new, confident China.”

Inside, Waitan is full of dark wood, shiny surfaces and mysterious low lighting. It’s a huge space, divided into miniature enclaves for groups who can enjoy watching the chefs in the open kitchen. Moving upstairs, a collection of private dining rooms provide intimate settings for special and VIP occasions and guests. The whole look and feel of the place has been characterised as channelling 1930s Shanghai, but Teh says that it wasn’t just Shanghai that provided his inspiration.

“The look is inspired by the rich traditions and history of Chinese dining, which encapsulates the culture of the food and the art of drinking,” he says. “Overall, elements of history and culture are mixed into the overall look of the restaurant, from the rough-sawn timber to stone pieces and the sculptures.”

A standout feature is the ‘O-lounge’, so-named presumably for the cues that it takes from the self-indulgent vice of smoking opium on luxurious couches, and enjoying the passing of time. Guests can lounge on low, opulentlydecorated lounges partially concealed by sheer curtains — but Waitan has swapped pipe dreams for the fanciest of cocktails.

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MEET BARRY Story: Lucie Robson Barry: 85 High St, Northcote VIC

In a city full of cafés and, likewise, of caffeine addicts, it takes clever design to be the pick of the bunch. Joining the family started by Touchwood and Pillar of Salt is Barry, which has been set up in a Victorian-era cornershop café space. The look, created by Melbourne studio Techne, is all about being open to the world outside.

“Honesty, simplicity and an upfront nature about the place,” says Techne’s Alex Lake.

Clean, white walls and ceilings, nifty custom shelving, communal tables and plants keep the interior fresh and airy, an effect amplified by natural light pouring in through the redesigned, large windows.

“The old shopfront had limited windows and dark timber panelling,” Lake continues. “Opening the whole thing right up with glazing and operable windows, so that particularly in the warmer months that facade can open right up and you can literally interact through it, through sight and sound — and maybe if you’re lucky, a whiff of breakfast — that promotes engagement between those in the restaurant and those outside it.” There is also a park bench just outside Barry on the footpath, which provides an extra little bit of community spirit, allowing diners and passers-by to interact.

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Owner/operator Loren McBride’s favourite aspects of Barry’s design are its brightness and openness. “Before the build I was so worried that we wouldn’t be able to brighten the place up enough because it was so dark inside,” she remarks. “But the amazing windows and door have really done their job. I also love the lime wash timber used for the bar and communal tables, as well as the concrete slabs laid in the bar for the coffee machine and the display area.”

One element attracts a bit of extra attention: “The most frequent comments we get are about the shelves,” says McBride. “Customers love the shelving!”

Lake cites the custom shelving system as an example of Techne’s approach to thoughtful and functional design at Barry. “It fits perfectly along the wall, and interacts with the columns and the services on that wall,” he says. “It bends around everything and it ends up fitting perfectly. It works specifically as designed for that space.” He explains that in contrast to certain Melbourne cafe design that is “just trying to be different”, the interior design at Barry is genuine and useful. “That’s what we’re trying to achieve with a design like that — not to have anything overbearingly different.

There’s some kind of integrity in the gestures.”

CONTACTS Techne (Architect): (03) 9600 0222 or www.techne.com.au Light Project (Lighting): (03) 8415 1970 or lightproject.com.au Temperature Design (Furniture): (03) 9419 1447 or temperaturedesign.com.au JR Richardson (Furniture): (03) 9428 1621 or jamesrichardson.com.au

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SAKE MASTER Pabu Grill & Sake: 190 Smith Street Collingwood (03) 9419 6141 or pabu.com.au

Collingwood’s Smith Street dining strip is now home to Pabu Grill & Sake, a Japanese Izakaya with a menu rivalled only by its interior design. The space features an impressive interplay of architecture and artwork, courtesy of Architects EAT and Two One Elephant.

It took nine months to transform what was once an old shop lot into Pabu Grill & Sake. Limited by a heritage overlay and shop front façade, Architects EAT employed contrasting materials to turn the 200sqm space into an all-day dining venue. Its success lies in the use of contemporary ‘Japanalia’ décor that subtly references traditional times.

The restaurant is flawlessly tailored to the Izakaya experience. A house-shaped, recycled timber partition wall with a wide window enables food to flow freely from kitchen to floor staff, while raw bricks contrast against steel finishes and add a touch of Collingwood grunge.

“The most enjoyable aspect is creating ‘a gastronomical theatre’ for the customers. It is all about showcasing the process of creating the food and drink — our job as the architect is to ensure the design of the space enhances this communication between staff and the customers,” says Eid Goh, Director of Architects EAT. Hiroyasu Tsuri of Two One Elephant is responsible for the Japanese mural spread across the wall opposite the kitchen,

CONTACTS Architects EAT: www.eatas.com.au Two One Elephant: twooneelephant@gmail.com or twooneelephant.com

where elegant cranes and silhouetted plants painted in natural, subdued hues sweep across a mountain scape.

Pabu owner Khoa Nguyen is especially fond of the floating abacus on the ceiling, made from soft timber with orange highlights. Other decorative features include framed vintage Japanese posters, vibrant traditional pottery and a collection of designer light fittings — from green and yellow pendants to tubular globes.

Customers sitting at the elongated bar — which runs parallel to the mural — can watch their food being prepared in the kitchen while sipping on sake, hand-selected by sake master Toshi Maeda. The customary beverage is best enjoyed in conjunction with the banquet menu, where dishes such as kingfish sashimi crowned with jalapeños and yuzu soy dressing are paired with the likes of Onigoroshi Junmai, a lighter sake with a fruity fragrance and smooth finish.

Like the interior, the menu at Pabu Grill & Sake celebrates the best of authentic Japan with a modern twist. Highlights include sweet miso tiger prawns and scallops wrapped in bacon, both prepared on the specialty Yakitori grill.

“My passion is to inspire, engage and bring guests together as they graze through our menu learning the delights and significance of sake in Japanese dining culture,” says Nguyen.

EMPIRE BUILDING A local pub that bucks the shabby trend.

Story: Lucie Robson Woolwich Pier Hotel: 2 Gale St, Woolwich NSW (02) 9817 2204 or www.woolwichpierhotel.com.au

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T

uck into a bucket of prawns on the terrace and admire Sydney Harbour from your prime position on the peninsula, old chap — the newly made-over Woolwich Pier Hotel is happy to make your acquaintance. The pub re-opened in August and is proving to be a destination not just for locals, but the occasional out-of-towner who likes stately design and gourmet food.

Originally constructed in the 1880s, the Pier was acquired by Halcyon Hotels (owned by Medich Corporation) in 2011. Boss Anthony Medich was inspired by various far-flung locations of the British Empire in its glory days, as well as the modern British gastro-pub movement, and enlisted both SJB (which has worked on the hotel previously) and Luchetti Krelle to bring his vision to life.

There is no shortage of places to explore at the Pier. There’s The Terrace, The Lawn, The Clubhouse, the outside Pavilions, the Dining Hall, the scenic Balcony and the Good Room for private dining. Group Operations Manager at Medich Corporation Will Talbot describes the hotel’s collection of spaces as being variations on a theme: “The wraparound balcony has shades of West Indian colonial to it,” he explains. “The main bar in the atrium is like a traditional English dining hall, while the outdoor areas are inspired by traditional English sports clubs.”

GOING LOCAL Talbot says that with the pub’s relaunch came a new focus on community spirit. Now, the Pier supports more local community and sporting groups (and charities) and management has also established a Social Club scheme that rewards patrons for signing up and being regulars. “That was an initiative we wanted from the onset: to have a more local, community focus,” he says. “Which has definitely seen a lot

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more locals return to the pub, especially Monday through to Friday.”

An understanding of the local Hunters Hill and Woolwich areas of Sydney was key to the success of the interior architecture, explains Jonathan Richards, a Director of Interior Design at SJB’s Sydney offices. “Hunters Hill is a really old part of Sydney,” he says. “It has some beautiful buildings, it’s an affluent area, I would say it’s a reasonably conservative area, and I don’t mean that in a negative way.

It has an established feel about it.” In addition to this character, he adds, that being on a peninsula, it means it’s a geographical cul-desac. “So in that sense it has a very village-like atmosphere through the area of Woolwich and Hunters Hill. We worked up this idea with the client of having almost a local village and picking up on that idea of it feeling established, and having almost English styling throughout the whole space.

“That’s a really important thing in my opinion, that hotels and pubs feel right for their location.”

INTIMATE EXPERIENCES A large part of the job was creating more intimate spaces within the hotel to add to the variety of experiences available. “It’s a familyoriented pub, and a food-oriented pub, the Woolwich Pier Hotel, so it needed plenty of dining space,” Richards says. “It needed places for privacy and for functions but it also needed places to feel like a big open space, like a pub is — for it to actually feel as though there’s a good sense of scale to the venue as well.

“So that’s really important just from a pragmatic sense, putting design aside, there is a variety of different experiences throughout the venue. Obviously some of them outside, some of them inside, some of them very intimate. And what the pub lacked before this recent refurbishment was that small-scale intimacy, I believe.”

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42 BUCKING THE TREND The old-world look of Woolwich Pier is something of a departure from some current pub design trends in Sydney, namely the sometimes Mexican-inspired lo-fi trend. “There has been a real tendency to make pubs shabby,” says Richards. “They’re almost just thrown together, and they deliberately look cheap — that’s just a fashionable style going around the pubs at the moment.” In contrast, the team at Woolwich Pier sought out quality design and elements built to last, Richards continues. “It was quite a departure from all that sort of styling about the pubs, that pubs don’t have to feel cheap to be accessible — back to that idea of it being established.”

APPROACHABLE EMPIRE Complementing SJB’s interior architecture was styling by Luchetti Krelle. “The biggest design challenge was creating a venue that is approachable and friendly as it is always tempting to over-design,” says director Rachel Luchetti. “We had to keep ourselves constantly in check, editing the design to a level where it’s not intimidating and everyone feels welcome.”

Luchetti explains that older Sydney suburbs like Hunters Hill already feature British-influenced architecture from the 1800s — so the colonial theme is in no way out-of-place in the harbour city.

Striking the right notes with the British Empire themes involved the right choice of materials and textures. “Bamboo furniture, timber shutters, palms and rattan mixed with antiques, artwork and treasured possessions brought over on a ship.” Extra details include the old captain’s chairs, a tuck-shop-like servery in the upper courtyard and distinctive silverware.

“We really wanted to put some history and soul back into the building following the previous ultra-modern renovations,” Luchetti says.

Creating a distinctive visitor experience makes all the difference these days, says Medich’s Talbot. “By designing what we’ve done — a unique venue — it helps contribute to people coming back and the pub being as successful as it is.”

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STAR BRIGHT

The once-dodgy, south end of George Street has something to twinkle about.

Story: Lucie Robson Star Bar: 600 George St, Sydney NSW (02) 9267 7827 or www.starbar.com.au

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ost Sydneysiders will have a memory of Star Bar — some hazier than others. Its location in the very centre of town and its longevity make it something of a George St legend.

Between the wars, Sydney experienced a boom in palace-style theatre buildings, and Star Bar — or as it was then, the Plaza Theatre — was one of them, opening in 1930. It remained a cinema until 1970, when it became multi-functional, housing a McDonald’s, a skating rink, a concert venue and a restaurant as well. From 1995 to 2000, the venue was the theme restaurant Planet Hollywood — some costumes are left over from this time and are on display on the top floor. Star Bar opened in 2001, when the building was bought by Maloney Hotel Group. But, my, how it’s changed!

EXITING PLANET HOLLYWOOD Now, Star Bar is a sparkling all-in-one venue with something for everyone: a basement nightclub, street-level bar and top floor bar and restaurant. With a nod to the past, there’s even a boutique cinema. Kim Maloney, CEO of Maloney Hotel Group, explains that throughout the day, a whole range of people walk through the doors — backpackers and corporate workers for lunch in the day, the after-work crowd from 5pm, cinema-goers in the evening (Event Cinemas is across the road), suburban partygoers, then nightclubbers after midnight, and finally hospitality workers from around the city until closing time in the early hours.

So does the new Star Bar have something that appeals to everyone? “It does,” says Maloney. “I think over the three floors, it does.”

In Star Bar’s short life it has seen some changes already. “We did extensions and renovations over the years with the kitchens and the bars, and the Level 1 street-level bar and basement, but it was only, to a degree, patchwork renovations,” Maloney says. “So there came a time when we had to ‘dePlanet Hollywood-ise’ it, and therefore a major overhaul and renovation was required.”

GLORY DAYS RETURN Maloney commissioned Sydney’s Robertson+Marks architects for the job.

Director Andrew Scarvelis received an exciting brief, he says, to return the building to its former glory as an entertainment hub while respecting its heritage: “To enhance the wonder and sense of experience and take advantage of the site’s potential and history.”

Scarvelis describes the firm’s approach to Star Bar’s renovations as focussing on “de-cluttering” — opening up the venue’s spaces and then closing them up again in subtle ways. “Metaphorically it’s a kind of design volume control where we looked at turning it up in some areas, and muting it a little in others,” he says. “The un-cluttering revealed a beautiful old warehouse space with an exposed timber truss roof structure, which we took the opportunity to highlight. As an architect you don’t often get that opportunity to work with this style of space, especially in the heart of Sydney.”

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AV: STAR AT NIGHT

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The Star Bar AV spec is a study in combining high quality and good value. From the spec it’s easy to see that considerable thought and planning has gone into providing a topclass system but one proportional to the scope of the job.

The Maloney Hotel Group has had a long and fruitful association with Revolver Audio for its AV requirements and the Star Bar was another Revolver job. Most of the AV love has been lavished on the sizeable dancefloor. Come the weekend the ~15mx15m dancefloor is soaking in the sounds of a Nexo PS series PA. PS10s and 15s are installed around the perimeter of the dancefloor and are supplemented by four RS15 subs.

Powering the Nexo PA are seven Camco amps, supplying a hefty 26,600W RMS of power to the floor. There’s more than enough headroom here. In fact, Lee Conlon boss of Revolver Audio, had the ultimate compliment paid to him by a DJ: “Lee, it’s a really, really loud system.

Chauvet show lighting takes care of the dancefloor. With a number of LED moving spots and beams, all helmed by a Martin M2-PC lighting controller. A large VuePix LED screen (3.6 x 2.4m) provides another attraction and is driven by Arkaos DMX software.

An Epson G6550 full HD projector works long hours showing sports broadcast or Nightlife music video. Lee mentioned that he had to do some convincing to get Star Bar to take a full HD alternative but they’ve not looked back. The HD Foxtel feed looks superb with the Epson projector and Screen Technics screen.

Elsewhere, JBL Control 28T surfacemount speakers give an even spread of sound throughout the rest of the venue. The speakers are powered by Crown amplifiers and controlled by dbx ZonePro processors.

Revolver Audio: (02) 9698 3288 or www.revolveraudio.com.au Group Technologies (Nexo, Camco): (03) 9354 9133 or www.grouptechnologies.com.au Showtools International: (02) 9824 2382 or www.showtools.com.au ULA Group (VuePix, Arkaos): 1300 852 476 or www.ulagroup.com Jands (JBL, dbx, Crown): (02) 9582 0909 or info@jands.com.au Epson Australia: (02) 8899 3666 or srogers@epson.com.au

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Robertson+Marks’s brief for Level 1 involved enhancing the 8m-high ceilings and building on the remnants of the original Plaza Theatre. “Of course we had to keep the cinema,” Maloney remarks, explaining that the cinema is a smaller version of what the original theatre looked like. The ground floor was to be a friendly streetlevel bar with a subtle English theme and plenty of timber, and downstairs, a more colourful dancefloor.

“The hotel serves many functions: traditional public bar at ground level, dining areas, dance parties, functions, night clubbing, corporate events, cocktail bar — literally all under one roof,” says Scarvelis. “There are cosy and intimate spaces for catch-ups, the traditional streetlevel public bar, to the high-impact warehouse space of the nightclub that harks to the intense high-style of LA.”

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EXTRA DRAMA The team paid particular attention to adding extra drama with eye-catching light features. “The bar is such a focus for any premises, but in keeping with the scale and grandeur of Star Bar, the grand light fittings were created to reinforce and celebrate the scale,” Scarvelis continues. “Anything less would just not do justice to the space.”

Happily, Star Bar’s makeover actually precedes grander changes to the streetscape outside its walls.

There are big things happening on the southern end of George Street. “The market down this end of town for serviced apartments and residences is absolutely red hot,” says Maloney. “It’s a very desirable place to live and work now.”

Wilmot Lane, which runs along the side of Star Bar, is set to be pedestrianised in 2014. This adds extra appeal to the large windows that now open onto the laneway.

Maloney explains that the venue will eventually have outside seating on the footpath there. “I think that all dovetails into the bigger picture of, in a couple of year, the light rail that is going to run down George St,” he says. “So it’ll be a continuation of making that part of town a little bit more pedestrian friendly.”

ROUGH, NOW READY Over the years, as with many dynamic parts of the city, George Street has become more varied, more modern and much busier. “When I started in this area in 1997, it was a very rough part of town,” Maloney remembers.

“World Square [a large shopping mall a few streets away from Star Bar] was a big hole in the ground. It’s a very big part of Sydney now — I think about 50,000 people a day go to work, live, or visit, or shop around World Square. So it’s a very large regional town just in itself.” He cites other developments such as the Meriton apartments and the upcoming 66-storey Greenland Centre, which will encompass the Water Board building directly behind Star Bar and eventually (in around four years’ time) be the tallest building in Sydney.

It seems that everybody’s investing in George St South, so it’s fitting that they’ll have a newer, brighter Star Bar to go to when they want to let off some steam — any time of day or night.

CONTACTS Robertson+Marks (Architects): (02) 9319 4388 or www.marks.net.au

“we had to ‘de-Planet Hollywood-ise’ it, and therefore a major overhaul and renovation was required” Kim Maloney, CEO Maloney Hotel Group

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GIVE IT SOME WELLY

The Duke of Wellington, established 1853, is ready for its next big campaign.

Story: Christopher Holder

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he Duke of Wellington pub is old. If the walls could talk they’d probably have an emphysema wheeze and could tell you stories that would make your hair curl.

It’s always been a quintessentially CBD pub, in tune with the rhythms of the big city: footy on a Saturday, tennis in January, ANZAC Day libations, Friday afterwork drinks… and a constant dribble of sozzled journo-types filing in and out of the Herald & Weekly Times building (alas, long gone).

The last publican was one Brian ‘The Whale’ Roberts.

The ex Richmond FC man-mountain was straight from the tradition of the hard-drinking footy player who saw pub management as a natural career progression.

He festooned his walls with football and racehorse memorabilia, and pulled pots like a pro.

But it was clear to the landlord that The Whale didn’t have the wherewithal to give The Duke of Wellington a new lease on life.

The pub closed its doors for around three years in anticipation of something fresh, by which time the landlord approached The Open Door Pub Company.

Open Door had acquired Lion Nathan’s pub portfolio (that included a number of well-known Melbourne

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The two ground floor bars (this page and opposite) with its 22 beers on tap. Stripping the structure back to unadorned bare brickwork provided the cues for the interior design. (Right) Ramvek’s Founder, Mark White (left), shares a beer with The Duke’s General Manager, Steve Schreuder.

pubs along with three venues at the Sydney Airport), and saw clearly The Duke of Wellington’s many possibilities.

And now, Open Door has re-opened the doors. And in the final half of 2013 ‘The Duke’ (as it is now known) has reacquainted itself with Melbourne.

FULL EXPOSURE Of course, transforming The Duke from a ‘rat- and possum-infested’ nightmare, into a modern, inviting multi-level pub, wasn’t a doddle. After Steve Schreuder (The Duke GM and Open Door Pub Company Director) and Managing Director Michael Thiele signed the lease, it took two years to complete. The initial architectural plan was overly-ambitious and would have been commercial suicide to build. Let’s not forget, the new Duke holds one of the biggest licenses in Melbourne and this has been an enormous undertaking.

Steve Schreuder: “It’s a historic CBD building over three levels. We always knew it was going to be a huge undertaking. But we quickly saw that we were going to need to trim the costs by embracing the bare bones of the building as much as we could. The initial design had layers of battens, plaster, and wallpaper, and I’m sure

would have looked extraordinary, but we’ve kept the skin as clean as possible.”

Newline Design took on the design brief with Ramvek builders doing the fitout ‘heavy lifting’. After a chat with Ramvek’s Founder Mark White it’s very evident just how proud the company is of this particular project.

Just about every time venue interviews a builder we’re told how collegial the process was, only this time you get the feeling it’s a little more than spin.

Mark White: “It was a real team effort to keep the costs down and make this project work. The three parties — John Mikulic and Newline Design, Ramvek, and the Open Door Pub Company really worked as a team. At times we were making decisions on the run but we did it in concert.”

There were compromises to be negotiated. We’ve sealed a lot of surfaces while maintaining the heritage look and feel. We’ve built an entirely new kitchen to service the pub as a whole; the air handling and the beer dispense systems are all state of the art, yet done in a way that’s maintaining the integrity of the heritage structure.”

Food has become a key plank to The Duke’s success.

The venue now has a 7am–1am license, and Steve and his team have decided to take advantage of the early start. Breakfast is definitely on the menu (as is firstclass coffee), and the kitchen is open until midnight.

The fare is replete with pub favourites. In fact, on the day venue dropped by The Duke, Steve was ready to welcome his first Parma Daze ‘Golden Chook’ award for Best Parma of 2013. Admittedly, Steve was slightly sheepish about the award, but proud nonetheless.

HITTING THE BRICK WALLS Naturally, the kitchen is also big on canapés for the A large chunk of the challenge was working on an function trade. old building with a heritage overlay, and updating the services and food preparation facilities within the shell. BIG GAME Mark White: “Heritage and the Health Department Ultimately, The Duke is a big pub, mercifully free of both had their ideas and neither had much regard for pretensions. And it’s proven to already be up to the the other. Heritage would want a wall untouched, while challenge of the big occasion. the Health Department would require it to be treated. Steve Schreuder: “It’s a big pub [with a license for

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“For the AFL grand final weekend we renamed ourselves the Duke of Fremantle … this was well received by the visiting West Australians!”

Steve Schreuder, The Duke GM

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1000+ when the third level is complete] and there have been some challenges. We’ve had a number of big tests. When the British Lions came to town we were invaded. That was amazing. They spent the week solidly drinking — without incident, I should add. But that tested us out. As did the big Liverpool game and the AFL grand final. We have four entry doors and we had queues of over 200 in each queue after the grand final.

But we got through all that.

“Ironically, what’s more challenging in a big pub is to keep it profitable and well serviced during quieter periods. There’s a lot of floorspace to cover, we’re open until 1am every night, and staffing is our single biggest operating cost.”

SOLID OPERATION If running a pub was like coaching a footy team, you’d hear a lot about ‘getting the fundamentals right’, making sure you’re ‘key position players’ are top class and working as a team. Open Door Pub Company has quickly hit its stride with The Duke. It’s got all the ‘one percenters’ right and the pub fundamentals are in place.

Meanwhile, the general public — the mainstream, middle-class, 9-5, ‘don’t mind a beer’ public — have embraced The Duke as its own. All without fanfare, or a flash marketing marketing campaign… but with the occasional brainwave of guerrilla marketing: Steve Schreuder: “For the AFL grand final weekend we renamed ourselves the Duke of Fremantle. As you can imagine, this was well received by the visiting West Australians — they made it their own. What’s more, the media got hold of it and it created a frenzy of activity.

We had live crosses all weekend; we had Gary Ablett in here two days after he won the Brownlow; it was really well received across the board.”

CONTACTS Ramvek (Builder): (03) 9794 9342 or mark@ramvek.com.au DC Group/Newline Design (Architects): (03) 9650 3224 or www.dcgroup.com.au

SOUND OF SPORT The Duke loves a good game and has the big screens to show them. There are six 60-inch HiSense displays on the ground floor and more than enough audio firepower to convey the excitement of the occasion. Ambient Technology took care of the AV install and is also the Australian distributor of Italian PA maestros, Outline. Outline IS8 surfacemount eight-inch speakers take care of most of the sound reinforcement with low-end assistance from Eidos 108 subs. A pair of DVS10 two-way cabs in the main bar provides the oomph required for a DJ session, with a DVS 115 single-15-inch sub assisting.

Elsewhere, Outline IC series in-ceiling speakers ensure and even distributed sound throughout the six zones of the venue.

Ambient Technology: (03) 9731 7242 or www.ambienttechnology.com.au

FROM FARM TO BARN Story: Lucie Robson Rushcutters: (02) 9326 9348 or www.rushcutters.com.au 10 Neild Avenue, Rushcutters Bay NSW

ALL DAY BABY

Inside, Rushcutters is all open space and natural light, with splashes of white and fresh pastel colour and shiny polished cement floors. On the menu is produce sourced from a variety of farms in the lush Hawkesbury region, north of Sydney.

Rushcutters’ northern-European exec chefs Martin Boetz and Kasper Christensen put together a seasonal menu that showcases what’s growing, and there are multiple dining options for the hungry Rushcutter locals: deli, bar or dining room, any time of the day.

Keystone’s creative director Paul Schulte believes the concept promotes locality, provenance, seasonality, and sustainability. Diners can enjoy the finest offerings of the Hawkesbury region’s farms, presented with very little fuss.

“We were also inspired by the idea of rejuvenation and simply restoring things back to their former glory,” says Schulte. “You can see this in the food — to which very little is done, allowing the produce to shine, and the local farmers an opportunity to grow amongst so many larger competitors.”

“We wanted to create an all-day approachable vibe for people in the area, so that if they wished, they could return to visit again later on the same day — particularly in the case of the bar, where they can pick up a cocktail, wine or snack,” says Schulte.

The philosophy of “farm to table” is on display here, among the pared-back decor, remnants of the old tyre factory that stood at 10 Neild Avenue. Hawkesbury

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farmers are represented in an inner-city setting under an 11m-high ceiling.

A restaurant, but also a deli, bar and farmer’s market — a “total food hub”, as it were — the latest venture from The Keystone Group is a taste of Australia’s farmlands in innercity Sydney.

The old factory space provided some inspiration for Schulte’s design work, which aimed to bring a slice of farm life into the big smoke. “I have always admired the building and knew that we had to restore the space to show off some of the most impressive and original features; the 11m-high ceilings and the sheer size of the venue,” he says, adding that the venue looks similar to a huge barn.

There’s a signature Sydney finishing touch at Rushcutters,

too — barn doors sourced from Wollongong, but made from timber that was once part of the wharf piers at Walsh Bay, soaking in the salty harbour air for many years. “They just felt right to divide the space,” Schulte explains.

the finished space. “We are so passionate about helping these farmers and giving Sydneysiders a true farm-to-plate story that we wanted to showcase this in as many ways as possible.”

Installing the doors was the solution to one of the biggest design challenges, says Schulte: dividing up the massive ex-factory place into usable areas. “We also used greenery and plants to divide areas, which creates a natural balance and sense of calm in the venue,” he adds, saying that the doors look like they have been there forever.

Key to the success of Rushcutters is the homely atmosphere. The deli features ‘The Wine Wall’. “it provides a real homely feeling, almost as if you can climb up the ladder and open a bottle, as you might in your own home, which is exactly how we want people to feel.”

FARMERS’ MARKETING The Keystone team designed a large amount of the furniture, using ideas collected on trips to the US and Europe. These, along with the curtains, were created specifically for Rushcutters, as Schulte says “with both the farm and venue space in mind”. They also designed some dining chairs using sand linen fabric from Mulberry called ‘Flying Ducks’ — the design has been a talking point for customers. Artwork on the walls at Rushcutters features images from the Cooks Co-op farm and other parts of the Hawkesbury region. It is one of Schulte’s favourite parts of

CONTACTS The Country Trader: (02) 9698 4661 or www.thecountrytrader.com.au Mulberry: www.mulberry.com

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCHWORD Rushcutters is not quite a finished product yet. There is a private dining room yet to be completed that will seat 16, and in 2014 Keystone will work on developing an upstairs space for functions. But at the moment curious folks can wander in and taste fine Australian produce from north of the Sydney in its many different forms.

“Our biggest hope is that people walk away with a stronger sense of community,” says Schulte. “We would like them to feel as though they’ve had a real neighbourhood experience, which is often hard to find in the inner-city.”

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Enea Lottus

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The Lottus collection of stools, tables, and chairs from Enea comes in timber too — as seen in the new Central Park development’s Central Kitchen (see our full story earlier this issue).

Upholstered or polypropylene seats in any colour can be paired with timber stained legs — Central Kitchen has gone with Green, White and Black seats. Beyond the options available in the shell, there are choices in the base of the chair: a metal structure can be specified in lacquered colours or chromed, with a choice of sled legs, four legs, swivel, task chair on wheels as well as with or without arms, of which there are two styles. Versatile.

Ke-Zu: (02) 9699 1788 or info@kezu.com.au

Prototype in FNQ

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Prototype has been providing furniture for Rydges Hotels with its rollout of properties in Queensland. Pictured is the Rise breakfast space at the Cairns site where Prototype provided table tops and Meg chairs from Rosetto. The Meg chair included a chrome four-leg base and Prototype had the upholstery completed in-house in Australia for the neat tub chair. The upholstery was completed in a contrast fabric on the back and front with a floral pattern chosen by the designer. The table tops were laminated with an ABS edge that looked like plywood and offered a solid top for durability. Elsewhere, the fitout varied in each of the sites, however, the underlying theme throughout the three hotels was to create a costal feeling.

Prototype: 1300 799 376 or www.prototype.net.au

Triku By Alki

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Triku from Alki is a collection inspired by Dolmens; megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone. Many colour options are available for the timber stain, in addition to a variety of leather and fabric so each piece will have a custom made feel to suit. The proportions are both generous and well balanced. Now available in dining chair, dining table, bar table, bar stools and coffee tables.

Cosh Living: (03) 9281 1999 or www.coshliving.com

Tuff Stuff

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The Tuff stool is a new product in korban/flaubert’s series of simple elemental forms for furniture. Designed to evoke the look of a knuckle or joint, Tuff is well balanced yet super simple. Locally produced, the Tuff stool is strong as singles, groups or you can sculptural stack the Tuff stool. Tuff comes in a wide array of colours. Price: $200+ GST korban/flaubert: (02) 9557 6136 or www.korbanflaubert.com.au

invisible loudspeakers

Allow your customer to keep those clean, clutter free design lines. www.amina.co.uk

Toll Free: 1800 636 026 sales@canohm.com.au www.canohm.com.au

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HK’s Star Attraction

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HK Audio has unveiled a line of powered speakers called the Pulsar series, aimed at the crowded 1000W class of systems.

Its trademark features include ‘transparent, balanced midrange response’, paired with plenty of low-end punch, and HK assure us the signal’s transparency and balance is maintained even when the bass and master volume is increased sharply.

The line features two full-range models, the PL112 FA (12-inch woofer) and the PL115 FA (15-inch woofer) and a hybrid subwoofer. All the Pulsar series have optional covers, tilt units and rigging yokes.

Eye For Big Picture

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Standing over 15 metres tall and 60 metres wide (a whopping 556.1sqm in all), ‘The Big Picture’ is located inside the main lobby and entrance to Singapore’s Suntec Exhibition and Convention Centre and is fast becoming a major attraction in an of itself. Combining 664 full HD LED screens from LG Electronics, The Big Picture boasts 84 times the resolution of full HD, or, if you like, 21 times that of Ultra High Definition resolution. Wrangling the content and managing the millions of pixels (32,051 pixels wide by 7941 pixels high!) for 16 hours each day, are 21 Watchout display servers from Dataton.

Interactive Controls (Dataton): (02) 9436 3022 or www.interactivecontrols.com.au LG Electronics: (02) 8805 4409 or www.lg.com.au/commercial

CMI Music & Audio: (03) 9315 2244 or www.cmi.com.au

Dynacord Vertical Array

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Dynacord is expanding its Vertical Array loudspeaker family to include two full-range boxes, the TS 100 and TS 200. Aimed at the premium market segment, both models promise high sound pressure levels, excellent acoustic performance and versatility.

Their application range includes both the reinforcement of live music and AV installations.

Bosch Communication Systems: (02) 9683 4572 or www.boschcommunications.com.au

Swede Success

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Swedish sporting goods chain Sportshopen has outfitted its new Grebbestad retail complex with a total of 176 Turbosound loudspeakers inside and outside the building, including the Impact 55T and Impact 65T models in addition to TCS-61 two-way loudspeakers and TCS-C50T ceiling speakers.

Sportshopen demanded a big, high-quality sound with minimal aesthetic impact. With 38 zones, both indoor and outdoor, as well as paging and A/V requirements, the installation was a substantial undertaking. But Sportshopen’s owner Reinert Sorensson was quick to realise that better quality audio in the store would have a measurable effect on business growth.

Hills SVL (Turbosound): (02) 9647 1411 or www.hillssvl.com.au

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d&b Taps Into Fashion

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Located at the heart of Milan’s fashion district, the new Spazio Gessi is a showroom and meeting centre like no other. Gessi, purveyors of swanky ‘bathroom solutions’, clearly has a different way of doing business. “The project was to create a space destined to be much more than a traditional showroom,” said architect Luca Bresciani. “So when it came to thinking about sound and how to relay information we knew we would need a system capable of offering a natural and smooth reproduction of speech and background music, but at the same time ready to bring out the energy for party and events we are planning to host in our space.” d&b, purveyors or swanky audio solutions, had just the thing for the 5000sqm space — its White range. The tiny 4S and 5S models were heavily leaned on, with d&b R1 Remote for software control. When a DJ comes calling d&b Ti speakers supported by 27S-Subs provide the extra energy.

National Audio Systems: 1800 441 440 or www.nationalaudio.com.au

Think Outside The Box

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The Cube Wodonga is the city’s most recent and exciting attraction. The Cube is a modern performance space that can house 1000 people standing, 320 people at round tables or 410 in theatre mode. Professional Audio Services were called upon to supply audio requirements to this multi-purpose space including a JBL VRX PA. “It’s small and tidy but sounds like a big PA — it sounds unbelievably good especially as the room is quite good acoustically,” commented PAS’s Tony Boon. The PA system comprises three JBL VRX 932 LAP and a JBL VRX 918 SP per side. For foldback there is a pair of JBL PRX 612M cabinets. Professional Audio Services also supplied a comprehensive package of lighting fixtures to the venue including 36 x ETC Source Four Zoom Spots, 24 x ETC Source Four Fresnel, 10 x ETC Source Four ParNel and 24 x ETC Source Four PARs. Six VariLite VL1100 TIDs were also chosen for their versatility — “they cover a lot of ground,” noted Tony.

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

2 1

4 3

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lit

Chelsea Flowers

1

The Chelsea Pendant Light complemented the Woolwich Hotel interiors handsomely (see the full story elsewhere). The Chelsea Pendant Light is available in hand galvanised cast iron or raw sandblasted bronze. Perfect where traditional architecture requires sympathetic lighting and, latterly, where these industrial and functional qualities suit contemporary locations, these lights have used by design luminaries such as Andree Putman, John Pawson and Terence Conran. Price: $448.

Pro Biotic Fun

2

de Simone Design has given Hoy House of Yoghurt plenty of lactose-enriched whimsy. The lighting is of particular interest, with thanks to some Volkerhaug pendants and Candy Apple wall lights. The Fro Yo Fountain feature in the middle is also of note — engineered by Trent Baker from Armature Design Support. de Simone Design: 0419 903 929 or www.desimonedesign.com.au Volkerhaug: (03) 9387 1803 or www.volkerhaug.com

Dunlin: (02) 9907 4825 or www.dunlinhome.com

Sleek Circle

3

Satelight UXC Project

4

Sattler is well known for its sleek lines and minimalist designs.

Lights by Sattler are also energy efficient, easy to install, and eye catching. The Sattler Circolo (pictured) conforms to a circular aluminium profile, with an opal acrylic glass ring on the inside.

Circolo comes in eight different sizes up to 3.5m in diameter.

‘Over 16 million colours’ are possible.

Satelight worked closely with the project architects to design, develop and manufacture custom pendant lights for the stairwell within UXC’s Melbourne office. This new office interior has a friendly and open environment. These large colourful light fittings hang over the employee’s kitchen area, which gave a contemporary, decorative feel while remaining unobtrusive.

Koda Lighting: (02) 9699 6007 or www.kodalighting.com.au

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

5

Clinker… Sweet 7

5

Clinker is all about colour, shape and flavour. Designed by ISM Objects, the Clinker pendant features a lozenge-like shape, its glossy outer surface offset by the pleasant surprise of a bright, colourful interior. The pendant’s expert design provides quality lighting output using efficient fluorescent technology that can be dimmed and controlled. Clinker is available in three sizes of 550mm, 750mm and 900mm diameters. Channelling the flavoursome fun of sweet confectionary, Clinker comes in a range of colours including Gloss White, Ember Red and Ash Green, as well as custom colours. Price: from $890.

ISM Objects: 1300 888 646 or ismobjects.com.au

Carr Sees Red

6

6

Novotel Melbourne on Collins had the two floors of its public spaces totally overhauled. Carr Design, not content with a lick of paint and new carpet, stripped the building back discovering some key architectural characteristics that influenced the design. The colour palette of red, black and white, has been extrapolated from the floors geometric pattern, which creates vibrancy and assists in defining the different dining experiences.

The red circular pendant lights hanging over the buffet area are emblematic of the approach. The pendants are the Caravaggio pendant from Danish lighting specialists Lightyears (available in Australia via Corporate Culture). These particular examples were powdercoated red especially.

Carr Design Group: (03) 9665 2324 or www.carr.net.au

Klec Gets Cagey

7

You may have noticed this guy in Bergstrom’s George P Johnson [see elsewhere this issue]. The Klec pendant adds a touch of industrial style with its simple black cage. This light fitting also features a satin chrome metal lampholder and can be used with any E27 base lamp or globe.

Available electrical flex colours are red, black, white and clear. Note: Lamps are not included.

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

POWERFUL,

PORTABLE

& IPAD CONTROLLED

LSP 500 PRO

The LSP 500 PRO is iPad controlled and truly wireless by design with 3 wireless microphone links, bluetooth music streaming, built in USB player and recorder guaranteeing optimum audio connectivity. The LSP 500 PRO is stackable from 2 to 20 speakers to suit every venue.

Save time. Save money. Go PRO. sennheiser.com .au/lsp-500-pro

PREFERRED SUPPLIERS ACCESSORIES Allplastics Engineering Pty Ltd www.allplastics.com.au

Jackson Clement Burrows www.jcba.com.au

KP Architects www.kparchitects.com.au Bar Icon Group

Luchetti Krelle www.bar-icon-group.com www.luchettikrelle.com JamFactory

Marchese www.jamfactory.com.au www.marchesepartners.com.a Kennards www.kennards.com.au Make www.make.net.au Mezzanine Wine

www.mezzaninewine.com.au Nicholas Associates www.nicholasassociates.com.au PILA Group www.pilagroup.com Peckvonhartel www.pvh.com.au Raypak www.raypak.com.au Pikewithers Technogym www.technogym.com

www.pikewithers.com.au

AMMENITIES

SJB www.sjb.com.au

Dyson www.dyson.com.au Jet Dryer www.jetdryer.com.au Tradelink www.tradelink.com.au RBA Group www.rba.com.au ARCHITECTS

62

SixDegrees Architecture www.sixdegrees.com.au

Squillace Architects+Interior Design www.squillace.com.au Stanton Creative Group www.stantoncreativegroup.com.au Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects www.tzg.co.au McGlashan Everist www.mearchitects.com Webb Australia

www.webbaustralia.com.au Woodhead www.woodhead.com.au AUDIO EQUIPMENT

Electric Factory www.elfa.com.au Funktion One www.funkton-one.com.au Group Technologies www.gtaust.com Hills SVL www.hillssvl.com.au JB commercial www.jbcommercial.com.au Len Wallis Audio www.lenwallisaudio.com Magna Systems www.magnasys.com.au Max Home www.maxhome.com.au McCalls www.mccallsservices.com.au Meyer sound www.meyersound.com.au Music Link www.musiclink.com.au National Audio Systems www.nationalaudio.com.au Night Works Audio www.nightworksaudio.com.au One Productions www.oneproductions.com.au Pioneer www.pioneer.com.au Production Audio Services www.productionaudio.com.au Syntec International www.syntec.com.au TAG

www.tag.com.au

2RKS Architecture + Design 2 Winslow Street Milsons Point, NSW 2061 T: (02) 8904 0000 F: (02) 8904 0411 www.2rks.com

BERGSTROM ARCHITECTS Suite 103, 3 Eden Street, North Sydney NSW 2060 T: (02) 8920 1499 F: (02) 8920 1599 info@bergstromarchitects.com.au

CMI Music & Audio www.cmi.com.au

Yamaha www.yamahamusic.com.au J Audio Supply and Design Professional Audio Systems (07) 5599 1551 info@jdistribution.net www.jdistribution.net

AUDIOVISUAL & INSTALLATION

Australian Venue Services Pty Ltd 5 Saywell Street, Marrickville, Jands Pty Ltd NSW 2204 Altis Architecture JBL - SHURE - Soundcraft 1300 66 31 66 www.altisarchitecture.com 40 Kent Road, Mascot NSW 2020 info@a-v.com.au Arkhefield (02) 9582 0909 www.australianvenueservices.com.au www.arkhefield.com.au www.jands.com.au Axil Architecture

www.axil.com.au Acoustica Baenzigercoles

www.acoustica.com.au www.baenzigercoles.com.au AV System Consultancy & Design Advance Audio Australia

Theatre Planning & System Design Brand+Slater

www.advanceaudio.com.au Architectural Lighting Design www.brandandslater.com.au NSW: (02) 9029 0281 Audio Logistics

BY Architects sydney@designstage.com.au www.audiologistics.com.au www.byarchitects.com.au QLD: (07) 3367 2234 Audio Product Group Cox Richardson

brisbane@designstage.com.au www.audioproducts.com.au www.cox.com.au www.designstage.com.au Bishop Audio

Goodwin Design

www.bishopaudio.com.au www.goodwindesign.com.au Bose Group GSA www.bose.com www.groupgsa.com

JVG Sound Leaders in AV, Lighting, Hire, Production, Security and MATV NSW, QLD, NT, VIC, TAS 1300 584 584 (07) 5599 1222 admin@jvgsound.com.au www.jvgsound.com.au AMX Australia www.amxaustralia.com.au AVICO www.avico.com.au Avocent Australia www.connectivity.avocent.com Axiom www.axiompl.com.au Beyond AV www.beyondav.com.au BE Productions www.beproductions.com.au 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 Dynalite www.dynalite-online.com EPSON www.epson.com.au Herma www.herma.com.au iMatte’sBody of Work www.techtel.com.au Impact AV www.impactav.com.au JBN www.jbn.com.au Laser Vision www.laservision.com.au Milestone Solutions www.milestone.com.au Pulse AV www.pulseav.com.au Venutech www.venutech.com.au Video Pro www.videopro.com.au YSI www.soundinvestment.com.au

CONSTRUCTION

Global Shop Fitters Complete commericial fit-outs design and consultancy Unit 9/17 Rothcote Crt Burleigh Heads QLD 4220 Ph: 1300 103 755 www.globalshopfitters.com

DESIGN

Paul Kelly Design 77 Bay St. Glebe. NSW 2007 (02) 9660 8299 www.paulkellydesign.com.au

DISPLAY

Samsung Electronics Australia Commercial Displays 8 Parkview Drive Homebush Bay NSW 2127 02 9763 9700 it.sales@samsung.com www.samsung.com/au/business

Playcom Customised Entertainment Digital Signage systems background music and music video Street 22, 89 Jones St, Ultimo (02) 8815 6600 info@playcom.com.au www.playcom.com.au Platinum TV www.platinumtv.com.au

The Chillie Group Hostpitality Industry Specialists Hotels – Pubs – Clubs – Gaming – Bars Restaurants – Design Construction (02) 9453 4744 info@thechilliegroup.com.au www.thechilliegroup.com.au

Arcon www.arcon-nsw.com.au

FABRIC

TM DESIGN GROUP PTY LTD DESIGNERS TO THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY Studio 5, 11 Beach Street Port Melbourne, VIC 3207 Ian Macklin (Director) 03 9646 9932 0417 147 110 imacklin@tmdg.com.au www.tmdg.com.au Barbara and fellows www.barbaraandfellows.com.au Bleux www.bleux.com.au Dasch Associates www.daschassociates.com

Dickson-Constant www.dickson-constant.com V Screen Indoor/Outdoor LED Screens (07) 5599 1551 info@jdistribution.net www.jdistribution.net Aquavision www.aquavisiontv.com.au Hitachi www.hitachi.com.au Innovizion www.innovizion.com.au JVC proffesional www.jvc-australia.com

Kvadrat Maharam www.kvadratmaharam.com Warwick Fabrics www.warwick.com.au

FINISHES Alloy Design www.alloydesign.com.au Armstrong www.armstrong-aust.com.au Axolotl Group www.axolotl-group.com Bravo print www.bravoprint.com.au

Crown Commercials www.creationbaumann.com

D4 Residential & Commercial Design www.d4designs.com.au

Gibbon Group www.gibbongroup.com.au

DBI Design www.dbidesign.com.au

NEC www.nec.com.au

Rohrig www.rohrig.com.au

Dreamtime www.dreamtimeaustraliadesign.com

Panasonic www.panasonic.com.au

Isis www.isis.com.au

Edge Commercial Interiors www.edgecommercialinteriors.com.au

Philips

James Clifford Construction www.jamesclifford.com.au

Innersphere www.innersphere.com.au

Liquid Lines www.liquidlines.com.au

Samsung www.samsung.com.au

Inset Group www.insetgroup.com.au

Paynter Dixon www.paynterdixon.com.au

Sony www.sony.com.au

Joshua Bacon Design www.joshuabacon.com.au

Premier Club Constructions www.premierbuild.com.au

Wilson Gilkes www.gilkon.com.au

Lime Design Interiors www.limedesigninteriors.com.au

Viewsonic Australia www.viewsonic.com

MERRILL DESIGN AUSTRALIA www.merrilldesign.com.au

Hunter Douglas Architectural Products www.hunterdouglascommercial. com.au

ENTERTAINMENT

Instyle Contract Textiles www.instyle.com.au

Premier Building Group www.premierclub.com.au Quality Project Management www.qpmgt.com.au Reed Constructions Australia www.reedgroup.com.au

COMMERCIAL EDUCATION

www.avico.com.au

Moth Design www.mothdesign.com.au

Ryder Hampton www.ryderhampton.com

Casf www.casf.com.au Design Room Australia Digiglass www.digiglass.com.au Dulux www.dulux.com.au Hot Metal www.hotmetal.biz

Interior Decorative Coatings www.idccolourfield.com

Origin Didier Design www.origindidier.com.au

Quattro Design www.quattrodesign.com.au

Caesarstone www.caesarstone.com.au

Interior Art Image www.interiorartimage.com

Nexus Design www.nexusdesigns.com.au

Platinum Interiors www.platinuminteriors.com.au UNE Partnerships Facilities Management Frontline Management Project Management 122-132 Mossman Street Armidale NSW 2350 (02) 6773 0000 www.unep.edu.au accounts@unep.edu.au

Mitsubishi Electric www.mitsubishielectric.com.au

Nightlife Music Managed Music, Visuals and Digital advertising solutions For more information call: Phil Brown - National Sales 0404 556 727 phil.brown@nightlife.com.au www.nightlife.com.au

Laminex www.laminex.com.au Liquid Metal Technologies www.liqmet.com Llias www.ilias.com.au Marblo www.marblo.com Pet Shop Studio International www.petshopstudio.com.au

63

Porter’s Paints www.porterspaints.com.au

DTAC www.dtac.com.au

Eco Flooring Systems www.ecoflooring.com.au

FLOORING

Eurofurn www.eurofurn.com.au Form and Function www.form-function.com.au

Eco Tile Factory www.ecotilefactory.com.au Finest international, local and custom-made tiles for the commercial, hospitality & corporate market.

182-186 Parramatta Road, Camperdown NSW 2050 (02) 9550 5204 www.belmondotiles.com.au

Forbo www.forbo-flooring.com.au Godfrey Hirst www.godgfreyhirst.com Gunnersen Inspirations www.gunnersens.com.au InterfaceFLOR www.interfaceaus.com.au Karndean International www.karndean.com

Four Two www.fourtwo.com.au Instyle Seating High Quality, Functional, Affordable Furniture for Hospitality, Commercial and Corporate. Australia Wide Delivery.

1300 309 889 info@instyleseating.com.au www.instyleseating.com.au

National Tiles www.nationaltiles.com.au Polyflor Australia www.polyflor.com.au Rms Natural Stone www.rmsmarble.com Rocks On www.rockson.com.au Stone Art www.stoneartaust.com.au

64

Gibbon Group Innovative, sustainable and high-quality interior finishes (07) 3881 1777 sales@gibbongroup.com.au www.gibbongroup.com.au

The Rug Collection www.therugcollection.com.au Tsar Carpets and Rugs www.tsar.com.au Casino Consoles Australia www.casinoconsoles.com.au

Tappeti Level 2, 13 - 15 Levey Street Chippendale 2008 T: (02) 9698 2735 F: (02) 9698 2788 designstudio@tappeti.com.au www.tappeti.com.au Academy Tiles www.academytiles.com.au Altro Flooring www.asf.com.au Amber Tiles www.ambertiles.com.au

Prototype Commercial Furniture Manufacture, Tailor and Supply Commercial Furniture 31 Paringa Road Murarrie QLD 4217 1 The Crescent, Kingsgrove NSW 2208 1300 799 376 info@prototype.net.au www.prototype.net.au

The Seatery Custom Upholstery Specialist Factory 3, 24 Longstaff Road Bayswater Vic 3153 (03) 9720 0042 enquiries@theseatery.com.au www.theseatery.com.au

Whitecliffe Imports www.whitecliffe.com.au

Aero Design www.aerodesigns.com.au

FURNITURE

Blok Furniture www.blokfurniture.com.au

FURNITURE B Seated Australia Leading Supplier & Manufacturer of Commercial Furniture.

7/22 Mavis St , Revesby, NSW 2212 1300 727 637 www.bseatedglobal.com.au

BINDI Furn www.bindifurniture.com.au Botton & Gardiner www.bottongardiner.com.au Cafe Culture www.cafeculture.com.au Capital Design Works

www.capitaldesignworks.com.au Cubus www.cubusconcepts.com.au

Ardex www.ardexaustralia.com.au

Chairbiz www.chairbiz.com.au

Boral Timbers www.boral.com.au

Comax www.comaxaustralia.com.au

Brintons Pty Limited www.brintons.net/commercial Classic Floorcoverings www.classicfloorcoverings.com.au Dalsouople Australasia www.dalsouple.com.au DĂŠcor Stone www.decorpebble.com.au Designer Rugs www.designerrugs.com.au

Contempo Furniture Pty Ltd Design and Manufacturing of Commercial Furniture and Lighting, specialising in unique metal finishes; Metal Spinners and Sheet Metal Fabricators (02) 9726 6794 www.contempofurniture.com.au

Globe West www.globewest.com.au Great Dane Furniture www.greatdanefurniture.com

Hughes Commercial Furniture www.hughescf.com.au Iken www.iken.com.au Interstudio www.interstudio.com.au Insitu Furniture www.insitufurniture.com.au James Richardson www.jamesrichardson.com.au Jardan Australia www.jardan.com.au

Tascot Carpets www.tascot.com.au The Andrews Group www.theandrewsgroup.com.au

Gadget King www.gadgetking.com.au

Hospitality Furniture Concepts www.hospitalityfurniture.net.au

Living Tiles www.livingtiles.com.au Cavalier Bremworth Pure NZ wool carpet More than 30 carpet styles 1800 251 172 mrobinson@cavbrem.com.au www.cavbrem.com.au

Furniture Options www.furnitureoptions.com.au

Corporate Culture www.corporateculture.com.au

JMH Hospitality Furniture www.hospitalityfurniture.com.au Matt Blatt www.mattblatt.com.au Nufurn www.nufurn.com.au PGR Furniture www.pgrfurniture.com.au Pomp Furniture www.pomp.com.au Robert Plumb www.robertplumb.com.au Ross Didier www.origindidier.com.au Schiavello www.schiavello.com Sebel www.sebelfurniture.com Space www.spacefurniture.com.au Stylecraft www.stylecraft.com.au Tait www.tait.biz Zenith Interiors www.zenithinteriors.com.au HEATING

Corporate Express www.ce.com.au CF Design www.cfdesign.com.au Echelon www.echelonproducts.com Evostyle www.evostyle.com.au

Bromic Heating Head Office: 1 Suttor Street, Silverwater, Sydney NSW 2128 1300 276 642 F: (02) 9748 4289 www.bromic.com.au

INTERIORS

Climate Australia Specialists in Outdoor Temperature Solutions Unit 6, Enterprise Industrial Estate 8 Tilley Lane Frenchs Forest NSW 2086

(02) 9977 3474 0414 48 5555 www.climateaustralia.com.au

Di Emme Creative Solutions Chiaro Screens - MetaFinish MetaFlex - Stonini Unit 3, 87-89 Moore Street Leichhardt NSW 2040 (02) 9550 0811 www.diemme.com.au Crown Doors International www.crowndoors.com.au Ke-Zu www.kezu.com.au

Thermofilm Australia Pty Ltd 27 Rosalie Street, Springvale VIC 3171 T: (03) 9562 3455 F: (03) 9548 3979 sales@thermofilm.com.au www.thermofilm.com.au

Silent GlIss www.silentgliss.com.au Smartstone www.smartstone.com.au Somfy www.somfy.com.au

Alfresco Spaces www.alfrescospaces.com.au

Tint Design www.tintdesign.com.au

Celmec International www.celmec.com.au

Woven Image www.wovenimage.com.au

Devex Systems www.devexsystems.com.au EcoSmart Fire www.ecosmartfire.com Everdure www.everdure.com

Woven Wall www.wovinwall.com Viridian Glass www.viridianglass.com

LIGHTING

Keverton www.kevertonoutdoor.com.au Pure Heat www.pureheat.com.au Realflame www.realflame.com.au Solamagic Australia www.solamagic-australia.com.au FABRICATION

Impos www.impos.com.au

ECC www.ecclightingandliving.com

Micros Systems www.micros.com

Element Labs www.elementlabs.com

Omnipos www.omnipos.com.au

Euroluce www.euroluce.com.au

Redcat www.redcat.com.au

Haron Robson www.haronrobson.com.au

SECURITY

Illumanon www.illumanon.com

EOS www.eos.com.au

Innermost www.innermost.com.au

Nightkey www.metropolisfremantle.com.au

Illumination Physics www.illuminationphysics.com

OPOC www.opoc.com.au

LSW www.lsw.com.au

SIGNAGE

Mance Design www.mance.com.au

Albert Smith Group www.asggroup.com.au

Mayfield Lamps www.mayfieldlamps.com.au

Face Visual Marketing Group www.facevmg.com.au

Mega Vision www.megavision.com.au

Fen Systems Australia www.fensystems.com.au

Optique www.optique.com.au

Fremont Design www.fremontdesign.com.au

Optic Fibre Lighting www.opticfiberlighting.com.au

Sachr Sign Strategy www.sachr.com.au

Osram www.osram.com.au Passive Lighting www.passivelighting.com.au

65

PointOfView www.pov.com.au

Gasmate www.gasmate.com.au Jetmaster www.jetmaster.com.au

Display Design www.displaydesign.com.au

Jands Pty Ltd Vari*lite - ETC 40 Kent Road, Mascot NSW 2020 (02) 9582 0909 www.jands.com.au

Pulse Show Lighting www.pulse-ent.com.au Satelight www.satelight.com.au Studio Italia www.studioitalia.com.au Tenrod www.tenrod.com.au

J Lighting Architectural/LED/ Stage Lighting (07) 5599 1551 info@jdistribution.net www.jdistribution.net

Yellow Goat www.yellowgoat.com.au Xenian www.xenian.com.au WhiteLite www.whitelite.com.a ULA www.ula.com.au

OX Engineering Group Pty Ltd Specialists in architectural metalwork,displays,metal fabrication and Signage 23 Britton St Smithfield NSW 2164 (02) 9616 7444 www.overexposure.com.au

NPA Specialised Lighting Components Wholesale supplier of lighting components, specialising in custom neon, cold cathode systems, LED general lighting and architectural LED systems.

(07) 5597 2554 sales@npalighting.com www.npalighting.com

Balanced Technology www.balancedtech.com.au Coemar De Sisti Australia www.cdaust.com.au

OUTDOOR LouvreSpan www.louvrespan.com.au Skyspan Umbrellas

www.skyspan-umbrellas.com Supershades www.supershades.com.au Vergola www.vergolansw.com.au

POINT OF SALE Fedeltapos www.fedeltapos.com

SHINOLA New York

Shinola is an enigmatic brand. It’s largely known for making watches in, of all places, Detroit. Some would seek to denigrate Shinola’s motives, but any business willing to launch stores that look as good as this (its New York flagship) should be commended.

Further commendation should go to Shinola for penning stirring manifestos such as this: “Why not accept that manufacturing is gone from this country? Why not let the rust and weeds finish what they started? Why not just embrace the era of disposability? And why didn’t we buy a warmer coat before we moved here [Detroit]? Through two Detroit winters we’ve asked ourselves these questions. And worked not to find our answer, but to build it. Because we don’t think American manufacturing ever failed for being too good. Our

66

worst didn’t come when we were at our best. It happened when we thought good was good enough.”

The Rockwell Group doesn’t settle for anything like a ‘near enough’ attitude. Its Shinola store design combines simple materials such as bronze, brass and oak which create an industrial feel, while custom-made furniture complements the meticulous, handcrafted quality of Shinola’s products. Special mention goes to the oversized 1930s bronze world wall map that once hung in the lobby of an oil company located at Rockefeller Center. (Images: Eric Laignel)

/NightlifeMusicOfficial

/NightlifeMusicOfficial

/NightlifeMusicOfficial

@NightlifeMusic

@NightlifeMusic

@NightlifeMusic