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Ramvek has done a wonderful job. Ramvek is more than a builder, they’re a partner Craig Ellison, Director of Open Door Pub Company

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ubs are at the coal face. Patrons iced up to their eyeballs, stoned as a Bob Marley love-in, pissed as a pickled herring, or as coked up as a Wall Street reunion, enter our pubs on an hourly basis. These loose canons order a year’s worth of parma, play steak-knife roulette with their boyfriend’s fingers, take a whiz in the courtyard, throw a punch at the DJ, leave a stolen credit card behind the bar, then set fire to the bouncer on the way out. Happy to see the back of these kinda nightmares? You bet. But the final flipped bird, is the obligatory negative comment on your Facebook page the next day. Hotel operators get it as tough as anyone. The worst nightmares are hardly ever trailer trash Readers’ Digest competition winners; no, it’s the rich-kid, super-entitled bozos who are stripping their rooms clean of anything not nailed down, holding impromptu orgies, and leaving their rooms like the KGB just did the housekeeping. Finally, you’ve ushered these knuckleheads off the premises after withstanding a tirade about the rooftop pool not being open (in the middle of winter), hoping that would be the end of the matter, when you spot an adverse review on TripAdvisor. Restaurants… well, everyone’s now a food critic. Sometimes I think there are more food bloggers than regular diners. And they’re so uptight! I mean, please, relax. There’s no need to be strung tighter than a rabbit trap, ready to pounce on the lack of artistry in the table napkin origami. Restaurant patrons can be, frankly, total arseholes: rude, picky, stingy and yet at the end of the evening if you’re not obsequiously draping the mink coat over the old bag’s shoulders, glad handing the gentlemen with a twopalmed handshake, and backing out the door deferentially like some kinda Basil Fawlty parody, then your eatery is just as likely to show up on the internet the following day copping a brickbat. No wonder venues feel like the social media odds are stacked against them: a world of pissed-off, pissed-up qwerty warriors happy to trash reputations without fear of consequences. This is all true. It’s not fair. And there’s nothing we can do about it. Except to learn what we can. I was fascinated to talk to the team at Open Door Pub Company and hear some insights into its new venue, The Dutchess. It’s not your average venue. It’s a supper club that features primo steak served well into the night, superior restaurant service, craft cocktails and loud-ish music. Open Door Pub Group is known for its pubs — specifically, big pubs in the inner-east of suburban Melbourne — so Dutchess was not just something different for the city, it’s quite a stretch for the company. So, as you might expect, management was interested in what people thought. Turns out lots of people thought the music was too loud. “Food ok but ‘music’ so loud the waiters could’nt hear to take our order!” Said one older fella whose apostrophes were jolted out of place from the shock. “We literally were yelling at each other across the table so we could converse (it’s SO loud ! Music / DJ whatever...). So we asked to please move back to the table in the bar area,” lamented a lady struggling to make a distinction between a DJ and music (something have all grappled with at times, I guess). The key is, Dutchess management didn’t get freaked, it did its sums. The jury was in and 85% of the respondents loved the music presentation and 15% found it a turn off. These were stats they were happy to live with. It’s hard to stay strong in the face of strident and, sometimes, off-the-handle criticism. And keeping your team resilient is important when it’s so easy to ‘name and shame’ on the internet. Open Door Pub Company did. And it’s laughing. Christopher Holder Editorial Director, chris@venuemag.com

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CONTENTS

August 2015 No 61

Events Space: Alto Builder: Fido Projects

issue sixty one 2015 Th e L a n g h a m S y d n e y • E v e n t s S p a c e S p e c i a l • H u n t e r s H i l l H o t e l

We seek to offer food to the events world commensurate with a hat or two hat restaurant

Moama Bowls & Altis Crash Through Clubs Clichés

Anything is Pozible: Crowdfunding Your New Venue Fully Functioning: An Events Space Special $9.95 inc gst 61

Leigh Worcester, Director of Food & Desire

9 771832 143005

Venue: Junction Moama Architect: Altis Architecture

Events Spaces

20 Aerial, Melbourne 24 Hilton Melbourne South Wharf 26 Royal Mail Hotel, Dunkeld 27 Beach Shack, Sorrento 28 Alto, Melbourne

Hotels

48 The Langham, Sydney 52 Hotel Jen, Brisbane

CONTACTS:

Food & Drink

32 Dutchess, Melbourne 36 Junction, Moama 46 Hoyts Lux, Sydney

Advertising Office: (02) 9986 1188 PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086 Editorial Office: (03) 5331 4949 PO Box 295, Ballarat, VIC 3353 Editorial Director: Christopher Holder (chris@venuemag.com)) Publisher: Philip Spencer (philip@venuemag.com) Art Direction & Design: Dominic Carey (dominic@alchemedia.com.au) Graphic Designer: Daniel Howard (daniel@alchemedia.com.au) Circulation Enquiries: (subscriptions@alchemedia.com.au) Accounts: Jaedd Asthana (accounts@alchemedia.com.au)

Restaurants

42 Sake Double Bay 44 Minamishima, Melbourne

16 Using Your Noodle –

Crowdfunding a Venue 40 20 Questions – Nik Rollison, Concreteseed 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 © 2015 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.

Regulars

11 Smooth Operator 12 Music Connection 56 F&F News 58 AV News 60 LX News 62 Preferred Suppliers 66 You Wish: White Street, NY

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was recently asked to speak to the national sales and marketing conference for one of our big suppliers, CUB. Which I thought was an interesting decision. On one hand, there are definitely great things to be learnt when customers and sales reps tell one another what they think. On the other hand, are we really sure we want to know what we thing of each other?! On top of that, they scheduled me for 8.45am. 8.45am?! A publican?! Worse than that, it was 8.45am the morning after the second State of Origin match… which was played at the MCG… which is a seven-minute walk from the front doors of three of my Richmond venues. Needless to say it’d been a bloody big night! So as I rolled out of bed after a few hours sleep, struggling to remember by name let alone my speech, their decision to invite me along was beginning to appear not so much interesting, as ‘courageous’ (in the Sir Humphrey Appleby sense). In the end it was a fantastic experience, and it reminded me just how much there is to be gained by partnering with great organisations, and by utilising each other’s strengths.

AS SMOOTH AS… Victorian publicans will remember the year 2000. It was the year we all bought those huge rear projection TVs so we could play the Olympics in our public bars and bistros. It was the year we all flew to Sydney for a day or two to savour the joy and chaos and mayhem of the Games, and came back awed at the design and sophistication of the venues that had been rebuilt and renovated especially for them. And it was the year a bunch of people came the other way, from Sydney to Melbourne. For this was the year of the great Lion Nathan push into Victorian pubs. Lion Nathan came with all guns blazing. They bought up pubs and replaced Fosters taps with their own products. If they couldn’t buy the pub itself, they bought the taps within the pub. In the end most of us would probably judge the expedition a failure. Perhaps it was the beer. Tooheys New just couldn’t crack it, which was probably less about the flavour (in blind tastings it almost impossible to separate from Carlton Draught) than it was the branding and advertising that came with it. Remember the ubiquitous ads telling us Tooheys New was “as smooth as dating twins without getting caught”? (Even 15 years ago the idea of actually sleeping with one girl while dating her twin sister was, at best, an honest mistake on the periphery of a romantic comedy plotline… not an idea you wanted to associate with the reallife decision of ‘which beer to drink tonight’.) Or perhaps it was the reserves of loyalty Fosters had built with its Carlton Draught and Vic Bitter brands over several decades that formed an all-but impregnable barrier, and would remain impregnable — in Victoria at least — until the first chinks started showing, not at the hands of a direct competitor, but from a squadron of craft beers that hit the mainstream. Whatever it was that nobbled Lion’s venture, it wasn’t their sales reps. To a man (yes, they were all men back then) they were exceptional. Humble, curious, honest and working their arses off to earn every single sale they could eke from the stone. And they took the time to get to know our business inside and out. Our Lion rep actually moved in with us upstairs at that first pub, exposing himself to numerous health risks, not the least of which being that we were

24, owned a pub, and lived above it, and dammit what else would we do every night but go downstairs and celebrate?

THE METRIC THAT MATTERS See, a good rep understands that, all the nice stuff aside, there’s only one metric publicans ever really think about: turnover. If there’s one common driver you can bet on, its that. It doesn’t matter how good your product is, or how relevant it is to my business. If you can offer me something that responds to my need to increase turnover, you’re on your way to being my best friend. And the best reps can help increase turnover without even mentioning their product. They know that if they can help increase turnover, they become indispensible to us, and the chances of us choosing their products over their competitors’ just rose exponentially. We saw an amazing example of this in our business recently. We’re old enough and wise enough to know when something just isn’t quite right. But unfortunately not so wise as to know exactly what’s wrong. And certainly not big enough to afford the consultants and researchers to delve deeply into the issue. About a year ago the guys at CUB did some research into our punters’ behaviour; research we couldn’t possibly afford to do ourselves. They told us the number one reason our market goes out: food. And they told us the number one reason they choose a venue once they’ve decided to go out: staff. Know what we did a few weeks later? We hired an Exec Chef… then we hired a People & Culture Manager. Our food’s better. Our staff are better. Turnover’s up. And they never once mentioned beer. So if you’re not already doing this, get actively involved with your suppliers. They have resources and expertise we can only dream of. And the best of them are keen to share it with us.

ONE MORE FOR THE REPS And for any sales reps reading this column, remember this: it doesn’t matter who the publican is — how big or small, how young or old — you guys can be the reason a publican chooses your company, and stays with them forever. Cos publicans are old school. We have long memories. We gossip like schoolgirls. Wanna know the single biggest thing we whinge about together? Licensing laws? Planning departments? Hipsters? Nup. Arrogant sales reps. But No. 2 is great sales reps. And therein lies your opportunity! So immerse yourselves in your customers’ businesses. Ask question after question after question. And not just “how’s business?” “How was the weekend?” Go deeper. “How you going with labour costs?” “What do you think about this new legislation?” “What are ya worried about?” “How you going finding chefs?” “How you going keeping them?” “How you going stopping them from hittin’ each other on the head with frying pans?” Did I mention? Publicans are old-school, so we love talking about ourselves (this column is ample evidence of that!). But the more we talk about ourselves, the more you’ll know about us and our business. Once you’re over that threshold, once you know us and once we know you, then you can move on: and start talking about you.

Our staff are better. Turnover’s up. And they never once mentioned beer

SMOOTH OPERATOR The Supply Side Matt Mullins is a partner in Sand Hill Road hospitality group

MUSIC CONNECTION Music a Keystone cornerstone Phil Brown is the National Business Development Manager at Nightlife Music

tanding out from the crowd; it’s what every new venue strives for. In most cases the operators who get it right are those who take a holistic approach to venue management. They understand that each element of their venue is telling only part of the whole story and ensure every detail, from the menu to the customer service, to the music, is saying the right thing to help create the total experience. From the moment your customers darken the door your music works on a subconscious level, telling them they are in the right place; how they should behave; how long they should stay; and research shows it even effects purchasing decisions. It makes sense then that music plays such a big role in defining your new venue. No one understands this better than The Keystone Groups’ Creative Director, Paul Schulte. “Every one of our venues has its own unique identity and story to tell. That’s what drives every decision we make for any new venue, including the music.” One of Keystone’s more recent ventures, Jamie’s Italian Trattoria in Parramatta Sydney, is the perfect example of taking a central identity — in their case, household name Jamie Oliver — and creating a complete experience around that. “When someone comes to Jamie’s they aren’t just coming for a meal. They want the full Jamie Oliver experience. The food is obviously central to that, but then we support the story with our unique service, our interior design and what really helps to move people, is the music. “It plays a big part in communicating our ‘brand story’; Jamie himself even helps to choose the music for each of the restaurants. As soon as a customer walks through the door they are enveloped by our atmosphere and it sets the tone for the whole experience. Getting that first impression right is crucial for every new venue,” Paul says.

Jamie’s Italian Parramatta: “What really helps to move people is the music. It plays a big part in communicating our ‘brand story’.”

Whether you have a well-known brand to guide your music design or you are gunning for something more conceptual, there are processes you can follow to help ensure your music doesn’t let you down come open day. The first step is to invest in a quality sound system. Many start-ups don’t recognise the value in this until it’s too late. They will often get to opening day and find themselves trying to make do with a bolt-on sound system. Even with the perfect playlist they’ve already lost the battle — if people can’t hear it, then it won’t work. Keystone manages multiple venues and while every venue has a unique identity they employ a very similar process across all to ensure their quality standards are achieved across the group. “As Creative Director I help to define the musical direction for all of our new projects to ensure they fit with our vision for the venue. Once we know what we want to say, I work with our Music and Entertainment Manager, Aaron Bannie, Jamie’s Australia General Manager, Karen Westfield, and the guys at Nightlife, to find out what that looks like as a playlist,” Paul explains. “Once we’re in a place that is working we keep our feedback loops tight between Aaron, our venue managers and Nightlife to make sure we are constantly refining our sound.” Getting the music right for your venue means starting with a quality sound system then designing a music brief that defines your business and evolves with you. You only get one chance to create a first impression, as they say, and if your music isn’t right from day one, you lose it. The venues remembered best are those that understand the impact of music and use it help cement their identity..

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ake a walk around certain districts of Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane and it’s hard to miss the scores of cranes dotting the city skyline. Driven by population growth, immigration and the rising cost of land in inner-urban areas, the demand for new apartment stock demonstrates a mentality shift in the Australian housing market. This recalibration away from detached suburban housing towards downtown apartment living has been underway for over a decade yet continues to gain momentum – there are more new apartments under construction now than ever before. As our cities become more vibrant, sacrificing a private backyard in exchange for being part of a thriving and active urban centre has become a lifestyle choice many are happy to make. As has been the case in European cities for decades, apartment living is not an inferior option in Australian cities, but a logical one.

CARING ABOUT SHARING

DESIGN BRIEF Home is where the hospitality is. Ground-level hospitality spaces are becoming a lynchpin of new apartment living, writes RotheLowman Senior Interior Designer Olivia Lockhart.

In an apartment market that has never been as competitive as it is right now, architects and developers are being challenged to think of ways to make new projects desirable to perspective residents. Increasingly, the focus is not just on the private spaces of the apartment itself, but on an apartment building’s shared amenities and public spaces. In such environments where a backyard or second lounge room is both unnecessary and impractical, city-dwellers naturally spend more of their recreational time in shared and public spaces. Where previous generations desired private living, dining or family room spaces, the cafés and bars of inner-city neighbourhoods have become places we seek to both relax on our own and gather socially. In addition to communal rooftops, gyms and pools, which have become a given in medium to large developments, the successful integration of a ground-level hospitality space has become another key to maximising amenity in new residential developments.

IN ON THE GROUND FLOOR For residents, a thriving café or small bar in the ground floor of a building effortlessly becomes ‘the local’, offering them an informal sense of ownership that extends beyond their dwelling. Equally as important, these spaces also bring the community in to an otherwise private structure. For designers endeavouring to create multiresidential designs that respond and contribute positively to their immediate environment, the incorporation of ground floor hospitality spaces is a natural extension of their practice. Good urban design requires a thorough and integrated approach to the ground plane. This is particularly important in urban locations, where footpath activation creates strong liveable streets that are safe, animated and communal. Given the benefits for both resident and the broader public, we’re seeing that café and bar tenancies are key drivers in the planning of a development. Far from an afterthought, devel-

opers see successful food and beverage spaces as integral not only to the individual development itself, but also to their brand as a whole and to the community at large. For the design of ground floor spaces that openly invite the public into a private residential complex can present a host of new considerations and opportunities. Vertical mixed-use is a deliberate exercise in strategic planning. The retail mix needs to reflect the needs of residents and the neighbourhood. As designers we work together with tenants, owners and consultants to provide a resolution that is efficient and appropriate. When able to channel the harmony and synergy of residential and hospitality design in a successful mixed-use development, a fantastic opportunity is present for designers, developers and urban planners to further influence the atmosphere of our neighbourhoods and the amenity of our built environment. RotheLowman is a national architecture and interior design practice that delivers contemporary design solutions.

Habitat Restaurant & Bar Formally a car park, Habitat Restaurant & Bar has been transformed into a new destination venue that is growing in popularity among locals. Inspired neon artwork and a considered pallet of warm rich tones set against a dark backdrop, creates an enticing and moody environment. Industrial chic is reimagined as timber and terracotta are juxtaposed with black tiles, concrete and granite counters, buttoned leather upholstery and exposed copper piping. Cosy booths, high benches and an elevated coffee nook tempt passing motorists and pedestrians inside. Raw features such as the upcycled bridge, which forms part of the external bar and table fittings and the front bar with its textured, recessed motifs and live ant farm, create a living ‘Habitat’ for the ants, patrons and staff alike.

USING YOUR NOODLE Australia’s first permanent crowdfunded restaurant opens in Perth. Story: Jen Temm Photos: Jessica Wyld Lucky Chan’s Laundry & Noodlebar 311 William Street Northbridge WA 6003 (02) 9227 8921 or www.luckychans.com.au

here were just four campaign days left when Perth’s Lucky Chan’s Laundry and Noodlebar hit its $100,000 crowdfunding goal late last year. “There were some nervous nights, definitely, towards the end of the campaign,” says co-owner Andrew Bennett, “but then to see the project eventually climb up to $112,000 was amazing.” Nearly 700 people contributed between $5 and $20,000 during the 60-day fundraising campaign on the Pozible crowdfunding platform, allowing the six owners – the team behind Cocktail Gastronomy Catering and North Perth small bar The Classroom – to fully realise their vision for a laundry-themed Asian restaurant in the lively inner city suburb of Northbridge, converting an old building into a three-storey venue complete with an open-air rooftop bar for 60. Launched in April, the restaurant pays homage to the area’s rich Asian immigrant history, playing on the theme with washing machine tables, a wall of ironing boards, a bar top covered with mah-jong tiles and a clothesline hung with Japanese whiskey bottles. Even the entry looks like a laundry – a little too much, Bennett admits. So many people tried to drop off their washing the owners decided to start a dry-cleaning service on the side. But it’s the appealing concept, extended hours, authentic Asian cuisine and an extensive wine and cocktail list that’s pulling in diners who are consuming around 1000 dumplings and 350 portions of ramen in the venue every day.

PEOPLE POWER

CONTACTS Cicada Outdoor Living (Carpentry): cicadaoutdoorliving.com.au Cocktail Gastronomy (Project Development): cocktailgastronomy.com.au Hewshott International (Acoustics): (08) 6230 2780 or www.hewshott.com RJC Construction (Builder): (08) 9443 3823 or rjcconstruction.net Surrounds (AV System): (08) 9389 6900 or www.surrounds.com.au

For anyone unfamiliar with the idea, crowdfunding provides an online platform for people to raise funds for a specific project in return for rewards that are matched to the level of funds pledged. It’s been a huge boost to tech projects and in creative fields like music and filmmaking, and is starting to boom in hospitality as an attractive alternative to securing funding from more traditional sources of finance. The three largest crowdfunding platforms in Australia are the US-based Kickstarter and Indiegogo, and the homegrown version Pozible, which launched in 2010 and has since expanded to offices in China, Singapore and the US. The Pozible food and drinks category has so far raised about $1.3 million. The projects tend to be smaller than the Lucky Chan’s venture, usually raising between $10,000 and $60,000 to expand existing businesses, or to launch food or drinks products or services. “It’s huge and every year it’s pretty much doubling or doing more than that, so it’s a really important category for us,” Pozible spokesperson Claire Merquita says. The transactions are considered part of the e-commerce framework so campaigns currently require tangible rewards in return for contributions, Merquita explains – although a predicted easing of restrictive equity-based crowdfunding laws in Australia may soon allow small investors to buy a slice of crowded funded projects alongside the punters who are in it for the rewards.

ALL OR NOTHING

With few local examples to draw on, the Lucky Chan’s team – Bennett and his partner Sasha Verheggen, Fiona Chromiak, Daniel Sterpini, Adam Keane and Junko Keane – turned to the US for inspiration in the research stage of what would be an 18-month project. “We had seen many likeminded businesses,

POZIBLE Base: Australia (global operation) Launched: 2010 Total raised: US$27.3 million Total projects: 8688 Success rate: 57% Fees: Payment processing fees plus 5% funds raised up to $100K; 4% funds raised between $100K-$500K; 3% funds raised $500K+ Model: All or nothing: no pledges or fees are charged if the project is unsuccessful

especially in America, start to use this,” Bennett says. “We saw that the really creative, passionate, independent projects were the ones that were disproportionately using crowdfunding and given that we had an idea that would fit into this kind of category, we started to look at it as a potential additional funding option for us. Once we found out that no one had done a permanent restaurant with crowdfunding, we thought: we’ve got to jump at this and try and be the first.” Pozible’s crowdfunding model works on an all-or-nothing principal: if the target isn’t reached in the campaign time the project fails; no money changes hands and no fees are charged. As the funds needed were a portion of the total needed to open the restaurant, the venue would still have gone ahead if the campaign had failed but on a smaller scale, Bennett says. “We discovered that the space would only work for us in a financial capacity if we created additional levels,” he explains. “The crowdfunding campaign allowed us to complete the initial vision, and create a large, open-air third level which has really become the jewel in the crown for us.”

REWARDING INPUT The campaign offered 12 levels of rewards in return for contributions, including getting your name inscribed on the venue’s ‘Great Wall of Chan’ on the rooftop level for $5; ‘owning’ one of the 150 chairs with a name plaque for $145; and having a snappy saying inscribed on one of 33 stair treads for $175. Two backers took the top tier reward, an exclusive venue booking for a night of food and drink for 150 guests for $20,000, including one couple who used the reward to host their wedding reception in March. “I think what the attraction came down to is that people could say, in a very physical sense, this place wouldn’t have existed like it does without me,” Bennett says. “We’ve been really overwhelmed with the response from people. Many of them have come down in the first couple of weeks wanting to see the venue they helped create and we’ve loved meeting so many of them who have shared the journey with us.”

SPREADING THE WORD The project occupied the partners non-stop both in the lead-up and over the 60-day fundraising push, Bennett says: “And I tell you what, it was draining.” Merquita concurs, saying campaigns mostly fail because people don’t realise how much effort is involved: “A lot of people think you

just put up this project page and somehow the money will come in but there’s a lot of work that goes into the preparation leading up to the campaign, and running the campaign is pretty much a full-time job, you’re constantly trying to get the word out.” But the combination of a quirky concept, clever marketing, social media nous and an established network in the WA hospitality scene were key to Lucky Chan’s success. “Having one small bar under our belt we had a fairly established network in the WA hospitality scene which I think really helped us get over the line – there was already a lot of people who knew what we did and what we were about,” Bennett says. “Starting completely fresh into a new industry without any connections would have made it so much more difficult. “What we found is that we created a little tribe of willing advocates for the venue. Once people learned more about the project and very generously agreed to help us with it, they started becoming advocates with their friends and family and networks, so that naturally spread the message further and wider than we ever could – and that becomes the great advantage of crowdfunding.” In spite of the campaign’s success, Bennett says he’s not likely to turn to the platform again: “I think we’ve really only got one crowdfunding campaign in us. Not to dissuade people from using it, it was a tool we used successfully, but I think it would be a little disingenuous to seek to use it again and again for different projects when we put so much heart and soul into the Lucky project.”

KICKSTARTER Base: US (global operation) Launched: 2009 Total raised: US$1.7 billion Total projects: 226,251 Success rate: 37.9% Fees: Payment processing fees plus 5% total funds raised Model: All or nothing: no pledges or fees are charged if the project is unsuccessful

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FULLY FUNCTIONING a venue events space special

Food & Desire’s new venue, Aerial, completes its triumvirate of water views with windows big enough to fly a car through… literally. Story: Mark Davie Aerial: 17 Dukes Walk, Corner of Dukes & Rona Walk, South Wharf VIC (03) 8646 6000 or www.foodanddesire.com.au

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HIGH WATERMARK

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“B

ay view, lake view and a river view; three venues with water views,” said Leigh Worcester, Director of Food & Desire. From the ground floor entrance, looking across at the wharf sheds standing in the way of his new venue, Aerial, and the river, it seems a bit of a stretch. But upstairs, from down one end of the main function space, the river is indeed in full view. It’s a neat link between Food & Desire’s two other venues — Harbour Room at the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron (bay view), Carousel on Albert Park (lake view) — and this new South Wharf events space. But it also does the actual view a disservice. More than a windowed look at the brown artery coursing through the heart of Melbourne, the view from Aerial takes in a range of far prettier Melbourne icons across its panoramic 180-degree aspect. There’s the Bolte Bridge at one end [not exactly the belle of the ball either! – Ed.], Crown Towers, Eureka, even snippets of Etihad stadium and ‘the wheel’. Enough to keep you occupied if your ‘plus one’ hasn’t shown up.

floor, or 1000 in cocktail mode. But when the entire venue isn’t required, a snaking curtain track not only provides a sense of reveal between the pre-dinner area and the main function space, it can also section off the venue into a variety of different sizes. “Carousel, as much as it can hold 400 people sit down with a dancefloor. We do events in there for 20-25 people. Similarly here, we can zone in such a way that it will be intimate spaces.” Flexibility for any event type is built-in: “Automated trussing systems, permanent table spotting, stage and theatre lighting, audio… and it can be added to as well. All of the ceilings are totally soundproofed, because there are apartments above. Even though it’s a really large venue with hard finishes, it feels like you’re in an intimatesounding area.” And sophistication that matches the food. “It’s not overly competitive in our space. There’s a couple of events venues around here, but they’re nowhere near this level of sophistication compared to what we’re offering.” There is Crown, of course, but Aerial isn’t trying to eat into Palladium’s galas, and is a cut above the other multi-function spaces SITE CHECKUP there. Its position at the tail end of South Wharf also makes it a natural extension of Melbourne’s Food & Desire is one of the premier catering outfits conferencing markets as a mini-expo space. The in Melbourne. “We seek to offer food to the events trail leads you down Jeff’s Shed, past the Convenworld commensurate with a one- or two-hat res- tion Centre, and Hilton South Wharf (with its own taurant,” explains Worcester. And they do, all over recently upgraded Woodside events spaces). Sure the city. While the company owns three venues, enough, the second event booked was exactly that. and has an exclusive contract to provide catering for the State Library of Victoria, the range of PLENTY OF DRIVE external venue options offered by Food & Desire is expansive. So if the company’s going to lock into Checking all those criteria is a tall order. “The key a lease, the venue has to be special. Water views? for us was to create a sophisticated blank canvas Check. “Many events spaces in Melbourne have no that can appeal to the bride that wants something view at all and are totally internalised, like a lot of glamorous and sophisticated, but also the corpohotels, or they’re dark and cavernous sheds that rate market,” summed up Worcester. have to be transformed and dressed up.” The last part proved a little bit of a problem. Then there’s the issue of intimacy without sac- A treasured coterie of Food & Desire’s clientele rificing numbers. At 700sqm (1500sqm if you in- come from the motor industry. Carousel attracts clude back of house), fitting guests in was never plenty of automotive events because of its style going to be a problem; 468 seated with a dance- and the simple fact you can drive a car in the

front door, which makes it a no-brainer. Food & Desire wanted to extend those relationships by giving the industry another option if they’d been round the Carousel one too many times. But a first floor events centre isn’t exactly a drive-in. “Our brief was basically Porsche and weddings,” said Meme Design’s Megan Hounslow, who with partner Melanie Beynon, got to work on the problem. The site was originally intended to be a nightclub; dark, and not looking to make the most of the view. The opposite of what Worcester was after. The first issue was how to let the light in and maximise the space. Originally there was a balcony running around three edges of the long curved space. And after careful consideration the perimeter of the interior was pushed right out to the edge

Sliding windows that can open up a six metre gap in the facade, allows the outdoors in... including cars with a bit of crane assistance

even taking it to another level of having an entire sensory experience down here — visual art in conjunction with some audio. It’s a cinematic entry that can be transformed. Originally it was bright white, but we felt it really needed to have depth to it for an evening.”

ELEVATED SOLUTIONS Meme has managed to turn a lot of problems into features. As mentioned, the lift was an inherited feature, with a shaft that came up almost through the middle of the space. Rather than disguise it wholly, Meme turned it into an impact statement. While the shaft blends in with the industrial textures of the ground floor, by the time you arrive topside, you step out of a mirror-clad housing, that while gloriously bling, actually disguises the centrally located lift by reflecting the space around it. And subtle bevelled jags in the mirrors give the appearance of ascending and descending arrows that break up the square structure. There are smatterings of bling throughout the upper floor, curtains have a gold sheen, the circular coffee and high tables are metal, subtle colour-changing LEDs are wrapped into the folds of the pleated walls, soft furniture breaks up the harder surfaces, and the backlit arched mirrors above the vanities are a modern play on Palazzo-style luxury that perfectly suits the marbled tiling. The whole project came in at $5.5m, and there’s a lot you can’t see. It was always going to be an ambitious venture operating a nightclub in the space with apartments directly above it. But knowing the events market can get loud, as evidenced by the elaborate and comprehensive audiovisual system hung in the ceiling, the team still took up the challenge of completely insulating the apartments above from any sound transmission. The back of house is as expansive as the function floor, with full kitchen facilities to prepare Food & Desire’s fine dining fare. There’s also

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of the building, and windows installed all the way around that extend from balustrade height to the ceiling. The move brought in more light, extended the view, increased floor space, and, with sliding windows that can open up a six metre gap in the facade, allows the outdoors in… including cars with a bit of crane assistance. That’s what you call a design solution. “The idea is you can always feel like you’re standing in a balcony,” explained Hounslow. “You’re inside, but it feels outside.” The interior, if you can still call it that, is mostly dressed in neutral tones and shades of white. SurfaceX applied an X-Bond coating to the walls to give a subtle floor-to-ceiling pleated texture, and the entire floor is covered in large white and grey marble-textured tiles. Meme reckons they lugged thousands of samples on site to have workmen trample on them, spill glasses of red wine over them, and generally treat them with disdain to see which tile would hold its ground in the face of year-round functions while still fitting into the budget. When you come up from the ground floor entryway, it’s a tale of two worlds. If any notion of a nightclub was left behind, it’s here in the raw black finishes, raw concrete stairs with raw steel balustrade, and triple-height curtains. “The lift was already there,” explained Beynon. “But the stairs came up through a void that was eating up space, so that was covered and moved to maximise the floor area. The ground floor is darkly dressed to enhance the impact of the lighter, luxurious fitout of the first floor events space.” There is some light downstairs, the long Bec Brittain Helix pendants stretch down into the seven-metre void, and the curtains can make way for an oversized projection wall that takes digital signage to another level. Hounslow: “It can be used as a welcome, corporate logo, imagery with photos, and we’re actually exploring the possibility of having video art that forms part of the place. Or

a second-storey bridal suite that lets bridal parties tap into the security system to watch guests arrive, and a viewing window for keeping an eye on the unfolding pre-dinner action. Food & Desire has also moved the majority of its salesforce to upstairs offices, keeping them in touch with the latest Food & Desire offering. It was a huge undertaking, not to mention the planning involved. But the project was completed in nine months, just in time for the October 2014 deadline. A credit to Meme Design that they took a half-finished concrete shell and turn it into one of the most flexible events spaces on the market… with a water view, of course. CONTACT

Meme Design: www.memedesign.com.au Tandem Building Group: (03) 9827 4300 or www.tandembuilding.com.au Harry The Hirer (AV): (03) 9480 5433 or www.harrythehirer.com.au Wood & Grieve Engineers (Mech Elec): (03) 8554 7000 or www.wge.com.au Urban Edge (Town Planner): (03) 9696 9944 or www.urbanedgeconsultants.com PLP (Builder Certifier): (03) 9650 7999 or www.plpaust.com SurfaceX (X-Bond Wall Render): 0425 801 057 or info@surfacex.com.au Capral (Sliding Windows): 1300 361 877 or www.capral.com.au Interior Productions (Curtaining): (03) 9818 1208 or info@interiorproductions.com.au Reece (Fixtures): www.reece.com.au Bec Brittain (Helix Pendants): www.becbrittain.com

COOGEE PAVILION Sydney

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

Hilton Melbourne South Wharf: 2 Convention Centre Pl, Melbourne VIC (03) 9027 2000 or www.hiltonmelbourne.com.au

Hilton Melbourne South Wharf’s fortunes are inextricably linked to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Not a bad wagon to be hitched to, really. Jeff’s Shed is going great guns. But the thing about being a hotel next to an exhibition centre is you don’t really want to bite the hand that feeds you by going too hard with your meeting and events business. Again, no need to worry, MCEC is progressive enough to see the Hilton’s facilities as an asset and not a threat. Just as well, because Hilton Melbourne South Wharf now has a vastly improved events offering: the Woodside function rooms with Outdoor terrace and boardrooms. The opening follows a five-month multi-million dollar renovation of the hotel’s ground floor that now offers 450sqm of event space. venue was pleased to get along to the launch of the new facilities, sampling the delights of a very competent kitchen, knowledgable wait staff and savvy management. The Woodside rooms and terrace offer a seamless indoor/ outdoor space that can be configured into four intimate rooms or opened into an expansive space of over 400sqm. The rooms

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LURE OF THE DOCKSIDE

naturally open out on to a heated undercover terrace providing a outdoor setting that can be utilised as a breakout space or function venue in its own right. As one space, Woodside ballroom and terrace can host up to 300 guests for a cocktail event, 140 guests for a sit-down dinner and 220 guests for a theatre-style event. Individually, the rooms can be set up in boardroom, classroom, theatre or u-shape styles. Chatting to General Manager Craig Bonner it’s clear that he’s intent on developing the non-MCEC business, and certainly the fresh events space has lots going for it — nearby businesses are already sniffing around and I’ve not doubt Woodside Ballroom will increasingly host weddings and parties. The missing piece of the leisure trade market for Hilton is how the South Wharf precinct is travelling overall. Indications suggest its trajectory is on an upwards curve and beginning to tap into the lifeblood animus of Melbourne. As Craig Bonner confides, when leisure travellers come to his property they want to experience Melbourne and until now that’s not something he’s been able to promise… at least not without calling a cab.

Royal Mail Hotel 98 Parker Street, Dunkeld VIC (03) 5577 2241 or www.royalmail.com.au

I can say this because I live and work an hour out of a capital city: “She’ll be right.” And I think all of us in ‘the regions’ are often tarred with the ‘she’ll be right’ brush. Where near enough is good enough. Or it’s just too difficult to train staff, or it’s too hard to source the right raw ingredients, or you’re simply too out of touch with what’s de rigueur to be considered ‘cool’ or avant garde. The Royal Mail Hotel in rural Victoria is one of the outlier anomalies in the world of hospitality. Not only does it exceed all F&B expectations, it does it in an unfashionable outpost quite some distance from the nearest trendy winery or hot spa. Rather, it’s enjoyed the patronage of a wealthy family (the Myers) who like Dunkeld and effectively decided to bring some big city sophistication to their rural pied a terre. The pub retains a front bar but also incorporates a worldclass restaurant. Yes, Dan Hunter, has left to start up Brae in the equally unremarkable borough of Birregurra, but the Royal Mail Hotel restaurant remains a superior outlet and a foodie destination. If you’re a destination, and a good three hours from Melbourne’s West Gate bridge, you need accommodation. And the

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REALLY DELIVERS

accommodation is excellent. The architecture and landscaping is very sympathetic to the fabulous Southern Grampians views — unpretentious yet refined. But venue was visiting The Royal Mail for another reason. Its function centre had recently reopened. Unfortunately the old Mountain View Room had come to a fiery end after a kitchen conflagration. The new Mountain View Room maintains the same footprint and elevation but manages to exploit the eponymous view even further with full wall-to-ceiling glazing. It’s a beautiful spot and perfect for all manner of MICEstyle functions. The space is configurable, seating up to 140, and has had its AV systems upgraded to cater to corporate retreats as much as the more bucolic Producers’ Dinner venue was lucky enough to attend (the selection of local produce and wines were utterly magnificent). It’s rare to find big-city refinement in a rural locale, but the Royal Mail Hotel nails it, all without any of the big-city artifice. After all, a country escape is one thing, but only if the coffee is up to scratch.

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SHACKING UP

Morgan’s Beach Shack: 1 Esplanade, Sorrento (03) 5984 3121 or www.beachshacksorrento.com.au

Julian Gerner was looking for a seachange, so he resigned from his position as director of the Melbourne Pub Group and headed to the coast. “I searched for licensed sites on the water around Melbourne,” said Gerner, and Morgan’s Bar in Sorrento came up. “I was just looking at doing a summer pop up bar in Morgan’s Bar; park a taco truck out the front, something very casual. I knew the venue had some problems in the past, and sure enough the whole site was for lease.” Gerner has reinvigorated the Beach Shack bar and eatery and the adjoining smaller Morgan’s Bar, that can comfortably seat 50 and hosts a crab hut in January. Gerner asked Mark Healy of Six Degrees Architects to do a cheap and cheerful fitout just to see if it had legs. The indoor/ outdoor sandstone building provided the base for Healy to white out the joint, rearrange the space, rebuild the bars and add that seaside touch. Healy: “I used local mates of mine in salvage to provide props and nautical bits ’n’ pieces — anchor chain, mooring buoys, and rope for the bollards from the ferry guys to demarcate that area. It was also about getting a layout that would work. The old, nautically-striped cypress posts are about organising space in a simple way, and the seagrass

CONTACTS Six Degrees Architects: (03) 9635 6000 or www.sixdegrees.com.au

matting is what we used to line the annex next to the caravan. We wallpapered images of beach houses down there, and lifted others from the Corona sponsorship. It’s all an homage to beach house living.” The problem with any beachside operation is seasonality. The shack is in hyper trade mode over Summer, but come Winter, the population deflates from 100,000 down to 3000. It’s dead, but there are still plenty of good days to be had on the water. So Gerner is angling to capture a slice of the wedding market to prop up the business over the months each side of the dead of winter, and not let such a beautiful view go to waste. After wading through the functions packages for The Deck at Circa, he decided to scale back the options to match the laid back surroundings. “It’s like an encyclopaedia,” he said. “There are that many rules, conditions and processes. I just wanted to pare it right back.” While it’s not as dressed down as the ‘No thongs, no shirt, no problem’ sign, it’s about functions without the stress. Simple, good food, with all the attention on you. Because there’s not going to be anyone else around at that time of year. — Mark Davie

From a caterer dipping her toes into venue operation to triple expansion, it’s becoming about the venues for Damm Fine Foods. Story: Mark Davie Alto: Top Floor, Melbourne’s GPO, Cnr Elizabeth & Bourke St, Melbourne VIC (03) 9281 1400 or www.altoevents.com.au

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HITTING A HIGH NOTE

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eorgina Damm of Damm Fine Foods is going with the trends. After H&M recently took over the entire GPO — making her top floor events space, Alto, the only other notable tenant — Georgina thought it was time for a fashionable makeover too. It’s just one part of a general shift from catering company to caterer/venue operator. As well as refurbishing Alto, Damm has been simultaneously working on getting two other venues off the ground. The first, Ellis St Studio — a 205sqm warehouse event space with full commercial kitchen — opened recently, and the ornately decorated Victorian-style George Ballroom in St Kilda is next cab off the rank. “Alto’s really proven to us that it’s the future of the catering and event world,” said Georgina. “You need to secure your business by securing venues. It engages confirmed ongoing business.” Of course, you can’t just stick chairs and tables in any old building. Georgina: “In the smaller conferencing market and wedding market, I’m seeing a real move to unique spaces, and staying away from the mainstream conference centre, lack of aspect, dark box, to thinking outside of the square.”

plate and chair had to be brought in — but it allowed Georgina to keep her ongoing costs down and see how the business played out. After three years, Georgina figured Alto had legs and invested in crockery, fitted it out with a commercial kitchen, dry bars, and upgraded the bathrooms. The space was still left relatively raw, so clients could make it their own. Then last year, Damm Fine Foods decided it had taken Alto’s semi-temporary concept as far as it would go. Seven years was plenty of time to ascertain whether Alto could survive as a permanent venue. So as H&M took over the entirety of GPO’s retail space, Alto got a new outfit to celebrate. “We got to the point where we felt it really was an amazing venue and ticked a lot of boxes for the bridal market, but was a little too raw,” said Georgina. So she asked Kate Hannerford of Moth Design — an industrial designer who creative directs all of Damm Fine Foods on-off unique events — to soften it a little, and for some more functionality, not just for planners, but staff too. “The last guise is fully fitted out, including AV, full deck with landscaping. It’s a one-stop shop now,” says Georgina. The bar has been turned into a fully-plumbed built-in fixture, whereas before it was an ice-down, dry bar. And a small glass washBRICKS & MORE room was also built to raise the level of service to what a premium bride would expect. There were Seven years ago, Damm Fine Foods wasn’t so also some storage solutions designed into the new readily investing into bricks and mortar. The com- permanent fitout, with operable wall panels that pany, founded in 1996, had always just catered can both store/conceal furniture or divide the events, including functions for the developer of space into smaller rooms. “Alto’s the kind of venue Melbourne’s GPO. Originally, the top floor space that will be different every time someone uses it, Alto now occupies was earmarked for a fine din- so it needs to be versatile,” said Hannerford. ing restaurant, but the developer hadn’t secured a tenant by the time the retail precinct opened. BRASS TACKS Nervous about a central city function space on a retail site, the developer worked with Georgina to Hannerford was responsible for the last makeallow her to dip her toe in. “Initially we had hard over too, when the focus was more on “out there concrete surfaces, perspex chandeliers, and stain- palettes” in an effort to raise the ‘coolness facless steel,” recalled Georgina. “Then left it up to tor’. “This time Georgina really wanted to conthe imagination.” The empty room concept could vert it into a more premium, but urban, wedding sometimes be cost-prohibitive — every knife, fork, venue by using timeless finishes and colours,” said

TRENDY TIPS FROM GEORGINA PINTEREST: “We now get brides coming to us with complete Pinterest boards of what their dream wedding’s going to look like, and what layer they’d like to put in over the top of your current venues. That never used to happen. They’d walk in, add flowers, walk out. Now they’re changing table linen, putting in gold cutlery, antique glassware, cushions, and photo booths. All kinds of value additions. We’re very hands on with suppliers in prop and equipment hire — companies like Place Settings. The furniture those companies have now is really cutting edge.” HOME RENOVATING SHOW EFFECT: “There’s definitely a move to more fine furnishings, away from hard and harsh. Home renovating shows have really changed the way we fit out venues, to using interior designers who have a softer aesthetic — more fabrics, warmer, neutral tones. Brass, plant life, muslins and hessians in neutral tones, they’re all on trend.” FOOD, DAMM FINE: “We work with and gain inspiration from a lot of Melbourne’s top chefs. The Melbourne food market is very savvy, and gone are the days a venue can get away with doing the old chicken and beef with chocolate cake, nor would we want to. It might be that we provide a 50/50, but we ask as we go along so it seems that the customer gets choice.” FINDING SPACES: You really have to keep your finger on the pulse, and deal with commercial real estate agents. Some of these spaces go to tender, but you have to be on to it before it even gets to that stage in order to seal the deal. Owners are looking for longevity, so they’re looking for a client with a history of working in a space that produces great events. You have to have a good relationship with the landlord, and a proven track record, especially when you’re dealing with events where you’ve got a lot of people coming and going. It’s always hard to get the first one.

CONTACTS

Moth Design (Interior & Bar Design): (03) 9091 4577 or cocoon@mothdesign.com.au Fido Projects (Builder): 0405 206 186 or info@fidoprojects.com.au Zepel Fabrics (Sheers & Upholstery Fabric): (03) 9455 0644 or sales@zepelfabrics.com Gaas (Upholstery): (03) 9357 6074 or info@gaas.com.au Technical Events (AV): (03) 9417 7891 or scott@technicalevents.com.au

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Hannerford. “Keep it a blank canvas as much as possible, without it being a white box.” The L-shaped venue has always had an industrial quality; exposed services that help extend the ceiling height, and polished concrete floors. So opting for super high-end finishes wouldn’t have worked either. “We did toy with the idea of carpeting Alto,” said Georgina. “But the clients we regularly deal with felt we’d restrict ourselves to specifically dinner events.” Some of the aesthetic changes Moth design made included reupholstering all the ottomans and adding wall panelling that carries through from the lift exit into the venue to create continuity and a welcoming feel to the whole floor. The alfresco area has also been completely reinvigorated, and with floor-to-ceiling windows along two sides of the building taking in the unique central city aspect, it’s a true extension of the space. A key element of the design that connects both the industrial and the newer soft finishes is the purposefully aged brass bar top. “We spent a lot of time researching how to age that ourselves so it would have that patina,” said Hannerford. “It’s a combination of buffing it using a green scourer with water, and then a chemical treatment to stop it from going too far.” It takes a timeless material and softens the edges a bit, a talisman for the new fitout.

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CROWNING GLORY On top of every good Duke is a great Dutchess. Story: Christopher Holder Dutchess: Level 2, 146 Flinders St, Melbourne 3000 (03) 9810 0055 or www.dutchess.com.au

a RAMVEK project

undays at the Geebung Polo Club were legendary. Prior to the smoking ban, long, boozy summer afternoons extended into long, boozy summer nights and, inevitably, resulted in some long, snoozy Mondays with a sore head. But the point is, this was the Open Door Pub Company, headed up by directors Craig Ellison and Michael Thiele, creaming it — open the doors, turn on the taps. That was the early to mid noughties, but it may as well be a generation ago. Pubs can’t simply operate as beer barns any longer. Yes, there’s still the Friday and Saturday peak periods, but you can’t bank on those to the exclusion of every other day of the week. Food is now crucial in attracting trade and keeping the tills ticking over. Interestingly, you won’t hear too much mistyeyed nostalgia from Craig about the ‘roll out the barrel’ days. He and Michael have matured almost in sync with the marketplace. No longer in their early 30s with a ‘burning the candle at both ends’, crash-through work ethic… Craig wouldn’t mind a venue in the portfolio he’d quite like to spend a Saturday evening at as a punter. The Dutchess is it. Mature, sophisticated, but not up itself.

SUPPER CLUB You’d best describe the Dutchess as a supper club. Not a niche well served by Australian venues, a supper club provides restaurant food at all hours and mixes in some nightclub glamour and music. It’s a venue you can spend a night at without feeling you’re missing out on some dancing, or a special cocktail or a superior menu — they’ll do it all. Or, they won’t do any of it particularly well. Craig: “Was it a gamble? I don’t think so. It was actually a straight forward offer really, at least

from a steak restaurant perspective: Rockpoolquality meat at half the price. But it’s a different offer to anything else in Melbourne, so in that regard we did go out on a limb a little.”

JEWEL IN THE DUKE’S CROWN Some perspective: Dutchess sits atop a corner CBD property headlined by the groundfloor Duke. It’s the old Duke of Wellington site in Melbourne. As venue tells the story in Issue 55, the pub lay fallow for a number of years before Open Door were allowed to get its teeth stuck into a refurb worthy of the prime position. When it opened, the public bar was all you’d hope it to be, an everyman’s establishment with an enormous bar, dozens of big screens for televised sport, and a menu replete with counter meal favourites. Predictably, the Melbourne public took to it like a seagull takes to a hot chip. The Level One wine bar soon followed. Smaller, moodier, more intimate… it’s a place you can enjoy Grange by the glass without feeling like a prat. Upstairs, on Level Two, is the Dutchess. Always planned as something ‘a bit special’ it took Open Door places it had never been. Craig Ellison: “We spent an extra $250 a square metre on the finish. It had to be a step up from the other two levels. We also focussed on a few other key areas to give the venue a premium feel: The music would be really important; the lighting had to be spot on; the service would have to exceptional; the bar and cocktails would need to offer something different; and the look would be darker and more glamorous.” Incredibly, the Dutchess does indeed have its own personality and energy distinct from the rest of the property. Any operator will tell you how hard this is to execute.

Has it worked for us? Absolutely. Totally. Massively! Craig Ellison, Director Open Door Pub Company

The Dutchess attracts a cashed up, 25-plus crowd who have bothered to dress up and are looking to have a great time. And, amazingly, the clientele are skewed 60/40 in favour of the fairer sex. Not bad for a steak restaurant!

HIGH ROLLER John Mikulic, Director of Newline Design was again given the job of ‘Designer in Chief’. He’s done a tremendous job, working hand in glove with long-time construction collaborators Ramvek. Booths are the seating du jour. But not your average slide in/out booths, but the luxury of a cream-leather horseshoe design. Each feels like a VIP lounge. And they’re low enough to encourage interaction, as you gaze around at who else is lucky enough to be settling into a night of Dutchess indulgence. If the leather of the booths reminds you of a Rolls Royce cabin, then the lacquered timber tables and surrounds are like the dashboard. Elsewhere, high quality timber keep leading the way, no more evident than in the block work feature wall. Painstakingly selected and configured, the wall is wonderful to behold and and helps break up the room acoustics in a pleasant way. If repeat business is the best sign of a satisfied customer, then Ramvek is doing plenty right. Ramvek’s Project Manager Ross Dunn, dropped by for

a chat with venue, taking time out from another Open Door Pub Company worksite — the James Squire Brewhouse at The Portland Hotel, around the corner in Russell Street. The feature wall is certainly a Ross Dunn favourite: “Constructing it was a two-month process, organising the timber and colour, and devising how best to put it together. It’s a cypress pine, and it’s definitely something unique; something distinctive.”

SOUNDS RIGHT Often we’ll pull out the sound as a box item adjunct in a story like this, but the audio is especially pivotal to the success of the Dutchess. Open Door deliberately broke the piggy bank, knowing that a superlative music and audio experience was a cornerstone. Craig Ellison: “We spent around $100,000 on the audio. More than we’d ever spent on sound. But it was something we’d observed on our trip to New York: the sound has to be exciting but not interfere with conversation.” This is a tricky balance but can be achieved with high quality loudspeaker systems that have super-low distortion, coupled to professional amplification (in this case CXD amps from QSC), and a design that places a good number of small-

er speakers around the venue to ensure an even sound coverage without hotspots. The result is a sound system that is crisp, exciting, yet remains impossible to pinpoint — it’s simply ‘there’ while you enjoy your conversation and meal. Justin Mackay and Chris McDowall from Disco Doctors deserve a special commendation. The success of this sound system is down to great ears and a determination to achieve perfection. In this case the small-format DD6 speakers are from Martin Audio, one of a handful of top-class loudspeaker systems that could have achieved similar results.

STICKING TO YOUR GUNS This is a concept venue that requires deep pockets to launch and steely determination to see through. After a slow launch in December (“everyone had already committed to other venues for their Christmas functions”) and a predictably slow January, Dutchess only hit its straps in March. It must have been some nerve-wracking months for Craig, Michael, Justin Wise the Executive Chef, Venue Manager Ben Hehir and his team. Craig Ellison: “We were determined to stick to our guns, and maintain the integrity of our offering throughout. For instance, there’s no point cancelling the DJ on a Tuesday if your concept

is to have a late night dining and music venue seven days a week. We had some staffing flexibility thanks to the venues downstairs but we also needed to maintain a commitment to a higher level of service throughout. The design of the venue means we can’t pull all the chairs out and host a wedding. But that sort of discipline is a good thing. I think as soon as a restaurant deviates too much from its vision, it loses its identity. The Dutchess’s identity is really important to us.” You get the feeling that Craig has quite a bit more invested in the Dutchess than Open Door capital. And there’s more than a little personal satisfaction in its success: “Has it worked for us? Absolutely. Totally. Massively!” Contacts: Ramvek (Builder): (03) 9794 9342 or www.ramvek.com.au DC Group + Newline Design: (03) 9521 4144 or newlinedesign.com.au Disco Doctors: 0423 141 384 or www.discodoctors.com.au TAG (Martin Audio, QSC): (02) 9519 0900 or tag.com.au

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SEPARATE WAYS Nothing ‘joined’ about Junction — Moama Bowling Club’s newest venue. Junction Moama 6 Shaw Street, Moama NSW 1800 806 777 or junctionmoama.com.au

Story: Christopher Holder Photos: James Geer

t seems ludicrous now but there was a time when poker machines were a novelty. As someone brought up in northern Victoria in the ’70s and ’80s (when pokies were verboten), it was common knowledge that bussing coachloads of senior citizens north of the border for a day at the pokies was big business. One of the most desirable destinations was the Moama Bowling Club, just over the Murray from the historic Echuca river port. Of course, nowadays poker machines are about as novel as the common cold and it takes more than the promise of a day with a one-armed bandit to attract a crowd. Progressive clubs and RSLs know this and they’re investing heavily in their bars and restaurants, as well as their meeting and events offering. Moama Bowling Club (MBC) is a progressive club and has recently completed a significant $3.5m renovation. What makes it so significant is in the positioning and branding of the renovations. MBC hasn’t simply smartened up a restaurant, it’s launched a whole new venue, that, if not physically separate, is certainly separate in just about every other regard. It’s called Junction, and you won’t find it on the MBC website.

ARM’S LENGTH BOWLS “We essentially run Junction as a separate business,” says MBC Operations Manager Liam Fleming. “We have our own Junction marketing team, Junction chefs, our own Junction manager, even the uniforms of Junction are completely different. This separation is purely because Junction attracts an entirely different crowd to the rest of the club. “To help us with our branding we engaged a marketing company called Seesaw. They’re not an outfit we’ve used before but we wanted fresh eyes and fresh ideas. It’s worked well. The Junction in-house marketing team gets to focus on what works. For example, the club marketing team will be more about traditional media while Junction concentrates more of its energy on social media.”

JUNCTION: NEW DIRECTION Junction would be just as at home in Melbourne, Sydney or even New York: Head Chef, Michael Giarrusso’s casual dining menu has clearly been well considered, with some great sharing options. The architecture and design is fresh, innovative and hasn’t the merest whiff of ‘clubs’ about it. The

service is slick and hip. The branding is well resolved and consistent. The beers are boutique and abounding in hops. Northbridge, Fortitude Valley, Fitzroy, Newtown… doesn’t matter, Junction feels like the place to be. And yet, there’s plenty about Junction that’s of its place — namely, a relaxed, beautiful part of the world where people choose to live to not contend with the New York-minute fast pace of the city, which is why the landscaping is so significant. “The gardens and the Junction exterior is the first thing you see when you cross the bridge into Moama,” observes MBC Operations Manager Liam Fleming. “The landscaping, with the water features and courtyard, set the tone.” “We think of Junction as a pavilion set in landscaped gardens,” concurs Tony Maluccio. Tony is one of the Altis Architecture team behind the design, headed up by Andrew O’Connell, and also includes Lyndel Sardelic, Victor Cheung and Erica Covolan. “And from a design perspective and the featured palette of materials all connect with Moama. Whether it’s the reclaimed brick or the steel that references the nearby train line. ” Altis Architecture has enjoyed a long alliance with MBC, and knowing the club’s history and DNA assisted in the process, something not lost on Food & Beverage Manager Simon Griffin: “Altis created a design to fit our vision of a forward thinking venue with unique design and relevance to our local area. The additional design detail they provided made the final project such a success. The relationship Altis had with our local builders were a testament to what Altis stands for and delivers, which helped all parties come together and achieve this fantastic venue.”

INTERIORS: NO TV Ah, yes, the detail. There’s plenty to love about the Altis eye for detail in the Junction design. And the choice of materials is fastidious: The reclaimed brickwork, the reclaimed timber from orchard fruit bins, the velvet granite bar top, and the concrete floor tiles, they all help create an earthy yet refined interior unsullied by the merest hint of a big telly. “That was explicit in the original brief, and part of learning from our mistakes — relaxed casual dining and televised sport don’t mix,” observes Liam Fleming. What’s more, it’s the distinctive furniture that gives the Junction design an additional lift. One look at the custom designed dining chairs, bar-

stools, tables and dry bars and you wonder why so many venues opt for the ubiquitous replica Tolix chair when, with just a little more care, you can have something that sets you apart. The Junction custom furniture design was the work of Abeo Design in consultation with Altis Architecture — both should take a bow.

AUDIO LOUNGE A DJ spins chilled lounge music on a Friday and Saturday night. The volume never rises beyond the point of impinging on enthusiastic chatter. The audio install reflects that fact — a Bose distributed background music system. Bose weather resistant speakers also fill the courtyard with sound.

BRIDGE NOT TOO FAR Being over the bridge into NSW was, for many years, the Moama Bowling Club’s biggest asset — a short hop from wowser Victoria to the Eldorado of poker machines. Now, that bridge is one of the club’s biggest challenges in attracting a fresh clientele. “Realistically, it’s only 100m, but it’s a big thing to get people over the bridge,” concedes Liam Fleming. “Which is why we’ve poured so much effort into Junction. We knew it had to be something special, and it needed to be backed up by great services and a great product. “Thankfully, the local customers have really embraced it. We opened just prior to Christmas 2014, rode the wave of the busy Summer season… and been flat out ever since.”

CONTACTS Altis Architecture (Interior Design & Architecture): (02) 9364 9000 or altisarchitecture.com Abeo Design (Furniture Design) Bose (Audio System): 1800 659 433 or pro.bose.com KGB Constructions (Builder) Northrop Engineers (Services) Arcadia Landscape Architecture Quantum Design International (F&B Consultant) Seesaw Studio (Marketing & Brand Strategy)

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uestions with

Nik Rollison

Nik Rollison is a Food & Beverage Executive with CONCRETESEED Concepts & Hospitality Projects.

ll successful hospitality operators know this instinctively: you need to bring all the components of a venue together. The food, service, look and feel, the online and social presence… there’s lots to consider. Some operators don’t get it. Some operators don’t think about the uniforms, the lighting, the menu design… ‘My food’s great, why do I need the bathrooms to be clean? People are here to eat.’ Hang on, it’s all part of the experience. I’m originally from the US. Prior to moving to Australia, I was Director of Restaurant Operations for Aria Resort & Casino — a 4004-room hotel in Vegas. I was in the pre-opening team that helped develop all the F&B concepts, hired in all the chefs, managers and staff and brought that venue to life. Vegas might be at the pinnacle of hospitality operations but the discipline of running a successful venue — bar, club, restaurant, whatever it is — is the same. If you have a 10-seat restaurant or a 1000-seat restaurant it’s not like you have a bunch of different work to do. It’s the same work, just more of it, and you have more people in supporting roles. Saying that, we launched Aria in the middle of the GFC. MGM’s joint venture partner Dubai World pulled a lot of money from the project. It meant we couldn’t afford a training and development team. My team had to onboard all the staff — literally fill out all the paper work, photocopy the IDs, and do the training. There were 3400 staff to induct in not much more than a week. What that experience taught me was the importance of the knowledge — the crucial messaging about who you are as a venue and how you go about your business — trickling down all the way from your key lieutenants right through to the bottle washers. After launching Aria I was approached by a group saying they were relaunching a casino in Australia called Star City. So I packed up my wife and two dogs and moved to Sydney. I was General Manager of F&B and helped develop and conceptualise all the restaurants and bars of what is now The Star. It was a similar sce-

nario to Aria. We brought in the management, allnew chefs, and worked up the standard operating procedure, masterminding the guest experience for each of those venues. Whether it’s The Star or Las Vegas, we all want to catch that shooting star; the guy or gal who’s on the rise but not quite hit the big time. You want to launch something new and have a point of difference others can only aspire to. Case in point for The Star launch was Momofuku. Very few people in the world let alone in Sydney had heard of David Chang. New York had, but no one else — he hadn’t made a splash yet. So to land David and open a Momofuku, with a name most people couldn’t pronounce, with a restaurant model that’s not the norm in this country, and a model that’s actually downright offensive to some people in this country — can’t make a booking, can’t phone a number, playing loud rock ’n’ roll music, hats on backwards, and if you don’t like it you can f**k off! — well, that wasn’t the status quo in 2011. Now every cool restaurant in Sydney has the same sort of model. I think it took about two years for Sydneysiders to accept that The Star had a good F&B platform. It took a few years in a row of getting three hats at Momofuku, one hat at Black, Sokyo, Balla; a Nightclub of the Year, Hottest New Restaurant of the Year … it took all of those accolades for people to concede, ‘well, ‘spose it must be okay’! After launching The Star and while working as COO of pub group C.Inc [Coogee Bay Hotel, Cruise Bar, formerly The Bourbon] that Paul Kelly [Paul Kelly Design] and I put our heads together and dreamed up Concreteseed. Is Concreteseed of its time? I think so. Certainly the demand is growing. Some 10 or 15 years ago, smaller calibre operators or restaurateurs thought that if they spent the money on the design and fitout then, ergo, they had a good venu e. They didn’t weigh heavily enough the influence of impeccable service, great ambience, great food, the overall guest experience — these ‘whole package’ components weren’t taken into account. Concreteseed highlights areas operators need to focus on and then we can provide that content: we can do training, we can do branding, we can do the onboarding of staff, we can launch your venue. Or you might have it all together and you need a perspective — hey, maybe you should tweak this or that. We can do that too. That’s our specialty: we bring venue concepts to life.

Interview: Christopher Holder

can’t make a booking, playing loud rock ’n’ roll music, and if you don’t like it you can f**k off! — well, that wasn’t the status quo in 2011.

CHOP CHOP Sake Restaurant & Bar 33 Cross Street, Double Bay, NSW 2028 (02) 8017 3104 or www.sakerestaurant.com.au

The elegant clack of chopsticks has grown genteelly louder in Sydney’s exclusive east with the launch of Urban Purveyor Group’s fourth Saké restaurant. The first of the brand’s foray outside the CBD decorates the street level of the refurbished Double Bay InterContinental Hotel like a silken obi sash on a kimono. “Double Bay has been given a huge breath of life lately,” interior designer Melissa Collison tells venue. “It’s the catchment for the eastern suburbs and we wanted to do something that was befitting the area, something that was a little edgier, glamorous and pared back. “I didn’t want to create a Japanese Disneyland, I wanted it to be a beautiful restaurant to dine in that had some sensibilities and empathy towards Japanese design, and to do that we used the materials in a very simplistic way, with minimal fixings and very smooth lines.” The open-plan, light-filled venue offers indoor seating for 120 with three private rooms at the rear and a covered outdoor terrace overlooking the hotel driveway on Cross Street — Double Bay’s version of Rodeo Drive. Dominating the space is a central 24-seat communal table in honed, plum-toned Voila Calacutta marble and a sweeping concrete bar façade that opens into the sushi bar and kitchen. Light oak-slatted doors in the style of a traditional isakaya bar offer a glimpse into three private dining rooms finished in a pale green stone quarried only in Japan. The venue shares elements of the original, Lucetti Krelle-designed Saké in The Rocks, which Collison refurbished last year — notable for its tattooed geisha motif in the custom wallpaper,

light gobos and an etched bronze mirror. Collison conceived and directed the original shoot with celebrated Sydney-based Japanese tattoo artist Kian Forreal, fashion photographer Paul Westlake and makeup artist Wayne Chick in a solid statement of glamour that is now part of the Saké brand’s signature and used across its menus and print marketing. Similarly, the menu is rich in the staples of Saké’s hatted sister venues famously overseen by executive chef Shaun Presland with classic and new-style sushi matched with Japan’s finest saké and shochu varieties, but under the control of Double Bay head chef Min Kim, poached from his role as senior sous chef at Sydney’s Sokyo restaurant. New to the Saké repertoire are Japanese grilled classics from a custom-built open robata grill that uses authentic high-grade binchotan charcoal that heats to more than 500°C and costs as much as the delicacies being cooked. “We have always sought to create unique dining destinations, both in interior design and culinary direction,” says Urban Purveyor Group’s newly appointed CEO Thomas Pash, whose portfolio includes 20 venues along the east coast including Saké and the Bavarian Bier cafes – and seems likely to grow. “Each Saké Restaurant & Bar is clearly related to the others. There is no change in this branding strategy,” he says. “Should more Saké restaurants join the fold, they will be similarly unique yet broadly representative of the popular and successful brand. As the brand evolves the opportunities for Saké are continuing to unfold.”

CONTACTS:

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Melissa Collison (Interior Design): (02) 99328 3300 or www.melissacollison.com.au Ke-Zu (Upholstered Smile Range Seating): (02) 9669 1788 or www.kezu.com.au Kvadrat Maharam (Plum & Grey Upholstery): (02) 9212 4277 or www.kvadratmaharam.com South Pacific Fabrics (Plum Silk Chair Upholstery): (02) 9327 7222 or southpacificfabrics.com Arthur G (Fully Upholstered Chairs): (03) 9543 4633 or www.arthurg.com.au Electrolight (Lighting Design): (02) 9267 4777 or www.electrolight.com.au Axolotl (Etched Mirrors): (02) 9666 1207 or axolotl.com.au Signature Prints (Custom Wallpaper): (02) 8338 8400 or www.signatureprints.com.au Nightlife Music: 1800 679 748 or nightlife.com.au

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MINAMISHIMA / MAXIMASHIMA Minamishima: 4 Lord St, Richmond VIC (03) 9429 5180 or www.minamishima.com.au

CONTACT Interlandi Mantesso Architects: (03) 9429 4780 or www.imaarchitects.com.au

Minamishima is perfect. Perfect in a achingly minimal Japanese way where nothing is wasted, nothing is extraneous. One of the world’s most feted Sushi chefs, Jiro Ono, famously operates his tiny world of fastidiousness from a pocket-sized 10-seat restaurant in a train station, which goes some way to setting the scene for the unpretentious, unadorned tone of this new restaurant in Richmond. As you’d hope, Minamishima isn’t on the main drag, spruiking it’s wares like a painted hussy, it’s down a nondescript side street under a nondescript new condo development. The operator (and sushi maestro), Koichi Minamishima, worked at Kenzan for many years, and his restaurant has the highly resolved feel of something obsessed about and meticulously planned over many, many nights of afterwork beer and inspiration. No doubt some of those planning meeting were with restaurant manager and sommelier Randolph Cheung (The Atlantic, Flower Drum), who now presides over Minamishima’s front of house with a professional grace. Taking on the exacting interior fitout brief was Interlandi Mantesso Architects (IMA). IMA’s brief was to create a fitout distinctly Japanese. Not Japanese in the cliché sense, but true to the discipline and restraint that underpins the Japanese de-

sign ethos. It almost goes without saying once you seen the images, but geometry in the space planning is strict and formal. Clear lines were drawn and respected through the entire length of the venue to create a sense of uncluttered simplicity, with the placement of every shadowline carefully considered. A 10m-long sushi bar was designed to celebrate the theatre of the chef’s performance. Its design is rigorously ergonomic to optimise comfort for both the chef and the customer. It was understatedly finished in the one material (solid oak) to not distract from the chef’s performance. The usual clutter of pay stations, waiter stations and storage have been disguised in joinery talls, which have been delicately decorated in a pattern derived from the traditional shoji screen. Throughout the number of finishes is deliberately limited to create a restrained palate reminiscent of the natural world so often reflected in Japan’s design culture. It all combines to what many might perceive as a quasi-religious foodie experience. There’s a hushed reverence worthy of a shinto prayer meeting, if such a thing existed. And all the notices are in. The fish is to die for.

Strategic food & beverage concept development PAUL KELLY, AUSTRALIA’S LEADING HOSPITALITY DESIGNER, HAS JOINED FORCES WITH PROVEN INTERNATIONAL FOOD & BEVERAGE OPERATOR, NIK ROLLISON.

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KEEPIN’ IT REEL Hoyts Lux Bar: Broadway Shopping Centre, NSW www.hoyts.com.au/lux

CONTACTS

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PMDL (Interior Design): (02) 8458 5500 or www.pmdl.com.au Veer Group (Fitout Contractor): www.veer.com.au Inlite (Lighting): (03) 9429 9828 or www.inlite.com.au European Design (French Porter Chair): www.europeandesign.com.au Home Q (Papa Bear Chair replica): www.homeq.com.au Hughes Commercial Furniture (Da Vinci Stool): www.hughescf.com.au

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Hoyts is transforming a night at the movies into something altogether more glamorous. The first Hoyts Lux Bar has opened at the cinema chain’s Broadway, Sydney, outlet with lashings of Hollywood glitz and provides the perfect way to enjoy a catch up drink before or after the main feature. PMDL, led by Simon Fallon and Jacqui Shaddock, took care of the interior design, nailing the brief: edgy and fun, yet timeless.

NIGHT OUT The Lux lounge is designed as a complement to the premium, concierge-style box office, and the in-cinema dining offer, but

also to appeal as a standalone hospitality venue, with the service and attention to detail of an upmarket bar/restaurant. Rich textures with dramatic furniture and lighting give a nod to the golden age of cinema, which is layered over the more serious, glamorous backdrop of the contemporary film world with oversized monochrome skylines, red carpet, paparazzi lined arrivals, and hero digital displays. There’s undoubtedly plenty going on in terms of colours and textures, but it’s carefully zoned with more restful/neutral spaces for a late night liaison. In fact, the creation of the zones was key to planning the space: flexible areas for groups, corners for couples to retreat into, and a central, highly visible bar for a friendly open chat. (Images: Peter Doddrell)

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The Langham, Sydney, has lavished $30m on a comprehensive refurb of rare sophistication. The Langham, Sydney 89-113 Kent St, Sydney NSW (02) 9256 2222 or langhamhotels.com

ot every refurbishment encompasses every tile, doorknob and light switch. Not every hotel is The Langham, Sydney. The harbourside doors reopened in December 2014 after a swift $30m renovation that replaced the entire interior of every room with a classic, refined aesthetic, adorned with plush fabrics, marble and gold finishes. The phrase “no expense spared” is thrown around with abandon, but entering the foyer of The Langham and seeing the $1m worth of marble really gives this throwaway line some creedence. The hotel boasts 98 rooms and suites, five event spaces and a new bar and restaurant, all awash with the sunlight that glitters on the water outside and streams through the giant windows. From the top of the vast skylight to the classical basement pool, The Langham exudes splendour. It’s “modern elegance”, they say. “From the moment you enter the hotel, sophisticated design touch points draw you in and an exquisite colour palette catches your eye,” says Sonia Lefevre, the hotel’s General Manager. Lefevre explains that after an extensive 18 months of research, meetings, tendering and planning, the renovation itself was finished in only four and a half months: “One of the city’s slickest and fastest hotel redevelopments.” The Langham commissioned London firm GA Design, which has a wide portfolio of fine hotel interiors, with the huge undertaking. The finishing touches are the carefully curated artworks provided by auction house Sotheby’s.

FURRY FRIENDS WELCOME Visitors to Sydney have quite a wide variety of luxury hotel suites to choose from, especially around Circular Quay and The Rocks. What sets The Langham apart? Let me count the ways, says Lefevre, who comments that guests are definitely noticing the ways the hotel has gone the extra

mile. “Attention to detail is one of the success factors we can attribute to that recognition,” she says. “At 98 rooms and suites, we are more like a sophisticated grand residence than a traditional hotel.” Inside the rooms, either Standard, City or Harbour class, the bathrooms have been customised in green marble, the hotel has installed specific luxury beds and guests can choose which pillow suits them best. Furry friends are invited, too. Following the lead of high-end hotels in Paris and New York, guests can bring cats or dogs to The Langham to stay in any one of the hotel’s rooms (I’m sure news will have reached Johnny Depp). “This is a very international trend we have embraced here in Sydney and created a sophisticated pampered pet program to accompany the concept,” Lefevre explains. “Four-legged guests at The Langham receive a welcome amenity in the room, their own Langham branded dog bed for the duration of their stay and owners order from an exclusive inroom dining menu for their pet.” The surrounds are nice for walkies, too.

HI TEA On the ground floor are five different event spaces. The fine-dining Kent Street Kitchen restaurant has an adjacent semi-private dining area with wine cellars. The salon-esque Palm Court is a Lefevre favourite. “The culture inside Palm Court is very epicurean and opulent; yet it’s incredibly warm and welcoming,” she says. “Sophisticated design, a timeless colour palette, classic Parisian shutters on the windows, a baby grand piano in the corner, incredible florals, stunning menu options and an enormous grand white marble fireplace.” In the long afternoons, it’s Afternoon Tea with Wedgwood, reminiscent of the original Langham property in London, and in the evenings it’s cocktails and jazz.

Four-legged guests receive a welcome amenity in the room, their own Langham branded dog bed and an exclusive inroom dining menu for their pet

TECHNICAL SOPHISTICATION “We very much focus on lavish small- to mediumsized events inside The Langham, Sydney,” says Lefevre. The events spaces are rounded out by The Drawing Room, with the original fireplace from the historic Elizabeth Bay House, and the larger chandeliered Ball Room. The rejuvenated hotel has new audiovisual capabilities to match its new look. “Both key spaces possess drop-down screens and panel-controlled technology to operate sound and lighting. We also have two small boardrooms for meetings up to 12 pax, that both have full-size bathrooms and water glimpses that are perfect as secretariats and green rooms.” The Boardroom completes the picture, catering for private meetings. In addition to the “residential-style corporate conferencing” that is a key part of The Langham’s business, Lefevre says, these events spaces are attracting junkets, media events and, increasingly, weddings, thanks to the new Bridal Concierge Program.

TALENT POOL With so much change going on, clued-in guests will notice one remarkable constant downstairs at the Day Spa: the Roman-style swimming pool. While the 10 treatment rooms have been given their own facelift, the pool has survived the transition from Observatory to Langham. “Our 20 metre swimming pool in our Day Spa is an iconic underground oasis for hotel guests and local Sydneysiders, recently voted the most beautiful swimming pool in Sydney,” says Lefevre. The starry painted “sky” is a special otherworldly detail. “The ceiling is a perfect replica of The Southern Cross, which means you can swim under the stars, day or night.”

WORLD TOP 100 Bookings are strong, and the accolades keep coming. “It was a privilege to be recognised as one of the Top 100 Hotels In The World last month by respected US luxury publication, Robb Report,” Lefevre says, adding that The Langham picked up three awards at this year’s Gourmet Traveller Awards: for Best New Hotel, Hotel of the Year — and don’t forget, Best Club Sandwich. “Quite overwhelming when we consider that we are only six months into our repositioning journey in a very competitive city and sector.” This year has more in store for the Langham Hospitality Group. The company’s new brand, Cordis, launched recently with the opening of the first property in Hong Kong. “Personalised and efficient services, seamless technology, and authentic experiences in the best locations around the world,” as CEO Robert Warman described it. One day soon, the huge Barangaroo building projects will be finished and guests at The Langham will be right near the action. In the meantime, they can look over the harbour, admire the floral bouquets and enjoy the signature ginger perfume that suffuses through the hotel. The Langham really has thought of everything. SUPPLIERS GA Design International: thega-group.com Xcite Audio Visual: xciteav.com.au

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Freshly Hatched Shangri-Laâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s groovy sub brand hits Brisbane. Hotel Jen & Nest: 159 Roma St, Brisbane QLD www.hoteljen.com/Brisbane

Story: Lucie Robson

otel bars and restaurants can get by with just feeding and watering weary travellers, but Nest, housed in Brisbane’s Hotel Jen, goes beyond the brief. Hotel guests and visitors alike can step into a space full of plush fabrics and patterns, lit by dozens of glowing birdcage lights and looking out to the majestic sparkling Lantern Tree (see above). It’s a suitably fresh approach to a hotel bar and restaurant, situated in a thoroughly modern concept hotel that orients itself to the young, informed and adventurous traveller. Hotel Jen, formerly Traders Hotel Brisbane, commissioned local firm Tonic Design to create a space that merged thoughtful design with day and night functionality. “The design ideas centred around creating a modern EuroAsian-styled venue with unique elements, plush custom lounge seating, stunning lighting, graffiti art, custom wall papers combined with more casual and traditional elements,” say the Tonic design team, director Matt Riley and graduate Anna Gowen. The team worked to create a space that could reflect different moods, chameleon-like, to match different occasions and times of day. As the hot Queensland sun rises, buffet breakfast is being served at Nest. Throughout the day, the hotel guests, from Australia or overseas, or professionals from surrounding office buildings, enjoy takeaway coffees or a la carte lunches and dinners, and then after hours the place becomes a cocktail bar. “It’s a challenge to design a venue that needs to change with the time of day and the type of client without it looking like a disjointed series of spaces,” Riley and Gowen explain. “Clever use of lighting to adjust the mood from day to night, also the creation of a series of spaces which have varying levels of privacy or openness, such as intimate booths, custom lounges and banquette dining, all serve to create a series of varied by conformable experiences for the patrons.”

NEST: IN THE STICKS Nest is fresh and modern, bringing the buzz of the city to the restaurant’s interior, but the multitude of warm, glowing lights and clever rope and wooden pick-up-sticks screens make it cosy, too. The materials present a wide palette of colours and shapes around Nest’s corners and enclaves. “We wanted the palette to be a collection of prints and textures; modern but comfortable but with a clear link to the Shangri-la’s South East Asian heritage [read on to discover the connection here] which is echoed in the Nest menu,” the designers say. “We have used both dark and light timbers, stunning custom wallpapers from Emily Zizz and Baresque; plush functional fabrics and soft furnishings; eclectic light fittings that vary across the different spaces.” In addition to serving a range of clients and occasions throughout a typical day, the designers had to consider the operational requirements of the busy Hotel Jen. “The hotel wanted to ensure the large space could still be run efficiently by a relatively small number of staff in off-peak times,” Riley and Gowen explain. “This was no mean feat of design planning. With careful considerations in this regard we located the bar, the maître d’ station, separate entries to the restaurant and bar carefully to ensure maximum visual connection across all spaces, but still tried to avoid the feeling of an oversized restaurant.” Just to be sure that they were making the most of the space, the team consulted a feng shui expert as well.

We’ve taken the fussiness away from the traditional hotel experience and focussed on what really matters

GIVING A FIG Outside, and framed by the building’s big windows, is a 100-year old Moreton Bay fig tree known as the Lantern Tree. “The hotel manager, design team and PR team put their heads together and had the idea of ‘activating’ the tree through

a collection of around 200 lanterns installed in the branches,” say Riley and Gowen. “The idea was supported by the Brisbane City Council and Roma Street parklands.” It’s now something of a local landmark and meeting spot.

WHAT’S JEN? In August 2014 Shangri-La Hotel and Resorts did away with its Traders Hotel series and in its place launched the concept of Hotel Jen. These new hotels would be “fresh, friendly and fuss-free” and appeal to busy, independent and especially younger travellers. “The Hotel Jen experience delivers what matters most to guests with a millennial mindset,” said Shangri-La CEO Greg Dogan at the time. The virtual persona of “Jen” is that of an adventurous young professional who also likes to run an efficient hotel. General Manager of Hotel Jen Brisbane, Claire Huang, likens the Jen experience to that of staying with a beloved friend. “We’ve taken the fussiness away from the traditional hotel experience and focussed on what really matters – authentic, friendly service; comfortable beds and thoughtful touches to make life easier like fast, free wifi across the whole hotel,” she explains.

NEXT JEN HOTEL Every Jen property has interiors that share a common, functional theme, but are tailored suitably to the local market. “Hotel Jen Brisbane has a modern yet timeless look with a neutral palette accentuated by earthy colours and design elements to represent our parkland location and Queensland’s natural beauty,” says Huang. In terms of creating a new bar and restaurant, the most important thing was that the new space would be as open and friendly as Jen. “Our former restaurant was very dated and really geared at corporate travellers,” Huang adds. “We wanted to create a modern space where locals are just as happy to come for a bite to eat or after work drink as our guests are to dine, meet and entertain.” Huang explains that now that Nest is complete, Hotel Jen Brisbane has more upgrades in store, including improvements to the function and event spaces. Additionally, due to the concept’s popularity, in the not-too-distant future there will be more Hotels Jen across Australia and New Zealand, to add to the Jen’s collection in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia and the Maldives.

SUPPLIERS Café Culture+insitu: (02) 9699 8577 or www.cafeculture.com.au Prototype Furniture (Custom Pieces): 1300 799 376 or www.prototype.net.au

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Congo Collection

Lionel Dining Chair

The Congo collection doesn’t scream for attention but makes it suitable for many a cafe or restaurant design. Crafted from American white oak, the careful attention to detail, consistent across all Ross Didier’s work, is apparent. He has used a modern take on Mortise and Tenon joints, which provide unsurpassed strength and stability while maintaining a clean, streamlined aesthetic. The range is comprised by the Congo chair, bar stool and table. Each adds an element of natural, refined elegance to any interior space. Pricing from $692 apiece.

The Lionel dining chair is simple, elegant and contemporary. Suitable for both indoor or outdoor use, Lionel is also available with an upholstered seat cushion. Lionel is made to order with a zinc and powdercoated steel wire frame. The range includes dining chairs, bar stools and armchairs. Jardan: (03) 9548 8866 or www.jardan.com.au

Didier: www.didier.com.au

Quick-Step Livyn

Sancal Collar Dining Chair

Quick-Step is launching a vinyl loose-lay range featuring Australian species in the Livyn Essential Collection. Loose lay, as the name suggests, makes installation a breeze. Simply place the planks on the floor, cut the end of the row with a utility knife and start the next row. Then, bring them together tightly and in a straight line. Thanks to the AntiSlip True grip technology on the bottom, the plank won’t budge. Livyn is scratch-resistant and features a strong and durable surface layer making it ideal in high traffic areas. The collection now boasts 19 different hues.

Designed by Skrivo, and inspired by the way a collar folds. Collar combines technology and handcraft. The injection-moulded interior followed intense modelling. The upholstery is tailored just like a made-to-measure suit. Even the buttons are upholstered to match the seat cushion, underscoring the importance of every last detail. Two versions are available: metal or wooden feet. The ash is available in any colour from our collection. The metal is available in textured epoxy: black, grey or brown. Ke-Zu: www.kezu.com.au

Quick-Step: www.quick-step.com

The Emporium Parramatta The Emporium is the latest addition to Parramatta’s bourgeoning food scene. With the arrival of head chef, Rob Cannon (Pony, Steel), The Emporium specialises in a distinct modern Australian style of dining combined with delicious Mediterranean influences. The furniture was largely supplied by BSeated Global which worked closely with Hydra Design’s Nicole Monk. Taking Hydra’s colour palette and schedule of finishes, BSeated Global supplied and customised a number of designs including Trattoria Italian dining chair, the Cinema folding chair, the Wimbeldon steel framed chair along with French Provincial solid timber tables, hand-carved Love Seat chairs and Travetine marble table tops. Entrepreneurs, cousins John and Sam Ayoub, of ‘The Coffee Emporium’ acclaim, are behind the venue, with General Manager, Dominic Borel (Gazebo Wine Garden, The Local Taphouse, The Observatory Hotel) holding the reins. “The food scene in Parramatta, while rich and fruitful, definitely has its limitations. People are still going out of their way to travel to the CBD and inner-city fringes to obtain an international standard of service and cuisine. With just over 1.3 million people currently living in this city, there was too big of an opportunity to ignore,” Borel says. BSeated Global: 1300 727 637 or bseatedglobal.com.au

Bose F1 Bose’s F1 Model 812 is the first powered portable loudspeaker that lets users optimise sound by creating up to four different vertical coverage patterns. The F1 system provides versatility for a wide range of applications and venues, easy setup, aesthetically pleasing design, and rugged durability. With the F1 system, sound can be optimised for playing at floor level, on stage or facing raked seats or bleachers. For extended bass response you can opt for the F1 Subwoofer. The loudspeaker and subwoofer have a combined 2000W of power (1000W each), able to fill small- and mid-sized venues.

Bionic Barman Meet Makr Shakr, the world’s first robotic bartending system – designed by architect, engineer and inventor, Carlo Ratti. It made its debut as the Bionic Bar onboard on Royal Caribbean’s new ‘smart’ cruise ship, Anthem of the Seas. To use Makr Shakr, users access a simple app on a tablet, allowing them to create an almost limitless number of drink combinations. The cocktail creations will then be assembled by two robotic arms, whose movements – shown on a large display positioned behind the bar – mimic the actions of a bartender, from the shaking of a martini to the thin slicing of a lemon garnish to the muddling of a mojito.

Bose: 1800 659 433 or pro.bose.com Makr Shakr: www.makrshakr.com/en

Disco Cruisin’

HK Audio Linear 5 LTS

The Masquerade Lounge is the third largest venue on P&O’s recently refitted Aurora cruiseliner. Home to the ship’s nightly disco, the Masquerade is also used daily for live music, comedy, lectures, and other presentations. It needed a versatile PA, which it got with the Renkus-Heinz CF Series loudspeakers. It’s outfitted with left and right arrays of RenkusHeinz CFX101LA modular point source line array loudspeakers, two cabinets to a side. Ground stacked beneath the flown arrays are a pair of CFX 218S dual 18-inch subwoofers.

HK Audio, a venue PA favourite, has some beefy additions to its Linear 5 loudspeaker range. Designed to be an alternative to compact line arrays, the L5 LTS A is a more efficient and easy-to-handle sound-reinforcement tool for venue PA setups. Fly it, ground stack it, the L5 LTS A will provide plenty of throw. The versatile bass bin delivers a dynamic, deep-ranging response and high maximum SPL. The L SUB 4000 A’s preamp is stereo, so a single unit can be deployed as a central sub-low bin for a stereo system.

HIlls SVL (Renkus Heinz): (02) 9647 1411 or www.hillssvl.com.au

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

Vogel’s Easy Video Wall

Void Cyclone

Vogel’s Professional video wall solutions deliver ease of use and great display impact in every commercial environment. Two new video wall products are designed to make installation easy, and usability simple: Vogel’s Connect-it video wall is a modular concept that consists of interface bars and multidirectional (3D) adjustable interface display strips. Meanwhile, Vogel’s video wall pop-out module is a slim bracket with a distance between the display and wall of only 50mm. It features a spring-loaded push to open release, by gently pushing on the display.

The Cyclone series from Void Acoustics has been developed to raise the levels of audio quality and visual aesthetics for outdoor audio installations. This range of beautifully sculpted loudspeakers uses a combination of marine-grade 316 stainless steel hardware and UV stabilised finishes to ensure a durable and robust product range. Cyclone is ideally suited to outdoor applications ranging from beach bars, resorts and cruise ships to hotels and public spaces. There’s a 10-inch two-way and a 2 x 5-inch two-way.

Canohm: (03) 9644 7888 or www.canohm.com.au

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

DEDICATED TO SPEECH Experience Simplicity with Speechline Digital Wireless

INTRODUCING SENNHEISER SPEECHLINE DIGITAL WIRELESS. The world’s first digital wireless microphone exclusively for speech. No audio know-how is required – it’s already built in. For more information visit sennheiser.com.au or freecall 1800 648 628

Parachilna Anwar

Trubridge Belle & Beau

Parachilna is a Spanish company named after a tiny town north of Adelaide. This range of distinctive lamps is designed by an American, Stephen Burks. Anwar is a range made from electroplated steel rods. LED modules are placed at the bottom providing ambience (when facing up) and direct light.

New Zealand designer David Trubridge has released the Belle and Beau pendant. Created in collaboration with French designer Marion Courtillé, the new designs offer an aesthetic that is different to the rest of the David Trubridge collection. Both pendants are constructed from thin 1mm bamboo plywood using VOC water based stain. The designs feature overlapping patterns which enhance the beautiful structure of the lights, conjuring a warm and inviting atmosphere.

Ke-Zu: 1300 724 174 or www.kezu.com.au

Studio Italia: (03) 9690 4155 or www.studioitalia.com.au

Con.Tradition

Brightgreen P900

Con.Tradition light uses a metal structure and can be finished in black, white or chrome to create a lamp that will fit in any contemporary environment. The Con. Tradition is designed by Sara Bernardi, available in three size variations and available for ceiling or wall.

Melbourne-based premium LED company Brightgreen expands its latest collection of surfacemounted designs to include the company’s first pendant downlight – the minimalist P900 Curve. Combining understated style and superb Tru-Colour illumination; the P900 Curve is perfect for people wanting to add interest to interior lighting schemes without having to sacrifice on light quality. Emitting 802 lumens of brightness on just 16.5 Watts, the LED pendant features a deeply recessed low-glare lens and a pleasant warm white colour temperature.

Space Furniture: www.spacefurniture.com

Brightgreen: www.brightgreen.com

Robe Omnia Superclub Omnia in Las Vegas is the latest superclub launched by Hakkasan Worldwide. Over 100 Robe moving lights were specified for a truly epic entertainment lighting design that graces the main room of the new club at Ceasar’s Palace. The brief from Hakkasan CEO Neil Moffit to the technical and creative teams encompassed superlatives like ‘awesome’ ‘breath-taking’ and ‘mind-blowing’, so architectural/interior designers The Rockwell Group and entertainment technology integration specialist Audiotek worked to ensure his ambitions to create the most outrageously immersive, opulent and simply amazing premium clubbing experience in Las Vegas … were met to the max. The Robe fixtures are part of a spectacular lighting scheme delivered by Willie Williams. The main room features a jawdropping chandelier centrepiece, with eight moving rings, complete with an internally LED-lit crystal sub-chandelier within. The chandelier fills the main club’s 20m domed ceiling rings and are all rigged with lighting fixtures and projection elements. Engineered by TAIT, it’s total weight is nearly 6 tonnes, the largest ring is nearly 10m in diameter and the smallest one is 4m and all of them are fabricated from frosted plastic with a grey interior finish. The beautifully fluid movement is controlled via 21 winches in the grid which run at 1 metre a second. A total of 33 x Robe Pointes and 18 x MMX Spots are split between rings 4 and 8 of the chandelier. Another 12 x MMX Spots are rigged in the tiered seating above the main room bar, with another four on a truss above the DJ booth. Twenty four of the Robin 300E Spots are positioned on the underside of the mezzanine level around the room. Ute-Hire_Venue-Half-H_[PRINT].pdf

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ULA Group (Robe): 1300 852 476 or www.ulagroup.com

WEEKDAY SPECIAL Waterloo: 02 9698 0078 Parramatta: 02 8677 3922 Head Office: 02 9310 3176 LOCATIONS OPEN 24 HRS 7 DAYS MINIMUM UTE / VAN HIRE 2 HRS www.sydneyutehire.com

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SAME DAY HIRE *Special applies to manual only and includes 50kms. Terms and conditions apply.

UTES • VANS • DUAL CAB UTES • SLWB VANS • TROLLEYS

PREFERRED SUPPLIERS ACCESSORIES Allplastics Engineering Pty Ltd www.allplastics.com.au Bar Icon Group www.bar-icon-group.com JamFactory www.jamfactory.com.au Kennards www.kennards.com.au Mezzanine Wine www.mezzaninewine.com.au PILA Group www.pilagroup.com Raypak www.raypak.com.au Technogym www.technogym.com

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

www.make.net.au Nicholas Associates www.nicholasassociates.com.au Peckvonhartel www.pvh.com.au Pikewithers www.pikewithers.com.au SixDegrees Architecture www.sixdegrees.com.au SJB www.sjb.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

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 Yamaha www.yamahamusic.com.au

AUDIO EQUIPMENT AUDIOVISUAL & INSTALLATION

ARCHITECTS

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 Altis Architecture www.altisarchitecture.com Arkhefield www.arkhefield.com.au Axil Architecture www.axil.com.au Baenzigercoles www.baenzigercoles.com.au Brand+Slater www.brandandslater.com.au BY Architects www.byarchitects.com.au Cox Richardson www.cox.com.au Goodwin Design www.goodwindesign.com.au Group GSA www.groupgsa.com Jackson Clement Burrows www.jcba.com.au KP Architects www.kparchitects.com.au Luchetti Krelle www.luchettikrelle.com Marchese www.marchesepartners.com.au Make

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

Jands Pty Ltd JBL - SHURE - Soundcraft 40 Kent Road, Mascot NSW 2020 (02) 9582 0909 www.jands.com.au Acoustica www.acoustica.com.au Advance Audio Australia www.advanceaudio.com.au Audio Logistics www.audiologistics.com.au Audio Product Group www.audioproducts.com.au Bishop Audio www.bishopaudio.com.au Bose www.bose.com CMI Music & Audio www.cmi.com.au 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

Australian Venue Services Pty Ltd 5 Saywell Street, Marrickville, NSW 2204 1300 66 31 66 info@a-v.com.au www.australianvenueservices. com.au

Bosch, Electro-Voice, Dynacord, RTS, Telex, Pro-Sound, Conference, Commercial, Critical Comms ph: (02) 9683 4752 boschcomms@au.bosch.com www.boschcommunications.com.au

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 Sound Ceiling www.jbn.com.au Laser Vision www.laservision.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 AV System Consultancy & Design Theatre Planning & System Design Architectural Lighting Design NSW: (02) 9029 0281 sydney@designstage.com.au QLD: (07) 3367 2234 brisbane@designstage.com.au www.designstage.com.au

JVG Sound Leaders in AV, Lighting, Hire, Production, Security and MATV NSW, QLD, NT, VIC, TAS 1300 584 584 (07) 5599 1222

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 Australasian Retail Projects www.austretail.com Crown Commercials

www.creationbaumann.com Gibbon Group www.gibbongroup.com.au Rohrig www.rohrig.com.au Isis www.isis.com.au James Clifford Construction www.jamesclifford.com.au Leeda Projects www.leeda.com.au Paynter Dixon www.paynterdixon.com.au Premier Club Constructions www.premierbuild.com.au Premier Building Group www.premierclub.com.au Quality Project Management www.qpmgt.com.au Ramvek www.ramvek.com.au Reed Constructions Australia www.reedgroup.com.au

COMMERCIAL EDUCATION

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

Dasch Associates www.daschassociates.com D4 Residential & Commercial Design www.d4designs.com.au DBI Design www.dbidesign.com.au Dreamtime www.dreamtimeaustraliadesign.com Edge Commercial Interiors www.edgecommercialinteriors.com.au Innersphere www.innersphere.com.au Inset Group www.insetgroup.com.au Joshua Bacon Design www.joshuabacon.com.au Lime Design Interiors www.limedesigninteriors.com.au Merrill Design Australia www.merrilldesign.com.au Moth Design www.mothdesign.com.au Nexus Design www.nexusdesigns.com.au Origin Didier Design www.origindidier.com.au Platinum Interiors www.platinuminteriors.com.au Quattro Design www.quattrodesign.com.au Ryder Hampton www.ryderhampton.com

DISPLAY

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

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

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

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 Mitsubishi Electric www.mitsubishielectric.com.au NEC www.nec.com.au Panasonic www.panasonic.com.au Philips www.avico.com.au Samsung www.samsung.com.au

Sony www.sony.com.au Wilson Gilkes www.gilkon.com.au Viewsonic Australia www.viewsonic.com

ENTERTAINMENT

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

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

Instyle Contract Textiles www.instyle.com.au Interior Art Image www.interiorartimage.com Interior Decorative Coatings www.idccolourfield.com 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 Porterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Paints www.porterspaints.com.au

FLOORING

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

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

FABRIC Dickson-Constant www.dickson-constant.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 Caesarstone www.caesarstone.com.au Casf www.casf.com.au Design Room Australia Digiglass www.digiglass.com.au Dulux www.dulux.com.au Hot Metal www.hotmetal.biz Hunter Douglas Architectural Products www.hunterdouglascommercial.com.au

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

PREFERRED SUPPLIERS www.ardexaustralia.com.au Boral Timbers www.boral.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 DTAC www.dtac.com.au Eco Flooring Systems www.ecoflooring.com.au Eco Tile Factory www.ecotilefactory.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 Living Tiles www.livingtiles.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 Stoneart Concrete Polishing www.stoneartaust.com.au Tascot Carpets www.tascot.com.au The Andrews Group www.theandrewsgroup.com.au The Rug Collection www.therugcollection.com.au Tsar Carpets and Rugs www.tsar.com.au Casino Consoles Australia www.casinoconsoles.com.au Whitecliffe Imports www.whitecliffe.com.au

FURNITURE

FURNITURE B Seated Australia Leading Supplier & Manufacturer of Commercial Furniture. 7/22 Mavis St , Revesby, NSW 2212 1300 727 637 www.bseatedglobal.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

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

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

Aero Design www.aerodesigns.com.au Blok Furniture www.blokfurniture.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 Chairbiz www.chairbiz.com.au Comax www.comaxaustralia.com.au Corporate Culture www.corporateculture.com.au Corporate Express www.ce.com.au CF Design www.cfdesign.com.au Echelon

www.echelonproducts.com Evostyle www.evostyle.com.au Eurofurn www.eurofurn.com.au Form and Function www.form-function.com.au Four Two www.fourtwo.com.au Furniture Options www.furnitureoptions.com.au Gadget King www.gadgetking.com.au Globe West www.globewest.com.au Great Dane Furniture www.greatdanefurniture.com Hospitality Furniture Concepts www.hospitalityfurniture.net.au 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 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

Climate Australia Specialists in Outdoor Temperature Solutions Unit 6, Enterprise Industrial Estate 8 Tilley Lane Frenchs Forest NSW 2086 (02) 9977 3474 or 0414 48 5555 www.climateaustralia.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 Alfresco Spaces www.alfrescospaces.com.au Celmec International www.celmec.com.au Devex Systems www.devexsystems.com.au EcoSmart Fire www.ecosmartfire.com Everdure www.everdure.com Gasmate www.gasmate.com.au Jetmaster www.jetmaster.com.au Keverton www.kevertonoutdoor.com.au Pure Heat www.pureheat.com.au Realflame www.realflame.com.au Solamagic Australia www.solamagic-australia.com.au

FABRICATION

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

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

Smartstone www.smartstone.com.au Somfy www.somfy.com.au Tint Design www.tintdesign.com.au Woven Image www.wovenimage.com.au Woven Wall www.wovinwall.com Viridian Glass www.viridianglass.com

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

OUTDOOR LIGHTING

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

LouvreSpan www.louvrespan.com.au Skyspan Umbrellas www.skyspan-umbrellas.com Supershades www.supershades.com.au Vergola www.vergolansw.com.au

POINT OF SALE www.jands.com.au J Lighting Architectural/LED/ Stage Lighting (07) 5599 1551 info@jdistribution.net

Fedeltapos www.fedeltapos.com Impos www.impos.com.au Micros Systems www.micros.com Omnipos www.omnipos.com.au Redcat www.redcat.com.au

SECURITY

www.jdistribution.net 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 Display Design www.displaydesign.com.au ECC www.ecclightingandliving.com Element Labs www.elementlabs.com Euroluce www.euroluce.com.au Haron Robson www.haronrobson.com.au Illumanon www.illumanon.com Innermost www.innermost.com.au Illumination Physics www.illuminationphysics.com LSC www.lsclighting.com LSW www.lsw.com.au Mance Design www.mance.com.au Mayfield Lamps www.mayfieldlamps.com.au Mega Vision www.megavision.com.au Optique www.optique.com.au Optic Fibre Lighting www.opticfiberlighting.com.au Osram www.osram.com.au Passive Lighting www.passivelighting.com.au PointOfView www.pov.com.au Pulse Show Lighting www.pulse-ent.com.au Satelight www.satelight.com.au Show Technology: www.showtech.com.au Studio Italia www.studioitalia.com.au

EOS www.eos.com.au Nightkey www.metropolisfremantle.com.au OPOC www.opoc.com.au

SIGNAGE Albert Smith Group www.asggroup.com.au Face Visual Marketing Group www.facevmg.com.au Fen Systems Australia www.fensystems.com.au Fremont Design www.fremontdesign.com.au Sachr Sign Strategy www.sachr.com.au

White Street New York

One of New York’s hottest new restaurants has been designed by Australian Steven Brister of Nella Vetrina. White Street, located in TriBeCa, has already made considerable critical and popular waves in the Big Apple. It’s the creation of media personalities, moguls and restaurateurs Dan Abrams and Dave Zinczenko, together with restaurant vet Christine Cole the former general manager of Bond Street, a New York favourite. The restaurants chef Floyd Cardoz is known for his stints at popular New York restaurants North End Grill and Tabla. Steven Brister, Owner and Chief Creative Director of Nella Vetrina, led the design process of White Street’s interiors. Brister’s branding and marketing experience together with his design led role as Nella Vetrina’s Creative Director where he oversees the creative direction of the brand along with various design led projects was selected for their brand meets design led approach to design. On awarding the bid to Nella Vetrina, White Street’s Christine Cole explains, “My partners and I began the design process for White Street with a brief which outlined our concept of ‘Old School New York’. I have known Steven for many years and knew that his method of merging design and branding would be ideal for execution of our vision, which he not only succeeded at but also was able to take it steps further.”

Brister picks up the story: “Using branding and marketing as a starting point for the overall concept design is an idea that is gaining traction in the industry and one that I work with everyday. Christine, Dan and Dave had a strong vision for ‘Old School New York’ and I felt it was important to enhance their direction strategically through adding a sophisticated and glamorous addition to the design. I wanted to ensure we took a distinct and different direction on ‘Old School’ to achieve a space that is truly distinct.” Brister incorporated pieces such as crystal chandeliers and Venetian mirrors, showcased by the spaces soaring ceilings. The prevailing accent colour of the design is a rich emerald green, which can be seen in velvet drapes throughout the main dining room as well as the bathroom tiles. Curved black leather banquettes make a bold classic statement in the main dining room, and provides a contrast to the eclectic mix of colourful upholstered occasional chairs in the bar and lounge area, providing a more casual dining experience. Floor-to-ceiling black lacquered columns and black & white marble floors serve as classic design elements. A spectacular focal point of the dining room is a skylight restored with 1000 pieces of hexagonal shaped glass. Nella Vetrina: www.nellavetrina.com