FEATURE: VICTORIA PARK HOTEL

The great outdoors

An old billiards hall made way for a massive beer garden at Victoria Park.

- PHOTOGRAPHY Shot by Thom

WHEN AUSTRALIAN VENUE Co. (AVC) purchased the Victoria Park Hotel in Perth from Coles, the pub had very little outdoor seating. Instead, it had a cavernous billiards hall that took up almost the entire back half of the property.

The space had seen better days in terms of use and wear and clearly needed a rethink which would showcase Perth’s climate. “There was obviously a huge opportunity to develop it,” says AVC’s WA State Manager Joe Bailey.

The group met with the community to understand what the locals wanted from the pub, which is one of three located along the Albany Highway — it was also the most in need of a refresh. The idea of a huge beer garden emerged from conversations, which revolved around the creation of a venue that could be used for a range of purposes. “When we started working on the concept, we were thinking about building a pub for everyone and every occasion,” says Bailey. “We looked at Vic Park as a whole. It needed to be a versatile and welcoming space for everyone. One of the big things was a garden and an open area.”

When we started working on the concept, we were thinking about building a pub for everyone and every occasion.

– Joe Bailey

AVC engaged Donnelly Design and One World Builders to help design and construct the new beer garden space, with the two companies working with the pub group’s own internal venue development team who approach renovation projects with the hospitality experience front of mind. “We work very closely with all departments — operations, marketing and also our property department — so there’s generally a decent cast working together to deliver projects,” says Bailey.

Tony Donnelly, principal of Donnelly Design, says collaborating with the AVC team was crucial. “It’s important to have great clients who know what they want so you can hit the nail on the head really quickly,” he says. “AVC has that team, and it expedites the process. You can form things around that and throw your own ideas at them, but when everyone gels like that, it’s really good.”

Plans for the beer garden commenced in 2019 but were put on hold in early 2020 as Covid-19 gripped the nation and kept Western Australia closed to the rest of the country for some time. Design resumed late last year, and construction on the beer garden started in February this year. The space — known as The Park — opened in May.

The Park renovation, which included an indoor– outdoor bar, covered 800sqm and cost $2.3 million. At first glance, it may seem like a lot to spend on a beer garden alone, but the space effectively doubled the footprint of the pub, allowing it to host an additional 450 people. “I think from a per-square-metre [perspective] it was the right number to spend because of the scale and size of the project and what we did to it,” says Bailey. “There was some significant work in removing rooves and structural stuff such as having to put cellars in and expand kitchens. But it’s certainly not like we’ve splashed out on marble fittings or anything like that. It’s where the project landed just due to the sheer size.”

The new space now includes a family area in one corner with low-table seating and a large playground. On the opposite side of the main entry from the carpark, there is an area with high-table seating and screens for sports viewing. There are a number of small nooks along the walls to afford patrons semi-private dining spaces and areas to socialise. The whole space is serviced by an indoor–outdoor bar that connects the new beer garden to the front half of the hotel.

While the entire beer garden is very open, there are clear delineations between the areas suitable for families and those attending the venue without kids or pets. Donnelly says this was achieved by creating natural buffer zones. “The most important thing there is space,” he says. “If you can create a buffer zone between those areas, it’s fantastic. Luckily with Vic Park, you’ve got so much space you can do that. Most of the time, you delineate the spaces with major walkways and entries.”

Catering to families was a really important component of what Bailey wanted to achieve with the beer garden at the pub. He’s seen it done elsewhere and knows a modern approach ensures everyone has a good time — and that involves food. “My vision for the venue was inspired by what I saw down south around the Margaret River, which was people going out and enjoying themselves,” says Bailey. “Food is a huge driver of venues now and we do a hell of a lot of food out of the Vic.”

Head Chef Andre Nunes has designed a menu that covers grazing, grilling and cuisine infusion.

Head Chef Andre Nunes has designed a menu that covers grazing, grilling and cuisine infusion as well as pub classics such as fish and chips, burgers and chicken parmigiana. Entrées include crunchy haloumi cubes served with tomato salsa and spicy mayo, freshly shucked oysters with lime and chilli dressing, salt and lemon pepper calamari as well as burrata teamed with warm heirloom tomatoes, samphire and crispy bread.

Burgers cover a classic cheeseburger as well as fried chicken with the category also including a steak sandwich and a prawn and lobster roll. There’s also chilli mussels, tiger prawn linguini, lamb pie, chicken schnitzel, steaks, salads, kids plates, sides and desserts — basically, there’s something for everyone.

The design details of The Park ensure the space feels casual and welcoming to all, which was essential for the AVC team. “We really didn’t want people to think, ‘Is this for me?’ Everyone who has come in knows it’s a really welcoming hotel,” says Bailey.

Part of creating a casual inviting atmosphere was the selection of materials used across the space. Concrete, artificial turf and breezeblock walls convey a sense of ease among patrons. “Things like the breezeblock walls around the bathrooms really informalise the space,” says Donnelly. “Tiled surfaces are a lot more formal than breezeblocks, which almost have that ‘found object’ look, so in a way, you’re bringing a more eclectic feeling to it.”

Additional colours and textures were added to the bar through blue and white tiles as well as bronze accents. Other details include neon light wall hangings, mirrors and greenery. But the big wow factor in the space are the murals painted by local artists. Black swans denote the Swan River and there is also a painting of Queen Victoria, who the pub was named after. “We’ve got graphics and artwork everywhere you look,” says Donnelly. “It lightens the whole thing and is what makes it. The artists did such a great job.”

The space has been well-received by locals and The Park has received plenty of positive feedback since opening. Bailey was at the venue every day for the first three weeks of trading and said patrons had nothing but positive things to say. “It was so good to have people come up and say, ‘We absolutely love it, thank you so much for doing this’. People weren’t trying to pick faults, they thought it was amazing, which was a really good feeling for us.” Trade has been steady since the venue opened, and Bailey expects it to get even busier now the warmer weather has arrived. “It’s doing very well so far. We can’t wait to see what summer brings.”

This story was originally published in Australian Hotelier.