Pubs, clubs, and bars are a mainstay of Australian culture. There’s a ton of competition, so they have to be exceptional to thrive. The mediocre get eaten alive. Same old, same old won’t cut it. It’s a tough industry.
It’s so important, crucial even, to get the interior design of a new bar just right.
As you’ll see though, it doesn’t need to be outrageously expensive, needlessly flamboyant, or slavishly follow international design trends to be a big success.
It just needs to be the right offer for the place.
Ohlo Studio was commissioned to create the right aesthetic for a new bar, Daddy Long Legs. Working in collaboration with Remington Matters, they looked close to home for inspiration.
They celebrated the vibrancy and uniqueness of the local environment to inject a vibrant up-and-coming neighbourhood with a contemporary Australian bar.
Their approach aligned with the thinking of Daddy Long Legs co-owner Ben Haines. He wanted a distinctly West Australian vibe to be reflected in the aesthetic of his new bar. That sentiment drives the beverage selections Ben offers at Daddy Long Legs too.
Ben said, “We’ve got 15 taps of craft beer, mostly West Australian, with a couple of Australians and one international.”
Taking its cues from the multicultural neighbourhood of Victoria Park in Perth, Ohlo Studio’s multi-functional design celebrates the vibrancy of local materials and colours that are so often overlooked in hospitality projects.
Ohlo Studio’s design knits together the binaries of Western Australia’s unique landscape – rugged yet polished, airy but earthy, both expansive and intimate.
The furniture, bar, dining chairs, and decorative light fixtures were custom-made by local Australian designers and the Ohlo Studio team used the bones of the existing structure to minimize structural changes and resultant material waste.
Rather than create a simulacra of international bar trends as seen almost everywhere, the minimalism and strength of the Ohlo Studio design delivers a space that will grow with habitation.
All the timber in the space is Tuart, a rare West Australian species.
A stash of it was found in an old mill.
Although it’s rarely used for furniture due to its hard, multi-directional grain, every table, bench, and stool was custom fabricated from the timber, as well as the handles, bar top, and railing too.
Custom cabaret tables with an unfinished terrazzo top were left rugged in contemporary tones.
And custom light fixtures created moments of contrast.
Consideration of materials and colours looked to the north and south of Western Australia, a vast place that’s home to specific visual languages.
The hard edges and warm, earthy colours spoke to Exmouth in the State’s rugged north.
Those graphic lines were softened by native plants, ceramics, and the deep-blues and greys found in the State’s south-west.
The project budget efficiently utilised existing conditions while configuring a multi-functional venue with a recognisable and engaging public personality.
Through the use of low walls, varying ceiling and seating heights, and considered use of interlocking coloured planes, the design incorporated three distinct but connected spatial experiences – the cabaret cocktail bar, restaurant, and beer garden.
A south-west facing facade that modulates light, and an interior that balances contrast and adaptation, resulted in a space that is both open and airy, yet moody.
Extensive windows take advantage of the West Australian climate, allowing air and light to penetrate deep into the space, easing fluidly from day to night.
Project Details
Completion date – 2017
Project Details
Interior Design
Ohlo Studio
Ohlo Studio is a cross-disciplinary design practice with expertise in design for the built environment across a variety of scales. Projects as diverse as hospitality precincts, family homes, public art, and object design form a body of work characterised by an artistic, ideas-driven approach.
The Ohlo Studio design philosophy is rooted in the discipline of placemaking. Every project seeks to leverage the power of design to build the character and quality of place, and space, for businesses, individuals and communities; feeding financial and social benefit to our clients and beyond.
Ohlo Studio projects go beyond inventive attention to detail and materiality. They are rich in meaning and cognizant of history, community and commerciality.
Photography
Kristoffer Paulsen
Kristoffer Paulsen is a Melbourne multi-disciplinary photographer, who while not shooting for a variety of world-class commercial clients, has an insatiable desire to capture pure form.
Photo Gallery
Click on a thumbnail image to enlarge.
Design © 2020 Ohlo Studio and Remington Matters. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2020 Kristoffer Paulsen. All Rights Reserved.
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