Bay Ten Espresso

December 11th, 2014

“North Sydney needs a soul” says Julian Brenchley, Principal Architect for the project.

The brief was make me a cafe that would appeal to a discerning, young professional in the creative industries (read: trendy architect).

As such the approach t0 the design and build reflects a great deal of attention to detail “Bay Ten is such a unique space” comments Brenchley, “There really is nothing like it anywhere, all the historic infrastructure spaces in and around the Harbour Bridge are remarkable in scale and industrial engineered character. Bay Ten has large scale character and industrial aesthetic.”

The warehouse spaces where it is sited were used during the build of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1923. The rail connection from the newly opened North Sydney Station was quite straightforward, via the elevated tracks above the subject approach bays in Middlemiss Street. “Working in heritage spaces is a privilege. Essentially we are custodians of environmental heritage, in this case industrial heritage, which is no less important and often overlooked, lost and or damaged by poor decisions. Getting it right and making sure the heritage significance is preserved for future enjoyment is critical, a challenge and fun! There are constraints when it comes to dealing with heritage properties, but handled correctly the constraints are also great opportunities. The character of the location informs the design decisions.” explains Brenchley.

“We started with the industrial heritage, raw steel, timber, exposed pipes, and exposed everything. So the materials are steel, a very cool re-purposed shipping container (recently ex-drug smuggling), timber pallets, raw (black) steel tables and stools, exposed galvanised pipes for electrical cables… the local climate informed the internal planning to make the best use of the morning sun and afternoon light. North Sydney generally sucks for open space that isn’t a windswept hole. We played around with how best to use the available sun and cut out the cold wind as much as possible…”

The end result is a layered, accessible space that capitalises on the virtues of its site and context, inviting a welcome dose of industrial texture into an otherwise very homogenised part of the city.