When given the opportunity to take on an existing food kiosk in Brisbane’s Wintergarden shopping centre, proprietors Mitch Suchowacki and Dane Louie engaged interior designer Georgia Cannon to help transform the outmoded outlet into a space fit for today’s epicurean consumer.
February 6th, 2015
The previous tenant had shut up shop months prior to Mitch + Dane taking over the tenancy and left their fitout in situ. The challenge was to re-use as many of the existing elements as possible without inheriting the “food court kiosk pallor” of the space.
Georgia says, “we basically stripped the existing kiosk back to its most basic form and, from there, provided an overlay of simple, sophisticated and functional finishes to suit the fresh, seasonal fare on offer.”
Food is increasingly becoming an integral part of the retail shopping experience. A recent survey conducted by Urbis suggests that Australia’s city-based office workers spend an extraordinary $10 billion a year on retail goods and services including café lunches and upwards of 2 million coffees per week.
Proprietor, Mitch Suchowacki, says, “after working in the city ourselves, we had noticed the market is saturated with bought-in cabinet food and that there was a distinct lack of quality coffee. This is why we create everything in house.”
Existing cold, display storage cabinets were replaced with open bench space allowing customers to watch and take part in the pour over filter coffee process whilst their food is cooked fresh in the adjacent commercial kitchen.
Retail display shelving was installed to showcase everything a coffee connoisseur might need to brew at home including custom coffee cups bearing the Irving Place monogram designed by Luke Hollamby.
Exit Eighty Six were engaged to fabricate new American Oak table tops for existing table bases, which were re-finished in black powdercoat. They also built the feature furniture piece for the space – a large, communal table – which offers a great place for solo visitors to stop for a quick coffee and flick through a magazine or for larger groups to gather for lunch.
Irving Place is sister café to hole-in-the-wall coffee and sweets haunt, Gramercy Coffee and Eats. For both ventures Mitch says, “we wanted to create this idea of a beautiful place to escape the craziness of the city.”
Photography by Toby Scott
Interior Designer: Georgia Cannon
Graphic Designer: Luke Hollamby
Custom Furniture: Exit Eighty Six
Builder: Barrett Shopfitting
Date of project completion: 2014
Location: The Wintergarden, Brisbane City
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Australia’s leading producer of solid-engineered oak flooring has recently launched a new suite of innovative resources to support creativity and ambition in the architecture and design community.
In the bid to balance the desire to live amongst nature with the modest footprint of today’s homes, designer Victoria Azadinho Bocconi looks for inspiration in the depths of the Amazon jungle.
The workplace has changed – and it will continue to evolve. With dynamism at the heart of clients’ requirements, architects and designers at leading practices such as Elenberg Fraser are using and recommending Herman Miller’s OE1 products for the future workplace.
The finalists for the Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award have been announced.
120 of the industries finest gathered to learn, mingle, touch and feel new sustainable products and listen to the wondrous ‘birth’ of 1 Bligh Street, Sydney.
The winners of the 2009 Corian® Design Awards Edition 1 have been announced. Catherine Baudet and Julie Bonfield of Ferrier Baudet Architects have taken out the commercial category for their work on the refurbishment of the heritage-listed Lady Gowrie Early Childhood Centre in Melbourne. While Mal Corby of Mal Corby Design was awarded the Residential […]
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
A new Reconciliation Garden at the University of Queensland’s (UQ) Herston campus showcases the power of collaborative design. The project saw a partnership between Arcadia, Multhana Property Services and representatives of Traditional Owners of the land.
A grand stage demands a grand performance and the interior architecture at The Charles Grand Brasserie and Bar lives up to its surroundings at 66 King Street. With multiple hospitality functions offset against music venue TIVA down below, these elegant spaces contain more than a hint of Old World decadence.
What makes Italian brand Tacchini so magical? Stylecraft with Tacchini shared some of this magic at four intimate events in Sydney and Melbourne… here’s what we experienced.