Springing up around the CBD, Sydney’s small bars are bringing life to an area that would otherwise be rather dead after 5pm.

Since I Left You opened earlier this year, occupying a narrow heritage space and courtyard on Kent Street.

The art deco-inspired interior design is a reflection of the “speakeasies of yonder years” and the building’s relation to that era, says designer Zoe Michalski.

“Art Deco is a favourite design movement of mine and it just made sense. It seemed to fit with the existing features but still add a bit of glam and offer something different to all the small bars popping up.”

Working with the existing space initially posed a challenge, with the elongated floor plate the biggest limitation. The heritage of the building also needed to be taken into consideration.

“The most surprising thing was that we couldn’t expose the stunning huge natural sandstone blocks at the far end because the plaster was heritage!” Michalski recalls.

In the end, the characteristics of the space proved an advantage.

“We embraced them and went with the flow,” says Michalski, explaining that this “forced a sense of cosiness into the space that you couldn’t fight.”

Working on projects like these affords unique opportunities for designers.

“The scale is great. It forces you to really focus on the core elements you want to show in your design,” Michalski says.

“The space is too small to have lots going on, so you need to filter out the pointless ideas and get to the fundamentals of the design.”

Zoe Michalski
zoemichalski.wordpress.com