Once a stairwell, now a workshop-inspired café in the heart of Sydney.
November 3rd, 2009
If there’s a brief that would send any designer into a spin it would be this – ‘build a coffee shop in an old stairwell’.
This was the brief given to Giant Design for a new café in The Galleries Victoria in Sydney’s CBD. The Workshop Espresso has been built in the space once occupied by stairs leading to the building’s food court.
The concept was to create an urban retreat, “where coffee & the production of coffee, is the hero, where baristas are intelligent & creative artisans.”
Perhaps taking inspiration from the transient nature of the space, Giant adopted the theme of a ‘workshop’, with raw, honest materials and detailing.
“We wanted to treat the space as if it had existed somewhere else and had been slotted into the fabric of the new site, or had existed forever and been built around,” says Giant’s Chris Wilks. “As such, the adaptable concept can be re-planned to suit any site the client chooses to go.”
Timber trusses, corrugated steel, a large blackbutt ‘workbench’, mini vices and vintage workshop light fittings all add to the effect that this space is well-worn and creates a relaxed atmosphere.
Beneath the workbench reclaimed hessian coffee sacks disguise refrigeration ventilation and provide access to the equipment within, while a custom fridge at the front of the Workshop hints further at the industrial, with riveted zinc edging.
You’d never know the Workshop Espresso was once a bustling thoroughfare.
Giant Design
giantdesign.com
Materials:
Recycled Blackbutt
Corrugated steel powder coated black
Porters green blackboard paint
Polished concrete floor
Porters Rust to signage
Vintage lights
Size – 24m2
Budget – $170K
Design Team – Chris Wilks, Ed Kenny
Before
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!
The Sub-Zero Wolf showrooms in Sydney and Melbourne provide a creative experience unlike any other. Now showcasing all-new product ranges, the showrooms present a unique perspective on the future of kitchens, homes and lifestyles.
Channelling the enchanting ambience of the Caffè Greco in Rome, Budapest’s historic Gerbeaud, and Grossi Florentino in Melbourne, Ross Didier’s new collection evokes the designer’s affinity for café experience, while delivering refined seating for contemporary hospitality interiors.
Savage Design’s approach to understanding the relationship between design concepts and user experience, particularly with metalwork, transcends traditional boundaries, blending timeless craftsmanship with digital innovation to create enduring elegance in objects, furnishings, and door furniture.
Hong Kong correspondent, Ben McCarthy, takes a trip to Tokyo for their designers festival.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Dallas Rogers, Head of Urban Discipline at the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, comments on the history of map-making in our cities.
What’s in a name? At Wardle, a new name marks the next progression in the architecturally designed road for this outstanding practice.