Bentwood Café in Fitzroy, Melbourne has claimed this year’s award for Best Cafe Design at the 2018 Eat Drink Design Awards, held at Melbourne’s Luminare on 13 November.
The Eat Drink Design Awards says the Ritz & Ghougassian-designed Bentwood Café embraces its heritage roots, balancing the tension between its warm red brick interior with modern clean lines and consistent colour palette.
“The projects that resonated with the jury were those that demonstrated authenticity, clarity and confidence. We were excited by projects where the designer had successfully told the narrative of the venue through careful selection of materials, colours and forms,” Jury Chair Cassie Hansen says.
“The standard keeps getting better and better and my fellow jurors and I agree that Australia is at the forefront of global hospitality design.”
Other 2018 jurors include Simon Kardachi, Restaurateur of brands including Osteria Oggi, Shobosho, Press Food & Wine, The Pot by Emma McCaskell; George Livissianis, Architect and Founder of George Livissianis; Fabio Ongarato, Founder and Creative Director of Fabio Ongarato Design; and Dani Valent, food writer and cook.
Café shortlisted for Best Café Design included:
Percy Plunkett – Matt Woods Design (Penrith, NSW)
Matinee Coffee – Luchetti Krelle (Marrickville, NSW)
Toby’s Estate Darling Square – Studio Tate (Sydney, NSW)
Indigo – Tom Mark Henry (Double Bay, NSW)
Edition Roasters – Amber Road (Haymarket, NSW)
The Post Office – Andrew and Brielle Economos (Moss Vale, NSW)
Lenny 3206 – Golden (Albert Park, VIC)
Against the Grind – Joanne Motee (Mill Park, VIC)
Cafe Godot – Aktis (Melbourne, VIC)
Cocobei – DKO (Docklands, VIC)
Sensory Lab – Studio Esteta (Melbourne, VIC)
Hungry Fox Café – Lukas Partners Interior Architecture & Design (Essendon Fields, VIC)
Project 281 – Splinter Society Architecture (Brunswick, VIC)
Brunetti Flinders Lane – Technē Architecture + Interior Design (Melbourne, VIC)
Willow Urban Retreat – Meme (Armadale, VIC)
Sibling Spice – Studio Y. (Melbourne, VIC)
Lightyears – Zwei Interiors Architecture (Hawthorn East, VIC)
Plain Sailing – Fiona Drago Architect (Elwood, VIC)
Lights in the Attic – Architects EAT (Hawthorn, VIC)
Pierrick Boyer Café Patisserie – Zwei Interiors Architecture (Prahran, VIC)
Junction Eatery – Material Creative (Auckland, NZ)
Bermuda – Collectivus (Joondalup, WA)
The Sans-Arc Studio-designed Malt & Juniper in Adelaide won the Best Bar Design Award. This is the second time recognition for Best Bar Design has been bestowed upon Sans-Arc Studio, after the Pink Moon Saloon received the accolade in 2016.
Winner of new category Best Hotel Design, Six Degrees Architects’ Brae Restaurant Accommodation is said to elevate the Birregurra, Victoria farmland surrounds through sustainable yet decadent design elements creating an unforgettable rural experience.
This year’s Best Restaurant Design went to the Russell & George-designed Ishizuka in Melbourne’s CBD.
Coldstream, in the heart of Victorian wine country, is home to the 2018 Best Retail Design winner, Chandon Australia by Foolscap Studio.
Crafty Design’s Japanese restaurant Shobosho in Adelaide took home this year’s Best Identity Design.
Representing the nation’s capital, Pop Inn by Daryl Jackson Alastair Swayn Architects wine bar pop-up that this year has won the award for Best Installation Design.
Nestled amongst bustling Swanston Street in Melbourne’s CBD, the Phillip Schemnitz Architect-designed Cookie was named the Eat Drink Design Awards’ Hall of Fame winner.
Related stories:
- Veneziano Richmond makes world’s best coffee shop design list
- Dressed to impress: making café design memorable
- Campos Barangaroo wins Best Retail Design at Eat Drink Design Awards
“Perusing in and out of our best-designed new restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels in Australia and New Zealand, and perhaps the world, was an adventure. Our investigations were often pleasing and occasionally heart-soaring,” Jury Person Dani Valent says.
The Eat Drink Design Awards celebrates the exceptional design of hospitality spaces across cafés, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, hotels, retail spaces, and temporary installations in Australia and New Zealand.