Sydney’s inner-city suburb of Barangaroo has been identified as the place to be in 2017 with Campos Barangaroo taking out Best Retail Design and Noma Australia claming the title of Best Installation Design at the Eat Drink Design Awards on 14 November.
The annual Awards celebrate design excellence and innovation within Australian and New Zealand hospitality premises that have opened to the public in the past 18 months, including cafés, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, retail spaces and temporary venues.
Chef Karen Martini emceed the awards event and announced the winners at the official ceremony at Melbourne’s Victorian Arts Centre.
This year, New South Wales dominated the awards with three venues named as winners in their respective categories as well as a timeless favourite inducted into the Eat Drink Design Awards’ Hall of Fame.
The judges said Campos Barangaroo, designed by Woods Bagot, was one of those rare insertions that manages to “complete, and thus make sense of, the space it occupies”.
“It stands in rich, and somewhat glamorous contrast to the bold sandstone wall nearby, and in harmony with the glass and steel detailing around it. Campos is a glittering ‘jewellery box’ installation, positioned and at home exactly where it should be,” the Judges said.
They commended the designers for the brass-finished boxed venue with woven brass mesh panels, which puts a bold foot forward in a setting where some might have opted for a more neutral black, or something similar.
“More than equal to its materially rich setting, this exquisitely detailed café also occupies its chosen space asymmetrically, sitting in perfect tension to its framing surrounds. Campos is uplifting, bright, warm, light and welcoming, and a clear winner,” the Judges said.
Commendation went to Handpicked Wines Cellar Door in Chippendale, NSW, designed by DesignOffice; and The Kitchens in Robina, Queensland, designed by Landini Associates.
Morris and Heath by designers Ritz & Ghougassian in Hoppers Crossing, Victoria won Best Café Design, with the judges commending the designer’s ability to bring “high-end design to Melbourne’s western suburbs”.
“The interior successfully creates its own moment, its own place, warm and comfortable with its disciplined palette of wood and strategically placed lighting,” the Judges said.
Commendations went to Sensory Lab in Melbourne, designed by Foolscap Studio; Moby 3143 in Armadale, Victoria, designed by Golden; Workshop Brothers in Glen Waverley in Victoria, designed by Studio Esteta; and Pitch & Fork Café in Toowong, Queensland, designed by Georgia Cannon.
The Dolphin Hotel, designed by George Livissianis in Paddington, won Best Bar Design.
Viet Next Door in Pennington, designed by Genesin Studio, was awarded Best Restaurant Design.
Jackalope Hotel on the Mornington Peninsula, designed by Fabio Ongarato Design, won Best Identity Design.
The 2017 Eat Drink Design Awards Jury featured industry leaders from hospitality and design, comprising Ingrid Richards of Richards & Spence Architects; Nat Cheshire of Cheshire Architects; Vanessa Crichton of Rockpool Bar & Grill; Ross Lusted of The Bridge Room; and Cassie Hansen of Artichoke magazine.
“This year’s entries were united by a sweeping sense of ambition across all categories – one focused on careful detail. Within the scope of such ambition we saw more genteel and conservative entries, and entries with irony, verve and wit. The winners in each category display multiple such qualities, combined with a sense of rigour in the application of detail and materials,” said Cassie Hansen, Jury Chair.
Potts Point’s timelessly “theatrical” Fratelli Paradiso, designed by the late Mike Murphy, became the newest long-standing hospitality institution welcomed into the illustrious Eat Drink Design Awards’ Hall of Fame. This special accolade acknowledges enduring excellence in the design of a hospitality venue of more than 10 years standing.
Melbourne’s CBD was left wanting with Victoria’s only award winners coming from suburban and regional areas.
For full results, visit eat-drink-design.com