Winners of the Eat-Drink-Design Awards have been announced from a total of 81 shortlisted projects from throughout Australia and New Zealand.
The awards recognise design innovation and excellence in hospitality premises of all scales and types, food and beverage retail environments, and visual identities for both across the six categories.
Cafe di Stasio in St Kilda by Allan Powell Architects took out the Hall of Fame prize.
The jury citation says of the cafe, “Beyond being a staple in the Melbourne hospitality scene for twenty-five years, Cafe di Stasio has been pivotal in transforming the gastronomic tone and amenity of its St Kilda environs, and more than any other restaurant in Australia has married the realms of food, culture and design.”
Cafe di Stasio by Allan Powell Architects. Image: Dianna Snape
Best Bar Design
Best Bar Design had two winners on the night – Hihou by Denton Corker Marshall and the Prahran Hotel by Techne Architects.
Hihou in Melbourne is a poised and dramatic exercise in spatial experiences, the jury says.
“Working within a robust and muscular shell, where the overhead plane of coffered slab and weighty perimeter beams impose a strong presence, the designers have amplified the existing fine qualities of the space with precise spatial moves and materiality.”
Hihou by Denton Corker Marshall. Image: Itsuka Studio
While the Prahran Hotel also in Melbourne makes an unambiguous declaration to passers-by, says the jury – this is the place to enjoy a sociable drink in a re-imagined version of the corner pub.
“There is an unabashed celebration of Australian drinking culture in the visual allusion to stacked kegs, bottles or barrels, while the finesse of the execution in scale, spatial accommodation and construction evokes less expected references to Japanese Metabolist architecture or modernist mechanist metaphors,” they say.
Prahran Hotel by Techne Architects. Image: Peter Clarke
High Commendations in this category went to:
Howler – Splinter Society Architecture P/L in conjunction with Brendan Brogan
Bar di Stasio – Robert Simeoni Architects in collaboration with Callum Morton and David Pidgeon
Sidecar – Kirk Richardson with Dunbabin Architects
The Collins – Woods Bagot
The Smith Restaurant & Bar – Tarryn Joyce & Demie Manolas
Best Restaurant Design
Farmhouse by Nicholas Gurney in Potts Point, Sydney took out the Best Restaurant Design with the jury saying the restaurant creates a bucolic dinning fantasy, not only in the midst of dense urbanity but also in a highly competitive gastronomic area.
“Working within a compact volume and with a restrained, elemental palette of design elements this tiny restaurant diligently pares back the dining experience to its essentials, without parsimony or lack of conviviality.”
Farmhouse by Nicholas Gurney. Image: Michael Wee
High Commendations went to:
Tonka Restaurant – Techne Architects
The Depot Eatery & Oyster Bar – Nott Architects
The Meatball & Wine Bar – Eades and Bergman
Rosetta – BKH
Esquire - Hassell
Monopole – Pascale Gomes-McNabb
The Smith Restaurant & Bar – Tarryn Joyce & Demie Manolas
Gazi – March Studio
Best Cafe Design
Six Degrees Architects and Nathan Toleman Design & Construction took out the Best Cafe Design category for Top Paddock Cafe in Richmond, Victoria.
The jury citation says Top Paddock Cafe accommodates diverse social groupings and moods, while also recognising that in contemporary cafe culture dining out at any time, for any meal, can become an occasion.
“The impressive spatial dexterity employed to achieve this intimacy within the ample envelope of the building is never at the expense of operational practicality, however, and Top Paddock Cafe shows the hallmarks of an evolved and honed approach to hospitality, from client and designer alike,” the jury says.
Top Paddock Cafe by Six Degrees Architects and Nathan Toleman Design & Construction. Image: Albert Comper
Best Cafe Design High Commendations are:
Industry Beans Cafe & Roastery – Figureground Architecture
Nama Nama – Denton Corker Marshall
T2B – Landini Associates
Best Temporary Design
Best Temporary Design went to Kitchen By Mike On Wheels in Roseberry, NSW designed by Koskela Pty Ltd.
It incorporates a kitchen garden, water, heat and culinary tools and neatly encapsulates food culture from production to consumption.
“In its simple linear layout and exposed services, it operates as a wonderfully transparent demonstration of all that is needed to create good food. The careful choice of raw, precious and technologically advanced materials, associations with place and attention to sustainable processes exemplify the best in contemporary ethical and sophisticated hospitality.”
Kitchen By Mike on Wheels designed by Koskela Pty Ltd. Image: Ashley Jones
Best Retail Design
Described as a ‘sexy little corner shop’ by the jury, the Spring Street Grocer by KGA Architecture brings a sense of spring, bounce and freshness to an otherwise bland street corner.
Located in Fitzroy, Victoria, they jury says, “The place exudes an irresistible ‘come-to’ invitation at all times of the day and night, its bold forms and colours spilling out to the city like a funky cornucopia of produce and hospitality.”
Within the modest footprint of the store is a delicatessen, a grocer, a cafe and a cool, glazed-brick cheese cellar, with flexible space for exhibitions and functions.
Spring Street Grocer by KGA Architecture. Image: Peter Bennetts
High Commendations when to:
T2B – Landini Associates
Peter G Bouchier Butcher – Doherty Lynch
Egg Unlimited – Christopher Elliott Design
Mitchelton Winery – Hecker Guthrie
Best Identity Design
Bar di Stasio by Collegmento – David Pidgeon, Robert Simeoni and Callum Morton in St Kilda was awarded the Best Identity Design award because each component of the bar – signage, website and the graphic accoutrements of the place – has been designed with potency and confident simplicity, the jury says.
“They are cohesive without repetitious thematic, and the dazzling slideshow of images on the Di Stasio website ventures beyond visual richness, sensuality and warmth into the downright hot.”
Best Identity Design went to Bar di Stasio by Collegmento - David Pidgeon, Robert Simeoni and Callum Morton. Image: Collegmento
High Commendations went to:
Tonka – Studio Round
Rosa’s Table – Nexus Designs
Judges include Christine Manfield, chef and restaurateur; John Birmingham, author and food writer; Rachel Hurst, design writer; Domenic Alvaro, architect; and Cameron Bruhn, design media.
For more on the winning projects, head to the Eat-Drink-Design gallery page on the website.
