Project Team

design: Roberto Giordani

Perth’s newest specialist vodka bar has opened in Perth’s CBD. Formally the 1907 cocktail bar, new owners Jeff Grubisa and Rob Giordani decided to completely refurbish the bar, transforming it into a sophisticated, minimalistic oasis for vodka aficionados. The result is clean lines, handcrafted ‘raw’ design features including silver travertine feature walls, polished concrete and copper feature panels.

The venue features many custom made items such as the overhead bar, glass rack, tables, vanities, feature walls, mirrors, and lasercut feature panels.

As the venue is located in a basement Roberto Giordani aimed to create a light, inviting feel that was clean and crisp and was different to most bars. It is a vodka bar so keeping that in mind, blue and whites were incorporated giving a European feel to place. As there is a fine dining restaurant above the venue, a high emphasis on finishes and quality was important so they paired nicely together.

Being organized with trades and creating a very tight schedule and making sure everyone is aware of this – designing a layout and all of the finishes before the reno commenced was very important and pre ordering things. It started on the January 4th and opened on the February 4th. Nothing could go wrong and it all worked out – 18 hour days were the key to getting it done in the last week.

The aim was to create a relaxed atmosphere that was modern, clean and fresh, that had a classy feel to it but not too over the top. The concept of the vodka bar was a high influence to what was selected and the owners feel these selections fit into what they set out to achieve.

A lot of the colours were based around the fact white and blues were the main selections which represented vodka the best. The other colours were selected to work with those colours – ie the copper created warmth with a natural product as did the flooring so the place didn’t feel too cold.

When open the lights are dimmed heavily. The lighting changes the whole mood in the place and warm lights give the place a welcoming feel. With most of the colours being white and bright they need to add warmth into the place with the use of yellow warm lights creating the right mood and working well with the copper. Texture wise, the finishes were heavily based on maintenance and look. The bathroom tiles are ‘wavey’ with natural stones, raw copper, vertical features up walls etc.

Roberto Giordani’s favorite element is the art work mural which was by an artist in England. He managed to get the image digitally and printed this on vinyl.
He also favours the overhead bar that spans 4m wide. It was tested to its limits by having four grown men swinging off it to ensure they felt safe before loading it up with over 100 bottles of the worlds finest vodkas.