Project Team

design: Chloe Middleton & Kate Tuttle

As one door closes, another one opens. For entrepreneur Leigh Metzeling, the space previously known as Alloneword has opened the door for his latest business venture - Capulet.

Metzeling has been in the Brisbane entertainment scene for seven years, and his latest foray is set to shake up Brisbane’s nightlife scene.

“After traveling overseas and interstate over the years, I came to realise that there was something missing in Brisbane’s bar scene,” Metzeling said. “We wanted to create a personal and intimate experience for people in an ultra-modern setting, whilst maintaining a premium level of service.”

The layout of the venue was pre-existing from the previous bar. Designers Chloe Middleton and Kate Tuttle were employed to design the renovation and fit out of the venue. They needed to re-program some spaces to allow for a new dance floor, and improve the way spaces were occupied, which all needed to be achieved without major structural changes. Floor surfacing, lighting techniques, and fabric were utilized to ensure spaces be viewed differently by the users.

The site itself is fairly narrow and quite long, with exiting heritage buildings on each boundary. The large enclosed courtyard located at the back of the bar was the major feature of the space, particularly the existing exposed brick wall which lines one side of the courtyard area.

The aim for the designers was to create a space that Romeo & Juliet would have made if they had a secret garden. Feminine, romantic, timeless, alluring and sweet were the vibes they wanted to achieve. With this in mind, they had to ensure a high-end appeal, as the clients wanted the bar to play host to fashion shows and events, while remaining a strong contender within the Brisbane nightlife and party scene.

The designers had originally planned to clean, restore and gloss seal the exposed brick wall which runs the entire length of the Courtyard, to make it a strong historical feature of the venue. After tireless effort to remove the graffiti, some sections of paint refused to budge leaving them to rethink their decision and choose how to move forward. The result was to paint some panels of the wall in black, with the aim to install green walls over top when the budget allowed. Since the opening of Capulet, the owners have chosen to instead paint ‘Capulet’ and ‘Montague’ crest murals onto the black panels, which exist there today.

The selection of materials played a key role in the transformation of the bar, and involved a compromise between budget and time. As the venue is located in Brisbane, in a historical part of town, the designers wanted to incorporate this sense of ‘place’ into the design. They took the repetitive motif of the white picket fence seen throughout Brisbane and incorporated their own cute design version of it into the courtyard. They salvaged a series of matching timber windows from a Brisbane Queenslander home, restored them and planted them into Capulet.

Design intent was to include as many natural plants as possible, however the renovation turn over needed to occur within a two-week timeframe, and the implementation of natural creeper vines was deemed not feasible. Therefore they opted for a few hundred meters of artificial vine. They also imported a new artificial boxwood material from overseas to clad the external courtyard walls with, as well as some key spaces inside the bar. This had previously not been seen in Brisbane, which was exciting, and therefore quite well received. It fulfilled the vibe requirements quite well; exuding an enclosed, garden, romantic and fresh feel to the external space.

The courtyard garden vibe was also enhanced by the furniture choices. Chloe and Kate hand-picked a number vintage furniture pieces from throughout Brisbane and restored them themselves. Chloe possesses some incredible skills with sewing, fashion and fabric handling and they spent a few very late nights upholstering all of the furniture themselves, having deliberated over some tough fabric choices. They also restored a number of wicker and timber pieces with sanding, paint and varnish, they even bought some old timber construction spools and renovated them into low drink tables.

The interior space had lovely existing velvet chesterfield style booths, which were in great condition and didn’t need to be altered. It was these existing booths that governed the choice of colour palette for the interior spaces. Again, Chloe was the mastermind seamstress behind the beautiful chiffon drapes, which now enclose the interior booths, giving the space a romantic and cozy vibe. The lighting choices of this space was key, to ensure enough mystery and romantic glow, yet provide enough light for comfort and safety - a chandelier on a dimmer switch was the answer to this challenge and is the first prominent feature which people see when they enter the venue.

The colour palate is quite crisp in order to incorporate some unique patterns into the design. The textual qualities of the external space, they were really able to have fun with, with the existing exposed bricks, and use of the faux foliage as the main highlight of the courtyard space. The tactile nature of these material really enhance the space particularly at night when the down lights and fairy lights pick up on the tones and shadowing.

Inside, the lighting was a really challenging component of this renovation. Lighting in any design can really make of break a space, and getting it just right wasn’t easy as putting in new globes and a new chandelier. To create this alluring vibe upon arrival the ambience needed to be quite subdued, and the use of dimmers inside helps to achieve this. As you move through the spaces, the lighting from the courtyard creates a more intense and magical glow that radiates throughout.

One particular element of Capulet, which is quite unique, is the large text adorning the interior wall under the chandelier. “Wherefore Art Thou” is spelt out in large, laser cut, golden edges and turf clad lettering. The artificial boxwood wall cladding is rare and attractive. The external courtyard floor surface is actually a material and process utilized on driveways, which they employed for its non-slip properties, and it’s ability to mimic a winding garden path, which was another element not previously seen within the Brisbane Night-life scene.

” Our clients were great to work with on the project, giving us full creative reign, and trusting our choices and decisions,” commented Chloe. “Kate and myself were onsite every day and night of renovations, ensuring and assisting the builders in realizing our vision; they were a really great team to work with. We both learnt a multitude of practical skills, which will be incredibly valuable in our careers moving forward. The days were long, and accumulatively we both spent 320 hours working on the bar. All of the furniture you see in the space we sourced and/or restored ourselves, including the upholstery which we achieved onsite, which we are quite proud of.”

The existing audio visual equipment form the previous bar was utilized, with the addition of some speakers in the outdoor courtyard space.