Dragoncello is housed in a fabulous old Victorian building with great bones that was in need of a lot of love.

The concept was to enhance the traditional architectural bones of the building whilst creating a space that would be comfortable and at the same time stimulating to experience. The emphasis was on a bespoke dining room and bar.

Kathy McKinnon loved the upstairs large Victorian windows and pressed metal ceilings in the bathroom. Whilst downstairs had been an Indian restaurant for 30 years and had never been updated.

“For me it’s all about integrity of the design and being honest with the materials,” she commented. “It’s not trying to cover up and dress up things to make them look trendy. Upstairs we removed the existing ceiling that was in a bad state and exposed the hardwood structural beams this meant that the ceiling was now a soaring 6 meters high and had a wonderful sculptural feel.

“The beauty is inherent in the rawness and the honesty of materials and structure The downstairs walls were striped of the old paint and render to reveal the original bricks, layered textures and history. We fitted large custom designed ceiling to floor wine racks. These are a simple galvanized grid that creates a striking effect once placed in front of the aged walls.”

For Kathy, it was always important to have feature elements that would be talking points. Hence she designed an oversized leather chesterfield with a high back that runs the length of the downstairs restaurant. There are several great paintings by Tapestry Girl that are featured adding a further point of interest.

The bar is made of 40 mm recycled American ash. The ash colour adds lightness and contrasts with the stainless steel fridges and workbench.

“I really wanted that bespoke handcrafted finish,” said Kathy. “I had been playing a lot with aged metallic paints last summer and really loved the effect. I decided to use these in the design to highlight architectural features and the layered history of the building. The exterior was painted in a warm grey Porters Paint matt .We used their dark cooper paint on the awning. Windows bars and staircase bannister were painted with Murobond Bridge paint, which is super hard wearing and has a slight metallic luster. The fascia of the bar was painted with a distressed rust paint.”

The lighting was crucial in creating ambience and mood with ambient lighting from Zaffero. A large feature pendant that is in the downstairs entrance. Above the bar 4 dip tins are hung. These were recycled metal vintage tins used for collecting berries.

“They have lovely aged metal handles and I love their history,” added Kathy. “I thought it was so appropriate that the berry vessels now have a new home and provide ambience as well as function above an inner city bar. Above the tables we used laneway pendants, which have a nice street feel. Ceilings upstairs were highlighted with directional halogens on tracks.”

The exterior copper sign and graphic detail, designed by The Offices, encapsulates the bespoke sophisticated and modern look.

“I particularly love the hand basin, and I had a lot of fun sourcing it from a vintage shop,” said Kathy. “It is an old cast iron pan sitting on top of a vintage metal cabinet. Its been attached with copper exterior plumbing pipes. We needed to find a design solution for a hand basin that would work in the breezeway of the building. I think it works a treat.”