Project Team

design: Perrett Ewert Leaf / Eades & Bergman

Suppliers

water: Vestal Water
furniture
: All bespoke sourced or custom made pieces
tiles to bar: Urban Edge

A basement space underneath a former bank on the corner of Collins Street and Exhibition Street in Melbourne CBD, La Chinesca is a new bar restaurant that draws on the nature of the environment its encased in. Blasting back the existing walls to reveal the brick structure, and exposing the tiled alcoves under the street footpaths, some which had been hidden for over 70 years. A collaboration with Eades & Bergman Interior Design.

Exposed concrete pillars and services mix in with new dark timber, distressed leather furniture, and warm ambient lighting create a moody palette in a space that emphasizes the fact that it resides in the basement of a building. As one descends down the staircase opening up into the long space, the instant warm tactility of the finishes encourages patrons to settle in for the long haul. A private space at the rear is delineated by stepping through an under lit timber threshold. Art installations and paintings by Archibald Prize winning artist Vincent Fantauzzo add depth and colour to raw walls and alcoves, as the movement of the footpath above mottle the lighting into the exposed alcoves. A play on tradition is used in the bathrooms with neon lights and suggesting artwork to dark tiled and mirrored spaces.

The previous tenant demolished a lot of existing fitout that the designers thought was going to remain, so once possession of site took place, they had to relook at some works required that they weren’t expecting.

Being able to expose the existing alcoves was a pleasant surprise, so they had to reexamine the use of these with regard to furniture layout and spatial flow as they are a large part of the end design.

The space had to operate from a couple of angles: 1, how to efficiently operate the venue from a staff/kitchen/bar point of view, and also from a patron sense and for a business that turned from restaurant into late night bar venue. So spatially, there had to be functionality mixed with flexibility without detracting from a consistent atmosphere.

Raw materials, warm tones, eclectic fittings and imagery, and tactile finishes were imperative in the space for the vision of an intimate late night venue that was also inviting enough as a basement space during the day.

Splashes of colour that complimented the exposed structural elements were important, coupled with amber lighting allowed the art installations to really stand out as companions to a central bar.

Warm ambient general lighting, and naked flame candlelight play upon the space’s limited natural light, and help highlight the splashes of colour in a moody space.