Spring Restaurant is a visual delight situated on the corner of Mary and Felix Streets in Brisbane’s bustling CBD. With a focus on seasonal Australian produce prepared in a wholesome and delicate
manner, this new venue accommodates many happy customers. In recognising the need for a diverse meeting place, Spring not only operates as a first-class restaurant but provides patrons with a coffee
outlet, retail store and cooking school.

On approaching the restaurant one is met with an impressive façade of black handmade tiles, providing the perfect frame for the glistening warmth that lies within. The outdoor dining area along Felix Street is sheltered by a stunning wrought iron screen: custom designed and hand forged, it showcases a gorgeous array of filigree. A raised planter provides diners a refuge from the busy street beyond, while the addition of lush hedges and weeping mulberry trees add softness to the overall exterior.

The interior design brief called for an air of homely opulence. The desired atmosphere was to be the combination of a French provincial kitchen and bistro, laden with natural materials, an abundance of
timber and neutral tones. Harsh modern fittings were to be left at the door, and instead the space would be adorned with ornate, antique or eclectic fixtures; many individually sourced from Europe.

Amid the tasteful finishes the venue also needed to deliver a sense of frivolity with splashes of unexpected colour and twee accessories to add humour.

The interior of the venue is fresh and bright. The spaces are well proportioned, each boasting high ceilings, high profiled skirting and benefiting from the natural light flooding through the operable glazed façade. French oak flooring throughout adds a rustic warmth to an otherwise crisp and clean finish.

The relaxed café come retail space at the entrance is embellished with fresh produce, loaves of bread, quirky homewares and recipe books. Traditional timber shutters delineate this space from the adjacent formal dining room which features exposed recycled timber trusses, a raking timber battened ceiling and is adorned with Italian handmade lanterns. Both areas feature expansive white marble counters and bar tops which accentuate the feeling of luxury and elegance.

Adjoining the formal dining is an impressive cooking school boasting superb quartz bench tops and state-of-the-art German cooking equipment. Tractor stools span the communal demonstration bench
where guests of the school participate in classes, many of which are run by leading Australian chefs.

The overall ambience of Spring is warm and welcoming while maintaining a sense of informal luxury. It has a wealth of character and charm that promises to win over those with a love for fine food, wine and local produce.

JVG Sound Lighting & Visual were engaged to design a sound system that could be used as a multi-zone background music system whilst also having enough power to cope with live presentations for the cooking school.

Bose speakers are installed throughout the venue including FreeSpace 3 subwoofers and satellite systems, Bose DS100F ceiling speakers and DS100SE surface mount speakers. Due to the venue having a liquor license a digital limiter was required and in this case a Bose ControlSpace® ESP-88/00 processor was used. Bose wall controllers are installed throughout the venue.

The cooking school aspect of the venue required the installation of a Kramer video switcher for the cameras used in the chef areas, so that the action can be viewed by the public in the restaurant and the cooking school. Shure SLX headset and hand held microphones are used by the chefs.

“It’s an elegant design and construct package, which had to have very even coverage throughout so there are more speakers than you would normally expect,” commented Jade Golar, managing director of JVG Sound Lighting & Visual. “The client is really happy with the results as are Brand + Slater as we kept really clean lines with no big ugly black speakers in the way.”