Project Team

design: Foolscap Studios

photographer: Tom Blachford

At Uncle Collins Street, Foolscap Studio brought things back to the raw elements.

Vietnamese food uses a combination of five flavours (sour, bitter, sweet, spicy, salty) which connect to the five material elements (earth, fire, water, wood, metal). These are the guiding principles behind the overall design experience of Uncle Collins Street.

Elevated among the treetops at Melbourne’s “Paris End,” Uncle Collins Street thoughtfully mixes food, materials, ambience and lighting to create a contemporary but understated take on Vietnamese dining, which is what chef Dai Duong and front-of house Rene Spence do best.

This isn’t the first time Foolscap and Uncle have collaborated. In 2013, the Studio designed Uncle Carlisle Street in St Kilda: A split-level venue where a dark, moody, street-side bar sits beneath a clean, lofty restaurant.

The Collins Street incarnation translates and refines the Carlisle Street atmosphere into a new space with its own attitude, using key materials such as cane to reflect the rich history of Vietnam.

Cane grows quickly in Vietnam and is readily available, and here it’s used as an architectural device across furniture, fixtures and surfaces. This creates a consistency to the space without losing the dynamic for which Vietnamese food is known.

For Foolscap Studio, Uncle Collins Street is personal in all the right ways. It’s a point of pride that continues the Studio’s mission to create meaningful spaces with a sense of fun, hands-on exploration and adventure.