Canton Lounge Bar
532 Hay St
Perth WA 6000
08 9325 9900
www.cantonloungebar.com

The original clients for the Canton Lounge Bar approached Co-praxis to do the design as they had worked with one of them a couple of times previously. There were three partners originally. One of the partners (not our repeat client) joined forces with the current operator and bought the other two out about half way through the project. The new partnership was not successful and the current operator bought out the last member of the original team of three.

This ‘changing of the guards’ so to speak had a significant impact on the final result - the ‘weight’ of Co-praxis’ influence and opinions decreasing with each change.

When Gemma Young, director of projects and interiors at Co-praxis, first saw the site, there was a very expensive custom made carpet on the floor. It was in bad repair, so it couldn’t be used but she did use the colours in the carpet to inspire her colour palette.

A huge surprise in the vaulted ceiling was also discovered by accident. The original design called for the removal of a rather large Chinese light and some painted wooden tiles surrounding from the ceiling. Upon removing them additional ceiling space was discovered to Gemma’s delight.

A major design challenge was with the budget. It was ridiculously low, and ultimately unachievable, for the size and condition of the original space not to mention the expectations of the brief. With budget in mind, the client did not engage Co-praxis to do any project management or contract administration.

“While I feel like I’m whining now, I think it’s important to emphasize my overall lack of control over the final outcome,” commented Gemma. “The client’s very brief ‘brief’ was that they wanted a kind of ‘shabby

chic’ feel to the place. I interpreted that as ‘make it look like it should be in Melbourne. The clients often
changed things ‘on the fly: the bathroom layouts, tiles, fixtures and fitting, the lighting specifications and fixtures, the couches. All very frustrating for a designer, as you can imagine.

“Having said all that, strong design elements such as the colour and textural palettes did help achieve my original design intent. I wanted it to look ‘rich’ in texture and ‘deep’ in colour whilst complimenting the existing heritage of the building, I wanted to incorporate contemporary elements. Also, the design of the couches and mobile bar/planters allows adaptability of the space as proposed – although I noticed the current operator has covered the planters. I also had a win when I put in a ‘last ditch effort’ to convince the client to replace a large feature pendant (read big ugly white box light that virtually covered up the vaulted ceiling) with a large chandelier from Tilly’s in Osborne Park. In short, the feel of the main room is reasonably close to what was intended.”

Apart from the chandelier mentioned above, most of the fixtures such as tiles, plumbing and lighting were selected by the client to suit their budget. Other finishes such as the paint colours, wallpaper and mirrors were mostly completed as specified, however one of the wallpapers selected was substituted with stunning wallpaper found on site that coincidentally suited the scheme. The wallpaper was found by the original developer on site. I had picked similar wallpaper that was black and gold, but when I saw the red and gold I was more than happy to substitute it. The flocked nature of the wallpaper had exactly the richness of texture I was looking for.”