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With its jewel-like design and position in the lobby of the
city’s best hotel, Crown Towers, T.W.R is arguably Melbourne’s most
sophisticated hotel bar.
Two years in the making, Neil Perry and the Rockpool
Group’s Beverage Director, Linden Pride travelled to some
of the world’s most iconic bars, researching the concept
for T.W.R.
Their inspiration came from the best and most legendary
hotels of Europe and the United States during the post
WWII years as well as some of the hippest bars that
London and New York have to offer.
“We referenced some of favourite bars in the world -
Connaught Hotel, London; Little Branch NYC, Salvatore
@50 St James London; Hemmingway Bar Ritz, Paris; PDT
NYC; and Pegu Club NYC. The key was to capture the
essence of these great bars and recreate what it was that
made them so special. After all this time, the one thing that
we remember was, the way they made us feel. Super drinks,
great food and charming, thoughtful service,” says Pride.
The task of transforming the former retail space into
one of the city’s most sophisticated and elegant hotel
bars was a challenge welcomed by former Bates Smart
architect, Grant Cheyne, in association with David Nock
of 1:1 Architects.
Cheyne has worked closely with the Rockpool
Group for the past five years, overseeing their recent
restaurant developments including Rockpool Bar & Grill
Melbourne, Spice Temple in Sydney and Melbourne
Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney, and the refurbishment
of Rockpool Sydney.
Inspired by a fine piece of vintage crystal glassware,
T.W.R was influenced by the grand hotels of post
WWII in Europe and the Americas and aspires to
opulence, longevity and comfort.
A place for a cocktail on the way out, a romantic
hideaway, or a place of comfort away from home,
Perry and Cheyne designed T.W.R to transform from
casual lounge during the day to a sophisticated cocktail
bar at night.
Respectful and complementary to the soon-to-be
refurbished hotel lobby of Crown Towers, T.W.R
combines grandeur with intimate detail
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and style,
and presents a series of rooms of ever-decreasing
proportions with increasing levels of intimacy.
Custom-designed fittings and furnishings have been
developed to create a unique space and a monumental,
formal entrance connects the facetted and mirrored ‘jewel box’ interior with the adjacent hotel lobby.
Back of house connections have been established with
Perry’s adjoining Rockpool Bar & Grill and Spice
Temple restaurants.
“It was exciting to once again be involved in creating
a new venture with Neil. His ability to define a unique
formula makes it possible to come up with some suitably
fresh ideas, in the absence of which, it may have been
just another bar,” says Cheyne.
The tools of light have been used to create an interior filled with drama and contrast.
The use of candles was fundamental to the success of the installation as the candles added a sense of natural movement in the space. The warm glow was designed to add an element of movement in the space, amplifying the reflectivity of the surrounds and filling the interior with a warm, post war lounge ambience.
Directional lighting was utilised to accentuate the palette of textures and colours in the space….directional light sources is used to graze the surface of fabrics to enhance the texture and provide an element of indirect light within the space. Accent lighting is used to reflect off the mosaic mirror tile to paint the surrounding surface with a textured reflection, further enhancing the bevelled mirror surface.
The lighting has been carefully woven into the interior design where with rigorous coordination with the designers, we have detailed the location of each luminaire so as to ensure the lighting forms a part of the space, concealing the light fittings where possible.
Custom-designed pendants were vital in creating the perception of a lower ceiling height within the double height space. The suspended elements lower the scale of the interior and emphasise the club like interior. Each fitting was handcrafted in the Netherlands by Pieter Adams to complement the hand made wall lamps and storm/candle lanterns. |
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