The Norman Hotel, located in the Brisbane city fringe suburb of Wooloongabba, had seen various owners during its long, colourful life. Built in 1889, it was bought by the Cavill family in 1987 after their lease at the iconic Breakfast Creek Hotel had expired. They subsequently renovated the Norman Hotel into a popular steak pub before in 2009 the leasehold was transferred to its new owners, The Independent Pub Group. KP Architects were engaged to refurbish the existing bars and external dining areas.

The current outdoor dining space located off Qualtrough Street, was a cold, harsh space, lacking atmosphere. The basis of the new design was to introduce extensive greenery to soften the environment and to break down the original large space into smaller more intimate spaces via planters, green walls, low brick walls, recycled wrought iron lace work panels and a centrally located mature fig tree.

The existing sloping concrete floor was removed and level paved floors were added to give warmth and texture to the space. A timber deck was also introduced with a fixed bench seat along one edge with bamboo as the backdrop.

A selection of high and low furniture was also introduced to create a more eclectic mix of seating options. Yellow and white striped umbrellas add a splash of colour and fun to the space and festoon lighting activated the beer garden at night.

Recycled milk cans carefully positioned in a new brick entry wall adjacent to a vintage horse cart were sourced to greet customers on arrival, a subtle reference to the pubs strong ‘cow’ marketing campaign.