Owner of the Manly Wharf Hotel, Ben May, had recently been away on holidays overseas and on his return I was briefed with a series of photos from relaxed beach bars and hotels though out his trip. Ben was inspired by the relaxed and ‘un-designed’ feel of the places he visited. These places appealed to a wide range of people where no one felt intimated by the design or the clientele. It is just a fun place to be relaxing, eating and drinking with friends and family with no pretence.

The Manly Wharf Hotel is a Sydney institution so the idea was not to re-invent the wheel but to come up with some ideas and non structural changes that could break down the large open beer hall like space into more intimate and comfortable areas that would appeal to the wide demographic of locals, tourists, young and old.

These spaces needed to be colourful, fresh light and fun!

The existing restaurant banquettes were refreshed with a coat of white paint and new tan leather.

Against the tan leather a bunch of brightly coloured, 80’s kitsch Hawaiian cushions are loosely spread over the long space. To bring down the scale of the room a new timber louvered screen was installed along the line of the banquettes to look like a series of plantation shutters that hide the thoroughfare to the toilets and kitchen behind with oversized large wicker shades over the lime wash dining tables.

The existing clinical steel beams where given new life with a bold green gloss paint and the out of date recessed lighting troughs where hidden with amazing old lacquered long boards that the client surfed the net for!

A pop up bar in the corner of the fit out was clad in old pastel timber checkerboard floor tiles where the previous owner said they has been used on his kitchen floor. The bar top was an old piece of rough sawn hardwood with all the bolt holes still exposed and the indoor beach hut bar was layered from above with bamboo, glass buoys, nautical rope lights and neon lights. This new bar area was separated from the dining area with chain link fencing and a long dry bar to eat burgers and drink cocktails while looking out to the harbour.