The owner of Duck Duck Goose, who was the owner of Kam Fook restaurants in Sydney and in Melbourne, wanted to create a contemporary East meets West restaurant and a bar. For the location of the restaurant, QV was chosen because of the close proximately from China town in the heart of the city.

The brief was varied and complex, a typical example of the rich cultural context of Australia. Eastern food - Chinese - was to be served in refined but casual environment, alongside Modern Western crusine - French - with an influence from the East - served in a fine dining area. A main kitchen that caters for a large number of patrons and two completely different types of crusine. A tasting bar which also has its own dim sum kitchen. Private dining rooms with a view to the city. A cocktail bar would be attached to the restaurant which could both serve patrons for the restaurant and casual patrons for drinks only.

The ventilated ceiling in the main kitchen was not part of the brief. The difficulty of the execution of the restaurant kitchen was due to the several factors. Firstly, very low ceiling due to the central location of the kitchen, which happened to be at the higher floor level. Secondly, the exhaust had to be extracted horizontally - a high rise residential tower is positioned above the restaurant and with the amount of air needs to be extracted – some 40,000 liters - the restaurant needed its own filtration system. Thirdly, the ventilated ceiling was one of the first in Melbourne, which resulted in difficulty in obtaining a building permit. We had to find a mechanical engineer who could certify the document to say the European system meets the Australian building code. The ventilated ceiling was documented in Germany.

The owner was actively involved resolving various and complex issues and the result is a unique dining experience of the East meets the West.

For the concept of Duck Duck Goose, BURO imagined a modern abstract Chinese garden. Chinese philosophy of Ying and Yang was applied throughout the space. Hence the space was designed in two halves - representing two opposing and conflicting ideas but infused as a whole and influencing each other, such as dark and light, East and West, old and new, formal and casual.

The elements of nature within the space and subtle reference to the Eastern culture in the Western context enhance the idea. The planning of the venue has provided a U shaped progression of spaces with a long

axial view towards Lonsdale Street. A series of screening devises are used to mediate the view and create a progression of spaces.

For the Dark side, the entry is hidden and there is a sense of discovery. The patrons enter through a series of dark tunnel which frames the view, and then arrive in a cocktail bar with a golden glow - the space refers to the Chinese element of metal. For example, hard surfaces such as pressed metal ceiling, polished glass, metallic wall finishes were used alongside soft metallic gold curtains from South Pacific Fabrics.

The patrons then walk along a path franked by bamboo and arrive in a forest of bamboo lights reflecting above a black pond - representing element of water and wood. Landscape of glowing light within the darkness creates a sense of tranquil.

For the Light side, the entry is open to the view from courtyard within QV complex. The view is mediated by the gradual rise of floor levels towards the rear. The space is clean and minimalist. The colour palette is restrained with white and a pale timber - American Oak. Soft curatins from South Pacific Fabrics define the space.

Entry space contains a white stone tasting bar [yang] - placed diagonally opposite to the black pond [ying]. The space is intended to signify the element of earth - stone benches and polished concrete floor & stone steps. This space is then followed by an abstract Chinese tea garden. The reference to the East is again subtle. For example, the Wishbone Chair from Corporate Culture is chosen as its shape refers to a traditional Chinese chair. The lighting - lotus flower - is positioned low above each round table to create an intimacy.

The birdcage at the rear of the venue is located between the dark and light. It is in a full view towards theatrical kitchen and at the same time creating an intimate private dining space with timber slatted screens mediating between the dark and light side, internal and external space.

Duck Duck Goose is a refined and subtle expression of richly textured Australian culture – co-existence of East and West.