According to owners and operators the Comiskey Group, the Eatons Hill Hotel, thirty minutes north of the Brisbane CBD, features the largest tavern in Australia. The $30million development includes a tavern, liquor store, function centre and short-stay units which will open soon. The Comiskey family also own Beachmere Tavern on the north side of Brisbane near Caboolture.

It was in 2007 that Rob Comiskey contacted KP Architects to meet and discuss the project as he already had a design and development approval for a hotel but realised that the design was not quite right. It was decided that the site and location deserved an iconic building and went on a journey of other established hotels.

“They visited a hotel we had designed in 2005 - Varsity Lakes Tavern - on the Gold Coast and recognised our firm from other venues we had designed, in particular the iconic Breakfast Creek Hotel,” explained Kon Panagopoulos, director of KP Architects. “The Comiskey’s allowed us the opportunity to design a completely different building, a venue that reflected the site conditions.”

The site, which had previously been a golf driving range which had closed down, was vacant of any building and overgrown with grass and weeds. However, central to the site was a magnificent 150 year old fig tree that commanded the site with its 20 metre canopy.

“We realised that this tree should remain, it was removed in the previous scheme, and become the primary element for the building’s program,” commented Kon. “The building was essentially designed around the tree. From every angle, one can view the tree either while sitting on the various decks that hug the tree, or from the two storey void that overlooks from the central bar. Timber was used extensively throughout the internal and external elements of the building from decks, balustrades, ceilings, floors and joinery which seemed the natural choice, celebrating the tree’s existence.”

One problem encountered by the architect was dealing with the proposed scale of the venue. The brief required a venue that could accommodate large patron numbers on the weekends or smaller numbers during the week. The strategy was to mitigate the scale of the project into smaller spaces relative to the program. A non-objective planning technique was introduced. Spaces were created generally from the inside out, aligning themselves with the human condition. Spaces were set up to flow from one to another with an easy transition but a distinct separation.

“The Comiskey’s and our own intention was to design an environment that was a comfortable place for all demographics, from families to twenty-something’s to tradesmen, on any particular day,” said Kon. “It was important to create an environment that was comfortable and that would cater for the locals and those travelling from outside the area.”

Extravagant finishes, popular ‘wow factors’ or momentary design elements were dismissed for more intrinsic ideas and finishes that aged well. Their ‘wow factor’ was the natural beauty of the 150 year old fig tree that continually keeps patrons in awe. The tree also screens the hotel from the sun, shading patrons on those lazy Sunday afternoons.

“The end result has certainly lived up to our expectations and, we believe, our clients,” remarked Kon. “Friday and Saturday nights cater for up to 2000 people each night enjoying the bistro, gaming room, bar and beer garden. Recently, a roof top bar and basement function room was added.”

The large 1200m2 function room also opened recently catering for approximately 800 people contained over two levels for weddings or live music. The interior was designed to remember theatres of the past with an ornate ceiling the central feature of the room. It was loosely based upon the vaulted ceiling of a 500 year old church with each panel made up of 150 individual pieces painstakingly fitted together.

“Our design intent was for an unpretentious and honest solution, and we believe working with our client we have been able to realise this,” concluded Kon. “We hope this venue will become a place for people to meet, enjoy and over time, become part of the community fabric. While we believe that we have exceeded our client’s expectations, there is one design flaw which we are frequently reminded of by them, and that is - the pub is still not big enough!”

Audio Visual
Bruce Forbes designed and installed the audio visual elements including a total of 156 Acoustic Technologies speakers. The main bar / dance floor is covered by LG09 speakers with BB03.5 subs providing bass. Other zones in the main bar, including the TAB, have a combination of LG04 speakers with LGB06 compact sub bass systems. The dining areas are catered for by ALA02T’s and MK100 wide dispersion speakers with LGB03 subs taking care of low frequency reinforcement. Beer gardens and outdoor deck areas all received weatherproof LG03E’s and LGB01 subs to match, whilst the outdoor beer garden stage was fitted out with SS24’s and BB03.5 subs. The gaming lounge and walkways had AT 2-way ceiling speakers installed. The entire system is powered by AT HD7 power amplifiers

For a music solution, Nightlife worked closely with Rob Comiskey and Russell Reeves to provide a range of solutions to cater for each individual space of this large-scale venue. From background music in their gaming and bistro areas, to a fully integrated Video DJ system in the main bar, the venue is now fully equipped with a 100% legal music solution to power the daily and evening entertainment of the venue.

The beer garden is dominated by a VuePix L-series 10mm pixel pitch video screen to deliver high quality all weather content to the patrons. The screen measures a generous 5×2.8 meters, and can be used as either a huge video screen or as a background for live entertainment on the outdoor stage to produce great visual effects. The VuePix L ED display is rigged from four Chain Master 250kg motors which allow the staff to raise and lower the screen depending on the requirements of each event.

The VuePix screen is delivered content via a VisionPro HD scaler, which accepts High Definition video from a HDTV receiver. For other events the VisionPro also has composite and DVI/VGA inputs available. This allows the screen to be flexibly used for differing events. Another key component is the daylight sensing card which automatically “dims” the screen brightness in low light and night time conditions.

The aforementioned large tree has been lit on three sides with iLED Pro outdoor multiPAR fixtures. These along with several others lit trees around the venue, receive DMX control from a dedicated e:Cue system. Running the latest release version of the e:CueLighting Application Suite, the e:Cue system can be manipulated by either the attached touch screen monitor, or the e:Cue remote iPad/iPhone application.

The dance floor area of the main bar is again equipped with an e:Cue control system. Dedicated for this area the e:Cue is setup with a touch screen monitor which allows DJ’s to easily select the type of lighting they require. A DMX loop links Robe Scan 250XTs, iLED Pro LED Stage Zoom wash, LEDSource TriColor Multipars and effects lighting, into the e:Cue system.