Project Team

design: Squillace Nicholas Architects
av: DJW Projects
music: Nightlife

The Private Dining Room which recently opened its doors, is a seamless extension of Hugos Bar Pizza and provides an intimate dining experience with the decor reflecting the classic glam Hugos style with dark timber wall panelling, vintage leather banquettes, brass table bases and a by-fold window concertina, which opens onto the vibrant streetscape of Bayswater Road. There are facilities for audio-visual and a DJ, while a plush sweeping curtain gives immediate privacy for an intimate dining experience for around 40 guests.

Located in an adjacent tenancy, the intention was to create a seamless fit to the original work through the replication of existing finishes and fittings both on the interior as well as the façade. The sophisticated pallet of finishes including timber wall panelling, timber clad joinery, leather, bronze mirror and concrete floors seamlessly flow throughout the enlarged space.

With the extension of the existing bar into the new space, the bar is anchored as the central element of the overall restaurant. This is enhanced by the continuation of the perimeter bulk head which embraces the two spaces as one.

An elevated lounge area allows the opportunity to wait for a table, whilst also creating a sense of theatre with seated patrons overlooking both the restaurant and the street outside.

The resulting increased circulation space in the existing main dining area allows a more luxurious dining experience throughout the overall venue. In contrast to the openness of the existing spaces, the lineal space of the private dining room creates a sense of intimacy and privacy. A leather clad banquette and modular furniture allows for flexibility of dining numbers and layout.

Hugos Bar Pizza have used Nightlife for nearly three years now and have worked with the Nightlife team over this time to keep their music relevant as the venue evolves. With private dining coming into play the venue has decided to keep things a bit more chilled through dinner service and certainly keep volumes at a lower level than in the main Bar Pizza area. Nightlife’s easy-to-use software also means key staff can make active programming decisions as required from evening to evening as the make up of the crowd changes. Another aspect of the music in Bar Pizza and Private Dining is the cross pollination with their sister site at Manly. Having Nightlife as the common platform at both sites makes it easy to bring across elements of the music programming at the Manly to Kings Cross. When Nightlife took on the Manly site last year there was a real collaborative approach to the music selections largely because of the hands on music direction given by Hugo’s Manly GM, Adam Polley.