Project Team

Design: Sarah Roach (Entrance Hall) in collaboration with Stubbs Design Tribe and Luke Mangan & Heath Molloy.
Builders & Onsite Project Managers: Movin Office Relocation Experts

Luke Mangan’s latest venture is his new Wine Bar/Café – The Mojo Wine Bar, located in Luke Mangan Headquarters on Danks Street, Waterloo. Headquarters was inspired by New York style warehouses – think raw finishes, industrial fittings, polished concrete floors. The Mojo Wine Bar, a casual tapas bar that can seat up to 26, offers a light menu featuring simple, fresh tapas style plates designed for sharing.

The versatile structure of the bar means it can be easily customised to suit a variety of uses such as casual after work drinks or a private cocktail party. This unique destination will accommodate a mix of head office, warehouse, wine and tapas bar, test kitchen and a communal dining and functions space all under one roof.

“Mojo by Luke Mangan is quite a unique idea; a wine & tapas bar located inside our Headquarters warehouse in Waterloo where we also house our head office, test kitchen and product warehouse,” explained Luke Mangan. “We tried to keep the design quite raw and unique. Inspired by New York style warehouses accommodating many facets of our business in one space.

“Apart from our wine bar, we have exposed pallets of our products on display, a graffiti cool room and a test kitchen where our chefs are creating new dishes and menus.”

Even from its initial stage Luke always aimed at keeping this space casual and relaxed for his customers, wanting to create a versatile and functional space for not only his customers but for the staff within in.

“We wanted to keep the space quite raw, with a real warehouse feel; raw finishes with industrial type fittings and fixtures, concrete floors and high warehouse ceilings, he said. “The use of local artist’s work in the back hall add more to the colour of the space while encouraging appreciation and community for talent in the area.”

Material selection was indented to reinforce the industrial feel. This was offset with the use of yellow, a stark contrast to the grey and rusted surrounds intended to give a spark to the quirky nature of the mojo story.

” We didn’t really stick to one colour scheme as such; we added lots of splashes of yellow because it was in opposition to the existing site materials,” added Luke. “The yellow was intended to lighten up the space and to create warmth, especially for customers dining in the day time. We kept with the original flooring of polished concrete to keep the feel quite raw while incorporating a more serious long black bar area to appeal to nighttime diners.”

The lighting throughout the warehouse continues the industrial feel. Scattered ambient lights and shadows across the bar provide a real moody, romantic atmosphere. With hanging cage lights throughout and large dome lighting providing a practical element to the product warehouse section of the space.

“Having our designers make cage lighting was a really great project and a great way to save money for other special features of the warehouse,” said Luke. “We also enlisted a graffiti artist to spray paint our cool room for a couple of hundred dollars and the visual effect it brought to the warehouse was pretty amazing, love it or hate it.

“I feel the final result is a real testament to the challenges faced with such a large site and with so many different facets of the business being incorporated and housed in one space. We are really thrilled with the final outcome of the project and we hope our wine bar customer and visitors embrace the space as much as we have.”