Project Team

design: KP Architects

Suppliers

music: Nightlife
furniture: Cubus Concepts, Eurofurn, Modern Furniture Store, Matt Blatt
lighting: Satelight, Lumiere Lighting, Wyre and Craw, SHAD, Light and Design Group, Living Edge
carpet: Brintons
timber boards: Pacific Rim Trading

The overall aesthetic sought was an honest, rich, unpretentious authenticity with a modern twist - a contemporary café and bar that exuded warmth and style.

KP Architects wanted the venue to have a ‘pub’ feel to the bar and the café to have a European edge to it. When customers approach the new addition from the outside they are greeted by a modern building form made up of a combination of natural honest materials - timber, brick and metal cladding to reflect copper. These materials are then replicated internally so inside and outside are seamlessly connected.

Bruce Table

type: powdercoat steel
table base height: 700-1080mm
base span: 584mm, 686mm, 838mm
adjustable feet: optional
options: chrome or powdercoat
environment: indoor

Cubus Concepts


Once inside, customers approach the new café and its large portal windows which are to be reminiscent of windows of a building facing a cobble street. The ‘street’ that leads you to other parts of the club is lined in natural stone ‘travertine’ to reflect the old, narrow cobble stone streets of Europe. From this ‘street’ patrons can view through to the café diners beyond, getting glimpses rather than full view vision. These portals / windows create intimacy and enclosure for café customers when dining and looking out to the ‘street’ and patrons beyond.

The new venue is broken up into a variety of dining and drinking experiences and settings. The café mirrors a European café with rich colours, natural stone bench tops, timber floors and chairs. The space is intimate but is fresh and exciting, something that is demonstrated in the food concept.

A green wall that forms a back drop to the café offers a splash of colour and natural greenery that almost feels as if you are sitting in a courtyard. Food is the hero, with the kitchen and cold display designed in a way to tempt customers to sit and enjoy the food. This also brings energy and atmosphere to the café and diners and patrons beyond in the ‘street’.

Adjacent to the café is the lounge and bar. Upon entry to the bar through the timber portal, a marble and zinc bar is located on the right. This bar exerts solidity and has a strong presence in the room. A black ‘crocodile’ tile wall forms a dynamic back drop to this space.

Again, natural honest materials are combined to form a warm and comfortable space to enjoy a drink. The space is broken down to create smaller, more intimate spaces by introducing a central 2 way fireplace and a high communal dry bar. The fireplace not only divides the spaces but also introduces the external face brick work into the interior.

A key aspect to the bar / lounge design was to create a space that will age well over time, and feels warm and inviting during the day and night with a strong connection to the outside. This has again been
achieved by blending honest finishes – marble, zinc, face brick, stone tiles and timber. These materials weather naturally and date gracefully. When enjoying the bar space during the day, filtered natural light fills the space. At night, carefully selected accent lighting creates an ambient mood setting.

Stacking doors slide back to introduce the outdoor. Large potted trees allow patrons to sit at the fixed mosaic dry bar and enjoy the mountain range to the east from an elevated position. The tall vaulted timber lined box that encloses the deck also frames the views that can be enjoyed not only from the deck, but from deep inside the bar’s interior.
Little nooks are also integrated beside the bar where smaller groups of two can sit comfortably away from the busier open spaces. The new venue becomes a series of different spaces and experiences which are carefully brought together by a palette of honest materials.

Aëon Illumination Nord

Industrial meets elegance with the Nord collection. An articulated head allows the fitting to be adjusted in different positions to control the light.

Satelight


Nightlife has been supplying music and visual solutions to Nambour RSL for nearly 6 years. With the development of the new Zinc bar and associated Alto dining space, Nightlife was tasked with the brief of helping the Club deliver a sophisticated inner city bar environment against the backdrop of a well established regional RSL.

Nightlife’s QLD Business Development Manager, Andrew Collier, worked initially with Richard Butler (MD of developer Rubicon) on how the built environment would look, so he could start to draw out what musical styles and themes would work in the new space. These concepts were then fine-tuned with the Club’s General Manager - Suzanne Long and Entertainment Manager - Joanne Law so as to incorporate their vision for the Club.

Nambour RSL was aware of Nightlife’s work in Sydney venues like Ivy, Establishment and Hugos and were keen to implant elements of the programming that Nightlife delivers in these settings into the the club’s new offering. To deliver the new program of content, the Club added a dedicated Nightlife Hard Drive Music System (HDMS) that plays across the new space. The sound is delivered by their integrated audio system. The HDMS is also connected to the Internet so that Nightlife can dial-in to make changes to the music programming as required and the Clubs dedicated Relationship Manager, David Radcliffe, can help out with any proactive training and support.