Paul Kelly Design completed phase one of the Peachtree Hotel Development called ‘Bluestone’ in 2007 for owner Colin Parras, which incorporated the bistro and main outdoor areas of the hotel, including the placement of the biggest outdoor sports screen in Australia at the time. This is the 5th project Paul Kelly Design have completed with Colin over the past 10 years.

The hotels success has driven Colin to undertake a further development of the hotel, renovating the Public Bar, TAB, Gaming Room and Bottle Shop, as well as the incorporation of further food facilities to the already successful Peachtree Pizza and Bistro.

Since the first renovation the Peachtree has become the meeting place for families and young people in Penrith with the daily attraction of a quality venue with ample room for children (play areas) and the flexibility to cater for small and large groups in a warm and inviting atmosphere the draw.

The brief behind phase 2 was to create new spaces for the customer who did not want to be surrounded by children and families. This customer being of all ages wanted the attraction of a public bar but is a bit more advanced than a traditional bar dweller and wanted the options and space diversity that would allow the phase 2 to become an extension of their house. This was also combined with the new Bistro facilities and food concept to be used by both this phase and Bluestone.

‘Bluestone’ was built by Arcon NSW in 2007, and the obvious choice was to use them again, given their professionalism and quality.

The food concepts for phase 2 were an integral part to the development of the already successful phase 1. The client wanted to provide a superior back of house setup that would allow the current food outlets to have sufficient space for prep and storage, especially in regard to the size of menu on offer the required space for the creation of the dishes warranted an extension. The new food concept that the client generated was based on a pasta offering, where customers could choose their toppings and watch the food be created in front of them, adding an element of ‘live kitchen’ to the offering.

The Pasta concept works as a single line operation, with the working side based on three stations. The first station is where the ordering takes place and the customer decides on the plate size and extent of topping for their dish. Station two the customer (who is standing in front of a cold Bain mare) selects various topping (some of which are a premium selection) which are plated directly into a pan. Station Three the customer is asked on the sauce / base type for the topping and the style of pasta that they would like, the cooking process occurs in front of the customer behind a curve glass panel. Ceramic induction is used to cook the toppings (which is instant and incredibly efficient) and creates a good effect with the rapid method generating steam / theatre. The pasta which is already par cooked, is then dropped into an 8 section boiling rack to ‘finish off the pasta’, which then is mixed in with the topping and plated (on a heated plate). The 3 stations allow two chefs to serve 4 customers at a time, with the rapid cooking and the par boiled pasta, the whole experience takes about 3 minutes.

The old bistro counter was completely removed and replaced with a simplified version. Customers are directed to line up in a set pattern (due to the population of the hotel) with the use of barriers, and this while waiting gives the operator the ability to up sell the customer with salads and desserts in a cold display Bain mare, as well as viewing the extensive menu some more and potentially including a further dish to their selection. The ordering works on the ‘buzzer’ system with customers returning to retrieve their own dishes in a heated shelf display.

The main bar area is the feature of the ‘public bar’ space, created full width of the room and extending high to the rear, it is an impressive under stated display. The bar features mid height fridges to the rear of the bar, allowing the impulse refrigerated products to the sold direct in the customers eye line. The rear bar display at high level is a rough steel framed structure housing some of the elements from the original bar, these being 3 deer heads with the central head situated high above the customer. The main bar continues around the development to service the TAB counter and further around into the gaming room cashier. The facing to the bar which extends some 16 metres is a handmade kiln dried brick, glazed in a rough emerald matt glaze, linking the bar front to years gone by, and giving the bar ‘brickwork’ structure and strength in position.

The main bar internal area is mainly the original interior,

with the existing timber trusses painted out, a custom PKD carpet on the floor and PKD designed
custom main bar furniture to the centre, hanging in the ceiling space is one of the original relics of the bar, a giant ‘talkies’ sign, and antique from the original version of the motion picture. The main bar furniture is all long high tables with steel and timber stools is made locally (by Hughes Commercial) is simple yet comfortable but mainly virtually un breakable. To the border of the main bar area is the internal lounge looking into the central area, this is basic timber faced construction, with the same high level elements as the bar and worn leather banquette cushions and hand turned timber (chunky) tables. Above the lounge zone is the main internal screen, allowing the central area to view events.

The TAB which is a Gold C (category) is located adjacent to the gaming area, main bar area and the outdoor area. The TAB has the ability to allow customers the traditional experience as well as creating an outdoor ‘scaled down’ version allowing customers to smoke whilst tracking the race.

The gaming room is spectacular and located in the geographic centre of the hotel. Paul Kelly Design completely removed the front of the old hotel to create the new smoking area with Arcon NSW (the builders) and built a two storey facing screen to the car park which informs external patrons of something to the rear. The interior features 12 of the 22 machines externally, in a protected air conditioned and heated outdoor area. The concept of the room is split by the full height (3300mm) glass room divider, allowing the two main banks of machines to extend from the interior out. Above the main banks are the feature chrome geometric ceiling tiles, allowing lighting (LED lighting from under the lower rim of the gaming machine bases supplied by Cootamundra Components) to be reflected and refracted. These same panels are used as entry portals to the gaming room from the car park entry and the Phase 1 ‘Blue Stone’ Entry, creating a signage potential to the interior that exists. The whole room is bounded by a decorative black and white wallpaper, which envelopes the new keno lounge (part of the gaming room), providing a sense of fantasy within the ‘true Vegas’ concept.

The outdoor area which is adjacent to the main bar and the TAB area has been designed to showcase from the street the dynamic nature of the hotel. The main outdoor area features an angled roof structure sitting high to the entry end, with a combination of louvers and mid height decorative timber screens to complement the landscape. The internals of the courtyard feature a dropped down main courtyard zone, complete with a brick hobbed fire place, outdoor banquettes and a raised timber deck area adjacent to this with two outdoor pool tables. The whole outdoor area is circulated around 3 giant sandstone boulders (the main one weighting over 3 tonne). The boulders which are at the stair junction, give the space a true local outdoor feeling, patrons sit on the boulders in the sun and it has become a good grounding feature for the customers. The outdoor area features a timber decorative screen to the perimeter, created by overlapping timbers allowing patrons to be partially seen from outside, but not feel exposed to the car park. This screen also provides a secure perimeter to the outdoor space, as well as linking the design back to the high level display of the main bar internally. Two all weather outdoor sports screens (Sanyo) sit on the two walls adjacent to the fire place, allowing customers to enjoy a multitude of sports whilst enjoying the landscape.

The previous bottle shop for the hotel was limited in size and ability to compete with the larger retail chains so the decision was made to create a ‘mid level’ retail space with dedicated parking in a remote location with large capacity for storage. The client decided to use the brand ‘Cellarbrations’ as the retail link for his shop and the interior was fitted out using their standard detailing. The location of the bottle shop allowed patrons who were leaving the new development to walk past the entry door to the bottle shop assisting in impulse purchasing.

The exterior areas of the hotel also received an upgrade, the main upgrade was the external façade, which when combined with the Bluestone Façade (phase 1) meant that the hotel from the street looked completely new. Paul Kelly Design introduced a timber facing detail as a pelmet facing the street as an indication of the use of timbers internally, combined with high painted upturns and steel clad bottle shop facing in angular shaping with low level use of giant sandstone boulders, tie the hotel to the ground and location. The car park was extended by a further 30 cars and the main streetscape received a large amount of landscape works as a requirement from council and completed by Go Enviro Landscapes. All new signage throughout the car parks and line marking assisted in the direction of traffic throughout.