Project Team

interior designer: Samantha Broadley @ Oldfield knott architects
architect: Frank Iemma @ Oldfield knott architects
draftsman: Daniel Genovese @ Oldfield knott architects
av: Pulse Audio Visual

Suppliers

furniture: Cubus Concepts
carpet: Feltex
lighting: Inlite, dynmark, Domain lighting, Majool
tiles: European Ceramics, Muldoon Tiles
music system: Nightlife
signage and graphics:
Bentleigh sign group

Photos: Christine Wood

Platform 28 is a charming new restaurant bar offering Modern Australian cuisine in the heart of vibrant Docklands. Formerly a railway goods shed, this venue stays true to the history of the site and brings a rustic historical charm that’s bound to win the hearts of the locals.

Housed within the heritage Goods Shed North in Docklands, this prominent destination offers a brilliant mix of old and new. Delightful food, a relaxed atmosphere and an impressive selection of beers, wines and cocktails make this one of the Docklands’ best new one-of-a-kind meeting spots.

Scaling across 2 levels, with 2 outdoor arenas and 2 indoor spaces, the modernity and sheer size of the venue provides neighbouring offices, residents and footy patrons with ample space for casual dining.

The design team at Oldfield Knott kept some key original elements of the shed. For instance, step into the venue and you will find the big black cast iron heritage columns and the heritage brick work that’s teeming with character. The designer also wanted to inject abstract elements which display the site’s original use. For example vinyl graphics which represent the Melbourne train line map have been applied to walls and large plains of glass. The designer has also used custom photographic vinyl showing the shed as it once was.

The venues space also allows patrons to discover each area as its own, as each floor was designed to showcase its own style and meaning. Saying that key design elements have been repeated so to tell a story.

Ground floor This was the area the designer wanted to make the heritage elements apparent to all patrons. As you walk in the first thing you’ll discover is the Lineal timber batten’s fixed to the ceiling, which could mirror and old railway track. Also a large photographic image behind the bar shows the original painted number 28 on the old brick wall. These where marked to show areas / openings within the shed.

The colour scheme also wanted to reflect the mechanical elements which where once house the shed. Large 1200mm x 600mm charcoal floor tiles opens the space and keeps a clean and minimal look. The bar front and fire place has a combination of small hexagon tiles and Italian marble, with a clean white ceasar stone bar top to showing contrast. Coloured Indirect lighting which runs on the facade of the bar, bulkhead and stair treads gives the venue its edge. The designer also custom designed the carpet so the colours tied in with the internal brick work and graphics. The carpet design has also been repeated on the first but changed to suit the colour scheme.

With the team work between Cubus Concept and oldfield knott they were able to achieve some hardy but unique furniture pieces. If you also take note to the large “U” shaped lounges you will find a graphic fabric showing a similar design to the abstract train lines.

First floor As you walk up the large decorative stairs you will find a rich boutique cocktail bar. With the colour scheme of red and emerald you discover a completely new interior than the ground floor bar.

History states the original site would transform to a ball room which showcased for the high society. Decorative frames, bevel edge mirrors, Italian marble and plush red carpet gives a sense a regal, which is how the designer reflected its heritage. Unique red velvet pendants sit above bar which display shadows and light on the bar top, ceiling and floors. You will also discover as you walk out to the glass bifold doors the best kept roof top alfresco bar. With the view of docklands and Etihad stadium the large outdoor space is the perfect sun downer location. 

Cascade Stool
The cascade stool is another example of unique Australian Design and versatility. The seat pad can be changed to a timber slat or compact laminate and the frame manufactured in stainless steel for outdoor use. Alternatively the seat can be upholstered in fabric, vinyl or leather and the frame powder coated to colour of your choice.

Pulse Audio Visual was asked to design, supply and install the audio visual requirements of the venue and as usual, their preferred brand of speaker was JBL with a combination of JBL surface-mount speakers used throughout the venue.

The venue has been divided into five audio zones: ground floor lounge, ground floor alfresco area, glazed pod, upstairs lounge, and upstairs outdoor area. Each zone is capable of having its own audio source and volume level, regardless of the settings of the other zones.

“The location and method of installation for the speakers changed quite a few times on this job,” remarked Adam Dullens of Pulse Audio Visual. “Luckily there is a large variety of JBL speaker products, so we were always able to find something that would fit the job whenever site changes forced us to re-think the audio setup.”

JBL AC-Compact 8” speakers were used in the upstairs lounge and weatherproof JBL Control 29AV speakers in the upstairs outdoor area. Downstairs, a combination of JBL Control 28 and Control 29AV speakers were used in the main space, with JBL Control 25 speakers installed in the glazed pod and alfresco area. JBL in-ceiling speakers provide background audio in the toilets and hallways. Crown XLS series amplifiers power the system.

“Although we are using a few different models of speakers, they all have a similar sound, resulting in a consistent audio quality and level as you move from zone to zone in the venue,” said Adam. “The customer is absolutely thrilled with the sound quality!”

BSS London signal processing is used along with BSS Blu8 mutli-zone wall panel controllers to provide control for the audio source selection and volume adjustments for the various zones around the venue.

JBL Control25T Speaker
The Control® 25T is perhaps the most versatile of JBL Professional’s Control Contractor Series indoor/outdoor loudspeakers. The JBL Control Contractor speakers provided an optimal combination of output and directivity, as well as a weatherproof design.

Jands

Music plays an important role for the Elephant & Wheelbarrow Group. For Platform 28, owner Mark O’Reilly had a defiinite vision; he wanted a system as unique as the venue itself. He was seeking a visual statement that added to the room and appeared like mini works of art, rather than standard music videos, movies or traditional static images.

O’Reilly called upon Nightlife Music to provide a solution. They partnered with graphic designers Direct Digital Group (DDG) to create visuals that made a statement true to this vision. Customised visuals were produced, using historical photos of the venue’s days as a busy goods platform and images from the re-development of the site. These were brought to life through dynamic capturing with moving cameras, creating much more than a series of still shots. These visuals were integrated with targeted branding and atmospheric photos from Nightlife’s extensive library.

Each of Platform 28’s bars can control which feeds of music and vision are shown in their area; the overall effect for patrons is a blend of photos and graphics that add to the upmarket and historical atmosphere of the venue. Complemented by music programmed to suit the patron mix and time of day, this level of detail and customisation seems to be a common thread with all Nightlife venues.