The original Urbane Restaurant is an icon of Brisbane dining with numerous awards and a substantial reputation. The redeveloped Urbane extends this philosophy of providing the highest quality food and service over four distinct dining and bar experiences.
The entire site of the original Urbane has been extended and redeveloped to incorporate a new Urbane, Euro, Sub-Urbane and The Laneway.
Urbane is envisaged as the quintessential fine dining experience, a notch up, if that’s possible, from what we all know and love. Sub Urbane is a linked cellar dining area, intimately positioned in the basement of the building, flanked by 100 year old stone walls and a well stocked cellar. Euro is a bistro providing great quality food in tandem with a humming bar experience. Euro stretches from Mary Street thru to the rear Lane behind providing a daylit luncheon space within this heritage building. The Laneway is a bar perched within the centre of the site, accessible from Mary Street or the Lane providing a hideaway bar to while away the hours with bar food of a calibre that isn’t available in the city.
The design creates four different but linked experiences within the one building. All of the venues are arranged around a central kitchen hub that has been substantially expanded to provide for the full range of food types from fine dining to bistro and bar cuisine. This engine room is supported by full back of house facilities needed to service up to 300 patrons and 30 staff in peak periods.
The Mary Street entry is opened with glass and covered in two distinct metal screens with a common entry point for Urbane and Euro. The Urbane screen is a bronze expanded mesh designed to conceal the lunch and dinner operations of the restaurant with sneaky glimpses of what lays beyond. The Euro screen is laser cut metal, exhibiting the food fare that lies beyond in graphic relief. Behind this screen, panels of green and pink glass lap over themselves to create an orange glow to the entry. At night, the lighting projects the patterns of the screen onto the footpath creating a lit threshold to the interior.
The rear Lane entry is lit from the Urbane end by a series of patterned lights along the laneway walls. From Margaret Street, The Laneway acts as a beacon hovering over the lane at the first floor level and framed by a 4m high cantilevered balcony facing towards Margaret Street. Euro also looks down the laneway and provides a rear door for entry.
Each space is created with its own character expressing materials, light and furniture in an independent way. Patrons can glide between these spaces through a series of open and private doors based upon their usage. A primary intention was to make the lighting a part of the materials of the space and not to become features in themselves. This promotes the contrast between the aged walls and the new insertions into the fabric.
Urbane is robust and simple providing a subdued backdrop for long enjoyment of the food on offer. The material palette includes the exposed brick walls of the heritage building coupled with solid timber walls and floor. The entry is copper clad extending from the street into the dining area. Ceilings are pressed metal with customised lighting to each table and concealed lighting to the edges. Filtered natural light extends into the space from the street creating an intimate relationship between public and private domains. The space encourages long and enjoyable relaxation of the food, wine and service.
Sub-Urbane
Sub-Urbane is a cellar in the truest sense. Situated in the basement and accessed through Urbane, it provides a cave like dining experience for up to 20 people to while away a day or evening. The walls are original stone with rough sawn hardwood panels, adjacent polished concrete floors. To one end, the humidified wine cellar is visible allowing access to one of the best collections of wine in a Brisbane restaurant. The room is fully wired with the latest AV technology for any type of event. There is also a private rear entrance for discrete use if required.
Euro
Euro is a brasserie that caters for both casual dining and as a bar. The bar is situated in the centre of the space servicing dining spaces to the street and laneway at the rear. The street side dining area is a high space with individual tables for casual dining and cocktails. The laneway side dining is bathed in natural light to the rear wall and ceiling offering an open “long bench” dining experience. The interior is a new type of space for Brisbane bars. The ceiling is faceted with a series of horizontal panels. Between these panels, a random arrangement of coloured acrylic panels are suspended and back-lit, leading one through to the rear of the brasserie. The colours are all “up”. This is no sombre drinking hole. It is conceived as a place of high spirits and fun gathering.
The Laneway
The Laneway is accessed via a set of stairs from the rear lane, or through Euro itself. This is a cavernous space suspended in the middle of the city. It is large in volume to offset its intimate floor area. Again, this space is bathed in natural light. It is a gathering space for about 75 people, acting as a bar, private venue, or outdoor eating space. Bar food is served from the main kitchen below. The Laneway is conceived as a place that can be both private and pumping. The finishes are raw to reflect ist place in the city.
Kudos Security Solutions was intricately involved in the Urbane Restaurant Refurbishment from prewire stage to final fitoff in November 2009.
As well as the audio system, Kudos also supplied and installed the data network, together with the digital surveillance and intrusion/access control security systems.