Image Credit : Rohan Thomson
Project Overview
Good times, late nights and big city lights. From the streets, little laneways and city arcades comes a new kind of asian flavour. Distinctly asian, it’s fast, loud, rebellious, upbeat and confident.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Michael Tan - Creative Director
Eleena Tan - Strategy Director
Courtney Kim - Senior Graphic Designer
Jane Bunn - Senior Graphic Designer
Liviani Suwandi - Graphic Designer
Stefany Halim - Senior Interior Designer
Afra Ahmed - Interior Designer
David Pereiras Corzon - Interior Architecture Draftsperson
Rosie O'Donnell - Account Manager
Project Brief
The client’s brief was to bring the urban influences from their trip to Japan and Korea a little closer to home, in Braddon, Canberra ACT.
The concept was both an exploration exercise into 80-90’s asian pop culture as it was re-imagining asian fusion so it would stand on its own as Canberra’s go-to place.
Project Innovation/Need
Sensing a well overdue need to fill a niche in Canberra’s dining and bar scene, the four partners brought their experience in bars and hospitality together to form Lazy Su.
The brand was a response to the brief - fun, loud and cheeky, and designed for the curious minded. Inspired by retro 80-90’s American-Japanese-Korean pop culture, eating houses and hawker stalls, the menu, collateral, uniforms, wall collages and way-finding signs were carefully curated to be sensitive to the interiors, so the customer journey into Lazy Su was to ‘discover first, ask questions later’.
Each area inside was designated an ‘activation’, from the main entry to the signature bar, counter dining and booth seating. A range of materials from natural wood panels and batons, exposed brickwork, concrete sheeting, lenticular mirrors and hand painted denim cloth were selected due to its common use in Japan, with neon, LED backlighting, 3D-text light boxes and paper lanterns to complete the lighting requirements. Each activation was designed to be highly functional, instagrammable and demonstrate a return on investment. The bar features a unique Tetris light box menu arrangement with popular asian drinks to aid in ordering.
From the moment the sun sets, the neon lights up and music, food, drink and boogie come together. It’s loud, quirky, cheeky, brash, melodic and absolutely fun.
Design Challenge
Designed to be a flexible all-day dining asian eating house, the venue had to allow for counter-side lunches and asian tapas dining to late night whisky, sake bar and cocktails.
Creating an all-day dining space that could moonlight as a late night bar was the design. Sharing an adjacency, and wall, with one neighbouring tenancy, soundproofing had to be considered as part of the concept. Dimpled cement fibreboard was selected in keeping with the industrial vibe. Used as wall-cladding, it concealed the acoustic battens which were placed in the built-out stud wall cavity. A feature of function.
A dance floor area was designated through the use of vinyl tiles. The two-toned speckled vinyl, laid in a custom pattern, met the retro brief while ensuring slip resistance.
Sustainability
The existing site, an industrial shell, had its own charm. The exposed brick walls were retained and became a feature of the interior. For the men’s bathroom, the old vanity cabinet was pulled out but rather than replacing entirely the existing exposed basin and piping was kept and painted over in keeping with the industrial look.
For the women’s bathrooms, rather than replacing the cubicle partitions, a feature vinyl wallpaper was designed and applied to bring the brand essence in on a budget.
Interior Design - Hospitality - Casual
This award celebrates innovative and creative building interiors, with consideration given to space creation and planning, furnishings, finishes, aesthetic presentation and functionality. Consideration also given to space allocation, traffic flow, building services, lighting, fixtures, flooring, colours, furnishings and surface finishes.
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