Image Credit : Ross Calia
Project Overview
Resto BoBo - An edgy, communal & social restaurant in the heart of the foodie hub on Chapel street, Windsor. The restaurant brings a new dining genre to Melbourne, serving traditional French Tarte Flambee and paired French & local wines.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Mark Azzopardi
Aimee McCallum
Dan Xerri
Project Brief
Brief was to provide an unpretentious social restaurant which serves traditional French tarte flambee but stepping away from the stereotypical French restaurant. The Fit out had to generate an edgy urban, yet elegant setting with underlying tones of French Art Deco reminiscent of modern day Strasbourg urban culture. Functional aspects had a a high priority within the brief, considering the space needed to accommodate 60 covers internally. This offered an opportunity to provide an overall high density communal arrangement throughout. Each patron needed to experience a vibrant space filled with the journey of a traditional cooking experience serving its way through the space.
Project Innovation/Need
The restaurant space is long and narrow, so attention needed to be paid to providing a sense of space and identity as a key part of the design brief. This also meant a limited shopfront exposure; so a strong street connection was imperative so that the space became an extension to vibrant chapel street scene. Again starting with French Art Deco window treatments as the basis of our inspiration, the design led itself to a new approach which resulted in an extruded Resto BoBo metal form encapsulating the whole shopfront. The whole notion of metal extrusions seemed to help us carry and meet key aspects within our brief so the idea was carried throughout the space internally.
Design Challenge
Our first main challenge was met at the town planning office with detailed planning required to transform a decades old building to a modern restaurant space in compliance with current building regulations. Maintaining design functionality whilst meeting regulations was a major challenge in the project, especially due to the narrow nature of the site.
The second main challenge was a material challenge encountered late in the project. To maintain connection to the shopfront's extrusion works it was decided carry the material throughout the fitout. Client wanted to break through common overhead bar shelves and encouraged us to push the architectural design boundaries. A curved and extruded overhead bar feature emerged. Easily modelled in 3D software, fabricating the 7m long extruded metal architectural artwork proved to be far more difficult. Slipping the pre-fabricated and delicate artwork into the space was a major project success – and relief! The extruded metal works flow in three dimensions and lend beautifully to French art deco requirements of the brief.
Sustainability
Our first approach was to maintain as much of the existing materials as possible- this led to an exploration of the finishes behind layers and years of render, paint and cement. The original exposed brick entry links back to the architectural origins of the strip, but was also a sustainable design approach.
Interior Design - Hospitality - Luxury
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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