Image Credit : Chris Court
Project Overview
The Captain Cook Hotel has stood on the corner of Flinders Street in Paddington for over 100 years and was well and truly due for a facelift.
AZBcreative were brought in to design its new incarnation – The Captain.
With AZBcreative’s love of historic references and reimagining and converging different design moments in time, The Captain is rich with detail. Imagine a degraded dining hall in Buenos Aires or a classic 1920’s country pub with walls deteriorating.
From paint colours referencing early 20th Century interiors to plaster pigment walls, custom Australian outback wallpaper to custom terracotta pottery. The palette is putty, dirty ocean blue and pumice and applied across all interior elements, working together to create a multi-layered and detailed interior.
Discovering original elements in the venue added to the whole interior like exposing the bar and discovering original tiles on the bar fascia. AZB introduced arched thresholds to soften walls and ceilings and to create a sense of discovery into each area of the venue.
Our collaboration with artists, makers, and small run factories helped create an interior narrative that has soul and authenticity.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Courtney Todd, Brooke Streater, Lucy Erasmus Green, Jenni Munster
Project Brief
To take an iconic location and transforming a classic inner suburbs pub into a desirable dining and drinking hall.
The owners wanted to create a neighbourhood venue that would give the local community a focal point. The space needed to feel welcoming and casual but still be elevated and have a feeling of the nostalgic splendour of the buildings past.
The space was in desperate need of an interior update and AZBcreative were tasked with re-working every part of the interior – from replacing the huge curved bar top that is the centre piece of the main bar area to signage, floors, walls, bathrooms - the entire interior was gutted to start fresh.
With our telescopic vision of the historic world at large we wanted to design a space that was not based in Australian pub culture but reinterpret it as a grand hall of sorts…like a dining space in Argentina or Europe.
Project Innovation/Need
When we removed linings on the walls we discovered original tile work and beautiful historic bricks this led us to decided to restore certain areas whilst encouraging other areas to feel as if they had been unearthed, with pigments and plaster and wax treatments.
Exposing the front bar led to us discovering original tiles on the fascia as well as some walls and we decided to investigate every nook and cranny of the space. Unearthing original elements in the stately venue was such a joy.
We introduced our signature AZBcreative arched and curved thresholds to soften walls and ceilings and to create a sense of discovery into the many areas of this venue. Detail is the key as always... mercury mirror, buttery leather banquettes, hand painted signage, carefully sourced antiques pieces and curated art all add to the authenticity of the space and work to create an inviting area where guests will want to linger and enjoy all that is new at The Captain.
By transforming small rooms into large arched entranced dining rooms we created an illusion of space and grandeur.
Design Challenge
The venue is large and made up of multiple areas that have a variety of functions and we needed to work on a design that made this vast space feel as one as well as create distinctly different areas that patrons could discover and would want to come back to enjoy.
The colour palette for this project was incredibly important. From paint colours referencing 1920’s interiors to plaster of Paris rendered pigment walls that appear to be many centuries old, custom designed Australian outback wallpaper to terracotta and white pottery. The colour palette is putty, dirty ocean blue and pumice, rich encaustic tiles and the most incredible Jurassic Park plantings in homemade urns and vases which all work together to create a multi-layered and detailed interior.
AZB always collaborate with artists, makers, and small run artisanal factories to create an interior narrative that has soul - from bespoke works from New York artist Jeremyville to Avalon based expressionist Shane Bowden.
AZB also created their own wallpaper, an ode to all things Aussie and furry in the Koala Den which provides a highly original, totally Australian, exquisite back drop to the private dining room.
Sustainability
At AZBcreative we strive for integrity and honesty in our design and have a strong commitment to sustainability. Through our use of local artists, suppliers, tradespeople, materials and artisans we strive to make our work as sustainable as possible and we believe this practice imparts authenticity to our projects.
With The Captain the need for authentic vintage decorative pieces worked well with our ethos of reuse, repurpose and restore and we were able to give life to many beautiful antique objects sourced from local dealers and our own archives.
Sydney Artist Shane Bowden provided an incredible work that is hung in the main bar area and much of the other art originates from NSW.
Our work on The Captain took place from the end of 2019 through to the beginning of 2020 during one of the worst bushfire seasons Australia has every encountered and we had this in mind when creating the Australiana inspired wallpaper in the ‘Koala Den’ where tips are collected and distributed to charities benefitting koalas.
All of verdant planting throughout the venue was sourced from nurseries throughout New South Wales and AZB worked with growers to carefully curate the living elements for this project.
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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