My Major Project was to present a creative design solution for a complex commercial site which included a restaurant, cellar door and retail space. The site is located in McClaren Vale in South Australia and I was to find 3 artisans from the area who did not already have an established store front or cellar door other than the local weekend markets. My chosen artisans were Coffin Bay Oysters, Alexandrina Cheeses, and Wild Child Wines. I decided on a concept which my design would be based and found the South Australian Landscape was best fitting to the artisans as each consumable was a product of the landscape in some way. I found an amazing image of the Great Australian Bight to use as my concept idea and overlaid this image on the original plans of the buildings to create the floor plan of my design. The waves of the ocean became the tiered outdoor garden beds, and the organic tracks and shapes inland became the pathways and custom joinery of the restaurant, cellar door and retail areas.
The main focus of the project was to create a design that would revolutionise the hospitality experience. I took inspiration from the colours and textures of the concept image through the waves of the ocean, the built up layers of earth in the cliff faces, and the vegetation of the inland terrain. The three spaces of the project are all different in terms of the colours used and the uses of the spaces themselves, however, the same materials were used to control the ease of flow through the site. This idea imitates the South Australian landscape as different terrains are made from different ground materials and provide different products, however, each one flows together to create the landscape as a whole.
The outdoor area features tiered garden beds that imitate the waves of the ocean and the rolling hills and mountains of the land and will feature Australian natives once fully grown. The restaurant is designed around the deep blues and greens of the ocean with a sunken dining area. The commercial kitchen in this space is sectioned by a wavy wall covered in curved timber lining of an olive green. The bar and host stand feature an amazing deep green marble and joinery which mimics the grains of the layers of earth and the tracks and paths inland. The entire ceiling of the space features an installed display of an Aboriginal artwork from the South Australian area. The cellar door features curved timber wall lining as well as the restaurant but in a deep terracotta shade. The bar now features a pink granite with copper joinery to bounce light around the room from the large windows on the front wall. This space includes minimal tables to create an intimate dining experience between patrons. However, the entire room is opened to the sky with a glass ceiling holding water which will reflect water caustics in the daylight and moonlight to imitate an underwater experience. For overcast or darker nights, there are three custom ceiling lights in the centre of the room that were based from the organic shapes in the crossroads of the paths from the concept image. The retail space is very bright with tan and pale yellows featuring custom organic and tiered displays for the sale of the featured wine from Wild Child wines, The fridge and freezers for the cheeses and oysters are off to the side so when patrons walk through the doorway, they can see the amazing terrazzo tiles and custom joinery first.
The design of this project was heavily based on the South Australian Landscape and I believe it holds some amazing beauty and revolutionary designs.