Image Credit : CKH Design
Project Overview
Nestled in the late 19th century’s historic heritage building in Elsternwick, The More The Better offers a contemporary Asian cuisine in its minimalistic setting. CKH Design’s response was to create a space reflects client’s food philosophy which is about enjoying the mixture of diverse cultural flavours in a balanced way. It resulted rich textures from a combination of different materials yet minimalistic detail capturing modern Asian character within the 19th century’s historic building.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Chelsea Koh
Project Brief
This project was to create a new restaurant in an existing heritage building built in the late 19th century in Elsternwick. The existing site is located in the middle of two storeyed row of 5 shops with dwellings above, stuccoed façade with ornaments influenced by the Italian Boom Style. The brief was to refurbish the ground floor with the rear yard for fitout of an Asian fusion style restaurant whist keeping the dwelling in the upper floor. CKH Design opted to respond to the connection between the Italian influenced existing building and the new Asian restaurant. To find a linkage between the old and the new, CKH Design carefully focused on the material pallets. The exposed brickwork of the existing building works well with the unfinished plywood joinery inspired by Japanese wooden lunchbox. A narrow, slender space was a constraint to create a restaurant space however adding a bar kitchen encourages a close relationship between the customers and the kitchen staff as a part of the initial brief.
Project Need
We live in a contemporary world. It is of the moment. However, we still live in our old traditions, customs and of course buildings built in centuries ago. Contemporary does not always mean the most innovative inventions or technology we have not seen before. It can be a way we live the moment which inherent from the past or the complex of both. This project explored the ideas of linkage and the mixture.
A contemporary Asian cuisine in Australia has emerged with substituted local ingredients which makes it as part of very unique Australian food culture. The mixture of different cultural flavours with local ingredient was a key to create the spatial identity.
The restaurant still reflects the Asian cuisine that it offers but it is not featured with typical ancient Asian bamboo ornaments. Instead it is nestled in a building with classical Italian feature yet still carries its own identity with the combination of different materials bring “richness” to space. This project sought to the possibilities of adoptions and different ways of interpreting “the contemporary”.
Design Challenge
The challenge of the project was to create a linkage between the existing historical heritage building with an Italian influenced feature and a new restaurant which offers a contemporary Asian fusion cuisine. The owner Min strongly believes that the Asian cuisine is a part of Australian food culture and the mixture of different cultural food is forming the Australian culinary which is very unique. The idea of finding the linkage and to create a mixture explored from this conversation. CKH Design celebrates the mixture by adding different materials together, exposed brickwork, concrete floor, and the plywood joinery. The abundant plywood joinery with a minimal detail added a different texture to the existing brick walls, capturing the modern Asian character within the 19th century’s historic building.
Sustainability.
A lot of materials are recycled for fitout not only to create a linkage with the existing building but also for sustainable reasons. The exposed brick walls, existing ceiling fans, door to rear yard were salvaged. Recycled timber was used to construct dining tables.
Interior Design - Hospitality
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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