Overview
The holy trinity of a successful hospitality venue is food, drink and fit-out — though nailing this trifecta is no easy feat. Australasia's 2018 Eat Drink Design Awards covers the interior element in a celebration of hospo design across Australia and New Zealand in eight categories: best restaurant, bar, cafe, hotel, retail space and temporary installation (pop-up).
Victoria (and more specifically Melbourne) is the clear winner this year — snagging five of the eight awards, plus additional commendations in seven categories. Birregurra's luxury farmstay Brae Restaurant Accommodation won Best Hotel Design (Six Degrees Architects); Melbourne CBD's tiny Japanese den Ishizuka won Best Restaurant Design (Russell & George); Fitzroy's heritage cafe Bentwood won Best Cafe Design (Ritz & Ghougassian); Yarra Valley's Chandon Australia — a tasting room and boutique – won Best Retail Design (Foolscap Studio); and Swanston Street stalwart Cookie was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The 2018 Best Bar Design went to Adelaide cocktail bar Malt & Juniper (Sans-Arc Studio), and Canberra nabbed a win in the Best Installation Design category for Pop Inn — a mobile wine bar (Daryl Jackson Alastair Swayn Architects).
While Sydney did not come home victorious, the city did receive a good number of commendations, including two for Barangaroo House, which earned commendations in both the best bar and best restaurant design categories. The Imperial Erskineville and Edition Haymarket also received best bar design commendations and Fonda Bondi received a best restaurant design commendation, too. In the best retail design category, Little Bonny's received a nod, which was designed by famed studio Luchetti Krelle (Manly Greenhouse, Terminus Hotel, Banksii, Acme).
Luxuriate in the sleekness of the top designs below.
For the full list of winners and commendations, head to the Eat Drink Design website.
Images: Ishizuka by Felix Forest, Brae by Trevor Mein, Chandon Australia by Tom Blachford, Bentwood by Kate Shanasy, Edition by Trent van der Jagt, Barangaroo House by Kitti Smallbone, The Imperial by Trent van der Jagt, Cookie.