Image Credit : Sean Fennessy
Project Overview
NOLA, as it’s known to the locals of New Orleans, Louisiana is about sundrenched afternoons and kicking back and enjoying the music.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Janice Baird and Joanna Dwyer
Project Brief
NOLA Smokehouse & Bar is about embracing the vitality and hospitality of the southern American style, the joie de vivre of New Orleans architecture paired with a distinctive Sydney outlook.
Project Innovation/Need
It is a sensory journey from the minute you step into the venue. The first vision to greet the guest is an assortment of cured meats, spot-lit and displayed like precious collectibles within the arched windows of a quaint shopfront. Step further into the venue and see the vivid Creole colours of the private dining room, its shuttered façade offering connection or seclusion to those within.
Design Challenge
The idea of bringing the streetscape indoors and celebrating the saturated colours of New Orleans architecture and people watching. The best view is from the front porch - so to speak. The verandah dining wraps around the venue with a striking azure timber floor and sparkling views of the harbour. Intricate timber fretwork defines this area, providing an intimacy from the busier circulation spaces. Verdant hanging baskets and cascading plants suggest the lush gardens of New Orleans.
Beyond the colourful architecture lies the quintessential lounge bar - framed in iron lacework, a signature architectural element from the streets of New Orleans. The transition from restaurant to bar is dramatic and deliberate - creating the sense that you have crossed a threshold. The sparkling amber tones of 500 whiskeys twinkle on the abundant bar framed by reclaimed heavy timber while your drink is served on the hand-studded copper bar top. This is where one can sink into the comfortable rolled-arm leather sofas and enjoy the impeccable range of whiskeys, wines and cocktails in combination with live NOLA jazz.
Sustainability
Reclaimed brick facings and timber were used throughout.
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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