The inaugural Eat-Drink-Design Awards have been announced, the program billed as the Asia Pacific’s only dedicated hospitality design awards.
The awards were set up by Architecture Media and AGM Publishing to recognise and celebrate the designers behind the best eating and drinking experiences in Australia and New Zealand.
Robin Boyd has received a posthumous award, while he and fellow architect Frederick Romberg were inducted into the 'Hall of Fame' for their work on Jimmy Watson's Wine Bar in Carlton, Victoria in the 1960's.
Boyd and Romberg re-designed the wine bar in 1962, when licensing laws changed.
The design included a reworking of three shops into one ground-floor dining area and a void linking upper and lower levels with high windows in the facade.
The jury said that the interior included utilitarian bentwood chairs, timber tables, white textured walls and minimal adornment and that little has changed except the original timber floor has been replaced with tiles.
"Almost classically composed, the mass and streetscape of the building evokes vernacular precedents and alludes to Italian and Greek multiculturalism, yet it encapsulates 1960s Australian "Mediterranean modernism."
" Through its sophisticated interpretation of international and regional influences, Jimmy Watson’s expresses its role as a meeting place of cultural significance in mid-century Melbourne; a shared space of sociable exchange between the “Little Italy” of Carlton and the intellectual life of the university, and a memorable focus for the literary and art scene of the city."
The Awards are assessed by a panel of jurors including food writer Jill Dupleix, restaurateur Ronnie Di Stasio, architect Roger Wood, design writer Rachel Hurst and design media Cameron Bruhn.
Complete list of winners below:
BEST BAR DESIGN
Practice: Travis Walton
Project: Pretty Please, St Kilda VIC
Photography by: Shannon McGrath
BEST RESTAURANT DESIGN
Joint Winners
Practice: George Livissianis Interior/Architecture
Project: The Apollo, Potts Point NSW
Photography: Scott Needham
Practice: 1:1 Architects in association with Grant Cheyne
Project: Spice Temple, Melbourne VIC
Photography: Earl Carter
BEST CAFE DESIGN
Practice: Tony Hobba Architects
Project: Third Wave Café, Torquay VIC
Photography: Rory Gardiner
BEST TEMPORARY DESIGN
Practice: HASSELL and Schiavello
Project: Chasing Kitsune, Melbourne VIC
Photography: Bonnie Savage
BEST RETAIL DESIGN
Practice: LUCHETTI KRELLE
Project: Adriano Zumbo, Pyrmont NSW
Photography: Murray Fredericks
BEST VISUAL IDENTITY DESIGN
Joint Winners
Practice: Fabio Ongarato Design Practice: ERD
Photography: Peter Bennetts
Project: Baker D. Chirico, Carlton VIC Project: D.O.C, Carlton VIC
Photography: Lou D'Angelo
