Winnifred’s

What started as a dream for a small Champagne Bar to showcase the growers of the region has evolved into something so much more. After a two-and-a-half-year design and build, Winnifred’s is just eight days away from opening to everyone – and it wouldn’t have been possible without the inspired creativity, skill and expertise of the TSA team. We caught up with Tim Stewart, Rick Banaszcyk & Allison Campbell to find out the story behind the architectural design and interiors of Winnifred’s.

 

 

Tell me the story of Winnifred’s, how did it start?

Tim: It started with Megan coming to meet us for the first time, telling us about her vision and what she does with the growers in Champagne, bringing them into Australia, and about having a place to represent those growers, and showcase them.

You’re known for amazing residential design, why did you take on Winnifred’s as a project?

Tim: We don’t do too many commercial projects, because they don’t have the same level of ownership by the client. But for Megan, the passion and the brief, the approach was very similar to a residential project because she was so invested in it, so determined that the outcome was going to be right, that we were going to put the time and effort into doing it, and that’s what appealed to us.

 

 

Was the design and build a challenge?

Rick: I don’t think this building was ever originally envisioned to have a hospitality use. It was a workshop, so there was a raft of functional flaws we had to overcome before we could overlay the highly detailed conceptual design.

Where did you begin?

Tim: One of the first things we did, was add the awning, the first move of concept design. Most people would think we would start inside because it’s a bar and restaurant, but we added the awning – and screening – to give it a sense of being part of the street – to make it appealing and welcoming.

Rick: I love the brick screen, full credit to the bricklayers and steel fabricators – it’s incredibly well-built. It gives the building a very different feeling from the street and creates a much more civic presence. It also screens and filters the light through into the event rooms upstairs. Tim spent a lot of time working with the lighting teams giving the screening the appearance of a ‘brick lantern of sorts’ with a soft warm glow. That contributes a unique look to the building at night.

There’s also a lot of functional servicing that sits on the roof for the venue – and the brickwork screens that from the street. It’s aesthetically beautiful, but also practical.

 

 

Tell us about the interiors

Rick: I think while this a hospitality building, our experience in private residences gave us a good understanding which materials would create different moods in different spaces. Megan was very trusting with us and gave us the freedom to use new materials and offer up suggestions of what would be unique for the building – so credit to her for allowing us that freedom.

Allison: The idea was not to try and recreate a French style place, but to use natural materials to give a nod to that feeling of being in France.

The tiles upstairs are a natural limestone in two different formats. Large in the blue room, and then in the main private event space, the white room, in the herringbone pattern – the same material links the two spaces, but they’re different.

Rick: Walking through the finished venue, it’s evident that that each of the different rooms does have a distinctly different feel to it and I think that’s a credit to Tim and Allison: for their materials selections and understanding which combinations work best in the space.

Have you got a favourite room?

Rick: I really love the courtyard extension we’ve created for the original building, the entry sequence of walking along the path, through the courtyard garden and into the foyer void space really sets the building apart.

Tim: The Champagne Bar, with the large portrait awning windows that open out to the Champagne Garden. We spent a lot of time striking the right balance of inviting, but also intimate. It feels like a great celebration space with the emerald-green granite bar offset by the layered copper skirting, and lighting that makes each seat feel unique, rather than one of many. The subtle acoustic ceiling in burgundy lets you to have a conversation in a busy space without having to raise your voice. Every detail is considered – even the Sia bar stools by Tom Fereday have a backrest that pivots to provide support.

Allison: I think for me it’s the too often overlooked spaces. Every time you go to a beautiful restaurant, if the amenities haven’t had the same design consideration, you lose the uniqueness of the experience. So, we’ve really thought about all the finishes – everything coordinates, everything matches, they are also a unique part of the building.

 

 

Winnifred’s really invites exploration, its layered and intriguing. Why?

Tim: The building really wanted to reflect the story of Champagne and the craft of the makers. The learning experience I had with Megan was that while Champagne is a craft steeped in tradition, the growers that Megan works with, many of them are a new generation, younger people looking to develop something new, to innovate.

But still with a sense of producing an incredibly high-quality product through the skill that they have in their craft. So, we understood that this building isn’t trying to be French, or reflect French style, but each room is crafted individually, in the same way the growers craft Champagne to reflect the geography and soil from their unique location.

There’s a layering and complexity in the building, just as there is a layering and complexity that comes with the making of the Champagnes that Megan brings to the venue. Each space at Winnifred’s responds to its place in the building.