March Studio gives George Calombaris' Press Club a ship-shape interior makeover

By Stephen Crafti
Updated August 1 2014 - 9:08pm, first published July 31 2014 - 2:54pm
Something of the maritime: The Press Club redesign by March Studio. Photo: Peter Bennets
Something of the maritime: The Press Club redesign by March Studio. Photo: Peter Bennets

March Studio has established a reputation for creating one-off, highly crafted commercial interiors. Its latest offering, the Press Club in Flinders Street, is no exception.

Previously a bar attached to the former Press Club restaurant, now Gazi, the fine dining venue brings a new level of sophistication to hospitality. Evocative of a luxury P&O cruiser, there’s a sense of escape once past the Flinders Street thoroughfare.

“We had to create a level of comfort for diners who can spend up to three hours enjoying the fare,” says architect Rodney Eggleston, director of March Studio.

The new Press Club was conceived for intimate dining. Less than 150 square metres in area (including the kitchen and cool storage areas), the dining room features sumptuous leather-covered booths, 10 in total.

“Getting the configuration and number of booths right presented one of the most difficult challenges,” says Eggleston, who ended up providing three different-sized booths, in slightly different configurations, to create the right mix and numbers for couples, as well as booths that accommodate up to 10 people.

“If each booth only catered for two people, it wouldn’t be commercially viable."

Wide-seated and separated by birch plywood privacy screens, guests can enjoy a view of the kitchen rather than the sea, via an elongated porthole-style window.

The bar, at one end of the space, also evokes the sense of being on a luxury cruiser. With a bronze mirror and brass joinery, there’s a sense of luxury designed for a modest-sized space. And like a luxury yacht or cruiser, everything has been considered down to the last detail.

The organic-shaped table mats, for example, slot beautifully together on the rock maple tabletops. And for those who prefer to have their bags and coats close by, there are built-in nooks that form part of each booth.

“There’s an enormous amount of detail to get right in a place like this," says Eggleston. "The trick was to make it appear effortless."

While polished concrete features on the floor, the ceiling is a feat of engineering. March Studio lowered the 5.5-metre ceiling to just over two metres, to create a sense of intimacy.

“The idea for the ceiling came from observing how oil congeals in a frying pan; you get these wonderful organic shapes, which are extremely lustrous,” says Eggleston, who used a series of organic-shaped brass coils on the ceiling.

These coils not only provide a treasure-trove environment, they also function as "cones of silence" (think 1960s TV series Get Smart).

“[They] also act as lighting, as well as concealing the stereos and mechanical equipment,” says Eggleston.

March Studio also used brass pipes to line the entrance to the Press Club, with the door cleverly concealed in the wall.

The yellow zinc finish to these pipes further adds to that luxurious ambience, as well as a sense of escape. “The idea was to feel as though you were passing into another world," says Eggleston. "The entrance is quite vault-like."

Part of March Studio’s brief from celebrity chef George Calombaris and his business partner George Sykiotis involved an adjacent venue titled Press Club Projects. This laboratory-like space acts as another window into the creative mind of the Press Club’s head chef Luke Croston.

Benches, sinks and a few stools to perch on allow diners, as well as the passing trade, to see how dishes are invented before being brought to the table.

“This offers another dimension to fine dining, but it’s far from formal,” says Eggleston.

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