Central by J.AR Office | ArchitectureAu
It’s not often a restaurant bears close resemblance to the set of a psychological thriller TV series, but in the case of J.AR Office’s fitout to Central restaurant, visitors cannot help but query whether they are in a scene from trending show, Severance. Leaving the corporate towers above and descending into Brisbane’s belly, this seductive basement-level restaurant activates a cave-like tenancy that sits hidden under the city’s skirt. Merging 1980s corporate-core with the essence of a late-night basement party, the seductive new venue plays with texture, light and an ethereal sense of mystery.
It is universally known that seemingly ‘tacky’ interior decoration items are a tell-tale sign of a good Asian restaurant’s authenticity. Complete with fish tanks and a disco ball, Central is no different. Well … perhaps it is a little.
“Central is a bustling multi-sensory experience that channels the rush and vibrancy of a city coming-of-age,” shares director of J.AR Office, Jared Webb. Much like the streets of 1980s Hong Kong, sensory elements such as sight, sound and smell were all key drivers in choreographing the architectural experience. It is also a “shoutout to the suits that typically occupy restaurants located within Brisbane CBD, the office floor plates that loom above, and the downtown business district of Central in Hong Kong,” says Webb.
Designed to serve both the 9-5 crowd and the 5-9 ones, the interior is built to shift between dining and social modes. The kitchen-come-stage has an inbuilt DJ booth and all seats are laid out in the style of the theatre, facing the DJ booth and kitchen. Dimmable ceiling panels allow the venue to set the mood, and “when the concealed disco ball drops, you know it’s party time,” says Webb.
The venue needed to be robust enough to host a “high turnover of raucous crowds – and hose it out” after, notes Webb. Each material selection was driven by this requirement, while also embodying “an underlying reference that was intrinsic to the overall scheme,” Webb shares.
Deliberately leaving the upper half of the space unlined allowed J.AR Office to prioritise spending money in areas customers interact with; exposed services and lighting upstairs also helped create a spatial contrast to the environment below. “New and existing [elements] are demarcated by a precise execution of materiality,” says Webb, sharing how their approach to the upstairs area was “a reinterpretation of the ‘greed is good’ era of corporate lobbies.”
Additionally, the very deliberate decision to leave exposed the existing Brisbane tuff and sandstone walls across the project celebrates the heritage nature of the existing building. Nods to traditional mesh scaffolding are also embraced, further adding to the back-door Hong-Kong laneway experience. Paired with soft textile drapery by local textile designer, George Park, the interior embraces a textural dance that is both playful and sophisticated.
A series of monolithic salt-and-pepper granite plinths and raw stone basins further build on the natural stone walls of the tenancy. Stepping in levels, the central bar and tiered seating bays lay the bones for the layout, along with a series of additional objects that Webb claims “inform the ‘set design’ and performance,” that takes place within the venue.
The proportions of the kitchen were designed to mirror those of a Cantonese opera stage. Taking cues from this allowed Webb to ensure “all seating styles captured sightlines to the kitchen, [facilitating] a continual reference to the act of performance.” This project was about “expressing culture through the atmosphere and subtle references to heritage,” he explains. It “reframes interior design practice from decoration to a storytelling medium, opening culture and tradition to wider audiences,” beyond simply providing a culinary experience.
J.AR is known for “projects that typically prioritise a connection between the interior and the street, or a particular outlook,” explains Webb. However, this venue was entirely isolated from aspects outwards, challenging the Queensland-based architecture practice to work unconventionally. J.AR realised very quickly that it “was about creating its own atmosphere instead of borrowing.” When paired with a unique series of references, the resulting restaurant is an experiential retreat from the external world.
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