PROGRAM_ Hospitality
CLIENT_ S.Kyprianou
AREA_ 700SQM
STATUS_ Complete
CONTRACT_ Interior
CREDITS_ Assoc. K.Ma, C.Huang with Woods Bagot
The given arena is perched one level above the Brisbane River in a big boys’ playground of restaurants and plazas that runs between swanky office towers. A boardwalk curves around the river not far from its base, and views to the water, Story Bridge and Kangaroo Point Cliffs can be enjoyed from its 180-degree wraparound balcony. A remnant and distinctive “big top” domed roof crowns a circular room at the riverside edge and connects to a semicircular street-side room at the rear via a straight, bridge-like entry area.
The design team exploited the anthropology of connecting the three main spaces through a two-metre-wide ribbon of steel that snakes its way along the ceiling from front to back. Associate Kay Ma compares it to a cowboy’s lasso.
“The lasso is the big idea,” says Kay. “It’s the narrative of the whole piece. The ribbon was always going to make or break it.” This “big move” of winding steel ribbon was endorsed by the client, the Kyprianou family, who also managed the project. Their previous Pony fitouts (by other design firms) in Sydney’s Neutral Bay and The Rocks had honed their requirements and knowledge.
Finding a good steel fabricator to create the piece was essential, and ARTEC resorted to the traditional skills of a blacksmith for this and other welded elements.
The organic lines of the iron gates of Antoni Gaudi’s Casa Milà were a constant inspiration for the luscious curves that make their way around the ceiling space and transform into the typography of the curly ends of the word “Pony” on menus and signage. But for all that, John insists the branding came only after the search for authenticity through the food and the culture of the place. “There’s nothing worse than looking ‘themed,’” says Kay, whose strategy embraced “relaxing a bit … and not attempting to ‘style’ everything.”