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Architects: Techne Architecture + Interior Design
- Area: 1945 m²
- Year: 2016
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Photographs:Shannon McGrath
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Manufacturers: Interface, INNTEC, Light project, Lysaght
Text description provided by the architects. Garden State Hotel is a superb, purpose-built four-storey bar and hospitality venue at 95 Flinders Lane.Technē has completely rebuilt the venue while preserving its distinctive exterior, itself a heritage Victorian era building that began life as a textile mill in 1896. The design centres on a large multi-level beer garden, a startling oasis in the middle of the CBD’s network of laneways. Reflecting this verdant theme, the name Garden State Hotel borrows Victoria’s century-old state title, ‘The Garden State’.
The hugely ambitious 2000 square-metre project, with a capacity for 840 guests, preserves much of the original textile factory’s sawtooth roof while opening its central bays to form a terraced beer garden that has the feel of a Victorian conservatory, a hidden botanical haven to be explored.
The contemporary architecturally designed pub is a versatile space, with different rooms and areas to support varied audiences and functions. Technē imbues these diverse spaces with intriguing interconnections and a sense of exploration for their guests. While a front bar is still likely to be a vibrant community watering hole, bespoke dining areas and beautiful private function rooms create opportunities where the pub now services the entire hospitality spectrum, from casual get togethers to finer dining and corporate events.
As well as the multi-level beer garden at its heart, the project involved the creation of a street level public bar at the front of the site and a five-level structure (four of which are open to the public) at the rear. The sophisticated Technē design creates a flow between spaces diverse in function, capacity and architectural inspiration.
The New York-inspired Garden Grill will be the venue’s main dining area and also features the Raw Bar, serving Melbourne’s freshest seafood. The basement-level Rose Garden is an intimate cocktail bar with chandeliers, eclectic antique wall décor and giant rose motifs hand-painted by local artisans. Other spaces include the Balcony Dining Room, for small group bookings, and The Observatory on the second floor, the venue’s premier functions space, which will hold up to 120 people in a light-filled room with views onto both the garden below and the city outside.
