At the vanguard of design, The Lounge by Bates Smart is sophisticated and stylish. However, it offers so much more than just aesthetic benefit to the staff of the University of New South Wales.
As our workplaces evolve, whether we reside at the office or at home, one thing has become obvious in 2020: we all need personal encounters. We benefit in so many ways from simply being with our peers and colleagues, and this collegiality helps fuel collaboration on so many levels. It seems that we can live without the office but we can’t live without meeting for a coffee, a meal or a drink; something to sate the human need to connect and socialise.
It’s almost as if Kellie Payne, Director at Bates Smart and project lead, had consulted a crystal ball before commencing design for The Lounge at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). The concept and resolution of the project exemplifies the idea of a specific place for UNSW staff to gather that facilitates both social connectivity and intellectual learning.
As the brief stipulated, the project would be a meeting place with a club-like atmosphere, where staff and colleagues could meet and discuss work, debate and mingle in relaxed surroundings while enjoying a quality food and beverage offering.
The Lounge is located on the eleventh floor of the UNSW library building — a space that was in major need of repair. The first step for Payne and her team was to open up the area to create a connection to the outside. This was done through the installation of larger windows that capitalise on stunning city vistas. The second step was to design an interior that is both sophisticated and welcoming. This education site doubles as a high-end food and beverage hospitality venue; within the 700-square-metre floor plate there is a café, bar and lounge, a restaurant, private dining/ meeting room and a rooftop terrace. While students have their places to gather, The Lounge is intended as the staff equivalent, complete with an excellent interior design that complements the original interior architecture.
On arrival at The Lounge visitors are met by the concierge and first encounter the bar area. There is an easy flow to the floorplan: the lounge meets the restaurant and other dining areas, which in turn adjoin the rooftop terrace. This latter outdoor space features glazed doors that open up to create one continuous area during fine weather. A refined design inclusion is the floor-to-ceiling louvered timber doors, which sit to the side of the glass doors. When required, these can be pulled across to provide privacy and warmth and are in themselves a singular decorative feature.
The outside terrace or cabana is something to rival the rooftop of any six-star hotel. With a pared back design that includes smart easy chairs, low tables, a comfortable banquette around the perimeter, cushions and an overhead pergola, this space is a consummate gathering place and even more so with the panoramic views of the city below.
Within the interior of The Lounge the material and colour palettes are co-joined; timber and brown hues marry with the forest and emerald green tones of the glass tiles and patterned carpet.