ANITA LOUISE DESIGN
Anita Justins
Wurru-Birri
Sub-Base Platypus, Sydney
2022
Software and skills:
Revit
Photoshop
Spatial Planning
Wurru-Birri at Sub-Base Platypus in Sydney is the new Australian restaurant for internationally renowned restauranteur, Dan Barber. Best known for his restaurant Blue Hill at Stone End in New York - a 2 Michelin Star and a Green Sustainability Michelin Star restaurant, Dan Barber's Wurru-Birri will create an Australian flavoured restaurant, utilising Indigenous ingredients and local produce.
The design concept of "Perspective" aligns with Dan Barber's view that people need to change their perspective on how they approach food and their own expectations when dining out.
Sustainability practices are an integral part of Dan Barber's business in New York. The design of Wurru-Birri incorporates many of his elements in a simplified format. Limited garden beds and hanging pots containing Indigenous and non-Indigenous plants, aromatic herbs seasonal produce in conjunction with a cricket farm, farmed as part of an alternative protein source, will all be incorporated into the menu as well as the Wurru-Birri private dining informative experience.
The garden provides not only a visually aesthetic experience, but also a sensory and educational one. When you brush the plants as you move through the garden, the scent of the aromatic plants lingers in the air. These plants are also used in the kitchen to create delicious meals, incorporating Indigenous ingredients and the crickets alongside other locally sourced ingredients.
Natural light flows through the restaurant by day with diners enjoying the sparkling views of Inner Sydney Harbour. At night, soft ambient LED lighting evokes a warm cosy feeling within the restaurant and diners can enjoy the changing harbour scenery as the black inky sea water captures the surrounding harbourside's lights.
The outdoor dining area in this perspective shows how guests will be fully immersed in the garden space. Guests can also enjoy harbour views while dining. There is some shading and shelter provided under the hanging plant troughs.
Materiality such as recycled building rubble in the form of concrete blocks previously destined for landfill have been cut to size and polished to create the banquet seating. Contrasting with the concrete are ethically sourced cushions selected to add comfort to the banquet seating with sustainably sourced recycled timber Muuto chairs. Many acoustic elements such as cork wall and floor coverings were chosen for both their sustainable and acoustic properties but also as a physical touch aid for people with impaired vision as they provide a textural surface to aid wayfinding within the restaurant. Pendant lighting by ACUSTICA pendants constructed from recycled PET, Buzzijet acoustic lights were also selected. Solid, textural ceramic crockery has been selected for its' sustainable properties. In keeping with Dan Barber’s ethos, no plastics have been utilised. A dehydrator composter for all food scraps, Big Ass fans for natural ventilation and led lighting are also incorporated to provide environmentally and sustainable choices for the design.
An Acoufelt textural printed wall covering covers the eastern internal wall providing an interesting visual element and an acoustic element as well.