Shaw and Co. by Daarc Architecture + Interiors

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Australian based studio Daarc – Architecture + Interiors is transforming the restaurant industry, one space at a time. After presenting the recently completed Courtyard Restaurant and Bar, featuring an edgy design that draws you in, we are now introducing you to yet another restaurant and bar design by the creative Australian firm. Located in Townsville, Australia, Shaw and Co. takes its name after the original 1913 Hardware Store, a tribute to the existing building and its architectural details.

Shaw and Co. Restaurant by Daarc Architecture + Interiors

Image © Scott Burrows

Daarc stripped down the building to its bare bones to reveal the original architectural details, and creating an ‘industrial’ inspired design. The retro-fit of the existing space incorporates a selection of warm recycled timbers, cold finished metals, and concrete. Original newspapers from the existing building poke out through the walls creating an interesting effect, a reminder of the history behind the space. From salvaged railway sleepers, to custom tables and stools made from recycled timber, the space seems to take us back to a different era, yet stays true to its contemporary setting.

Image © Scott Burrows

My favourite quirky detail would be the rusted steel brackets that tie the railway sleepers together on the front of the bar, they weigh a tonne, but they are genuine railway fixtures and a good example of what Shaw & Co would have sold back in 1888 as a hardware and ironmongery store…I love them.

– Simone Barr

Image © Scott Burrows

Most often industrial look is associated with cold materials, and an impersonal setting, yet Daarc has managed to transform the restaurant into a social hub that seamlessly combines the historical essence of the building, with today’s sense of aesthetic and sustainability.

Image © Scott Burrows

Project description from Daarc – Architecture + Interiors

If you’d rather pop some tags off twenty dollars worth of local thrift shop treasures and you can’t understand how your friend just spent $200 on their new white t-shirt, then Shaw & Co is for you. Come and embrace our rawness… 100 years ago, “industrial” wasn’t a style, it was a way of everyday life. Whilst our day to day lives are increasingly removed from long hours toiling in factories and the ways of the industrial revolution, the décor style of `industrial’ is entering our homes and watering holes.

Image © Scott Burrows

Shaw & Co, is located in City Lane and 101 years ago it was home to Alfred Shaw’s Hardware Store. The venue gets its namesake from the original 1913 Hardware Store. The new fit-out celebrates the existing building shell, stripping the architecture back to its bones and revealing the beauty and interest of the existing framing and surfaces. Internally, the materials are predominately timber and metal, the industrial atmosphere of Shaw & Co. is softened with well-worn leather stools and sprinklings of interesting kerbside and thrift store finds. You won’t find shiny, highly polished finishes inside, that’s for your jewellery box.

Image © Scott Burrows

Instead Shaw & Co. reveits layers of history by exposing its structural skeleton with most modern additions being restricted to a selection of warm recycled timbers, cold finished metals and concrete. Shaw & Co is a diamond in the rough, with a variety of seating options and dry bars opening out on to City Lane and Flinders Street to activate the interaction between the venue and the street. Lift `em high and drink them dry…So, whose turn is it to buy?

Image © Scott Burrows

Materials etc.

Shaw & Co is a fitout of an existing hardware store from 1888, there are still newspapers from the era that have been built into the existing structure separating the joint between the concrete and the brickwork and now that the cladding has been take off the remnants of these newspapers poke out through the walls.

Image © Scott Burrows

We tried to maintain the feel of the existing building shell – we have tried to preserve and show off as much of the existing building as possible, the client was after a warm industrial feel which paid homage to the existing Shaw & Co hardware store – the venues namesake.

Image © Scott Burrows

The space was programmed to be as flexible as possible, we included a mezzanine for functions but limited the amount of fixed joinery downstairs so that the space is versatile and can cater for large events. We opened onto both Flinders Street and CityLane to create interaction between the venue and the street.

We used a restricted palette of finishes with materials that had a history (reclaimed/re-used) or had an industrial feel so they contributed to the feel of a historical hardware store. We used salvaged railway sleepers extensively – externally, internally and on the bar front – they are beautiful and soften the existing shell of the building so the space does not feel cold.

The recycled timber from Northern River Timbers is just beautiful and all of the custom tables and stools made by Coastal Building Concepts gives the “handcrafted” feel to the venue – nothing is perfect, every stool or table is slightly different which makes for a really unique feel in the space. Lighting was used to highlight the rough texture of the existing walls and we used warm Edison bulbs to colour the venue.

Facts:
Name of project: Shaw and Co.
Type of project: Restaurant + Bar
Design: Daarc – Architecture + Interiors
Team: Simone Barr
Location: Townsville, QLD, Australia
Date of project: July 2014
Client: Jamie Fitzpatrick and Wayne Greenwood
Size: 120 m²
Budget: $200,000.00
Photography: Scott Burrows
Materials: recycled timber railway sleepers, bares-tone concrete wall panelling, copper sheeting, galvanized steel pipework