The Eat Drink Design Awards have unveiled this year’s winners, with organisers emphasising the importance of celebrating “spaces where we come together as a community.”
The annual awards aim to recognise the excellence and innovation of designs within hospitality venues throughout Australia and New Zealand.
“If there was an overarching trend across this year’s entries, we can see strong evidence of the restrained and the residential. There was a shift toward more utilitarian materials, creating future-forward spaces that avoid fuss and decoration,” says the Eat Drink Design Awards Jury Chair and Editor of Artichoke, Cassie Hansen.
“However, when decoration did appear, it carried a distinctly residential touch, with some venues in Adelaide and Auckland feeling less like restaurants and more like much-loved homes. It’s in these sorts of homely spaces that we often have the best hospitality experiences.”
Award categories for this year included: Best Bar Design; Best Restaurant Design; Best Cafe Design; Best Retail Design; Best Hotel Design; Best Installation Design and Best Identity Design.
This year the Best Restaurant Design had joint winners which included Parramatta’s CicciaBella (Fiona Lynch Interior Design) and Agnes in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley (Amok).
Sweeping up the title for Best Bar Design and Best Retail Design is Melbourne’s Little Prince Wine (IF Architecture) who were recognised for both retail and venue spaces.
Another Queensland victor is Brisbane’s Industry Beans ( Platform and DesignOffice) who won Best Cafe Design, while Best Identity Design was awarded to restaurant Hazel in Melbourne (One & Other).
The competition’s landmark venue is Darlinghurst stalwart, Bill’s Darlinghurst, which has been inducted into the Eat Drink Design Awards Hall of Fame.
Image Credit: Agnes Brisbane