Ben and Maria Kraus, founders of Bridge Road Brewers, had opened their original Beechworth brewery in 2006: a repurposed Gold Rush-era coach house that was every bit of its country town locale. For their first Melbourne outpost, in trendy East Brunswick Village, the beermakers wished not to simply transpose historic Beechworth into a brand new context – rather, to approach Bridge Road Brunswick as an opportunity for a fresh start. The venue has has been rendered in technicolour by Studio Y, who worked with local artists and suppliers to create a vibrant new look for the brand.
Bridge Road Brewers gave Studio Y carte blanche to design a venue that fulfilled all of their aims. Studio Y channelled the neighbourhood’s arty vibe, engaging with local artists to provide colourways and commissioning renowned street artist Drez to paint the chromatic mural and gradient beer taps that are centrepieces of the venue. Colour is boldly utilised throughout the space – the primary palette of orange and blue, exact opposites on the colour wheel, comes together with vivid impact.
Forgoing the walnut tones and ornamentation of Beechworth, Studio Y opted for more contemporary materials: pale wood; minimalist, blocky tables and chairs with brightly-hued leather upholstery; steel accents; and hand-painted finishes, such as the Drez mural and rainbow beer tap wall. Meanwhile, liberal use of orange evokes the red brick construction of the original location.
The design also needed to integrate Bridge Road’s working brewery into the venue floor, which dispenses beer to the thirty taps at the bar. The large gleaming silver tanks and fermenters were sectioned off behind discreet glass panelling, allowing them to function as a feature while clearly demarcated from the consumer section of the venue.
Finally, Studio Y had to respect the unique considerations of the site and assimilate the venue into the uniform East Brunswick Village precinct, with its distinct urban residential look. Bridge Road’s colour palette ties in with the brickwork frontage of EBV, while its use of pale wood and indoor plants echoes the overall look of the precinct.
Materials Used:
1. Rustic Upholstery: InStyle
2. Narrow Reeded Glass: Spectrum Art Glass
3. French Navy Laminate: Laminex
4. Pine Mouldings: Intrim
5. Indigo Marble: G-Lux
6. Inax Yuki Wall Tile: Artedomus
