2013 Gallery
Winner: Best Bar Design
Techne Architects for Prahran Hotel
Victoria
The Prahran Hotel located in Melbourne’s South-East is a corner pub with an art-deco façade. The new addition to the rear is a double height space with a central courtyard. The façade is constructed out of oversized concrete pipes that reference existing circular motifs and enable patrons to interact with the edifice.
Jury Citation
The striking concrete culvert facade of Prahran Hotel makes an unambiguous declaration to passers-by: this is a place to enjoy a sociable drink in a reimagined version of the corner pub. There is an unabashed celebration of Australian drinking culture in the visual allusion to stacked kegs, bottles or barrels, while the finesse of the execution in scale, spatial accommodation and construction evokes less expected references to Japanese Metabolist architecture or modernist mechanist metaphors. Like all good pubs, Prahran Hotel offers a variety of settings for different seasons, groupings and times of day, each reinforced by intelligent choices in materials, lighting and fitout: from the intimate caves of timberlined booths, to the vantage point offered by a floating concrete tub overlooking an airy courtyard. This is no gentle insertion or secret imbibing hideaway, but a bold, purpose-built piece of architecture that elevates the simple act of sharing a drink with friends to street theatre.
