2022 Eat Drink Design Awards: Best Restaurant Design

Jury comment

As Di Stasio’s third restaurant outing in Melbourne, Di Stasio Carlton is a combinatory experiment that may never have worked, if not for the astonishing cohesiveness and confidence of the execution. Both simple and truly special materials and elements are used in pared-back ways. Flawlessly combining very old, rather old and brashly new, the venue juxtaposes striking contemporary Australian art with a seventeenth-century Italian fountain, and black volcanic concrete with original terrazzo. The blending of seamless interiors and outdoor spaces takes the visitor on a dynamic journey from arrival to bar to table, where lunch can easily bleed into dinner – la dolce vita. This is simultaneously a place that feels very special for intimate outings, and yet remains a comfortable place to take your children to dinner. A balancing act between nostalgia for what came before and an embrace of the here and now, this venue is fundamentally of its time and place. One juror described Di Stasio Carlton as “the essence of Melbourne food culture, and the soul of Carlton.” This is a worthy accolade.

Design statement

Di Stasio Carlton is the third restaurant for the Di Stasio team. Art-filled, it represents the DNA of Di Stasio but takes it into a very different shell. Customized to create a unique experience, the restaurant’s design was driven by instinct not fashion. The designers worked without precedent. Stripping back the existing shell to its bare bones, the team used this blank canvas to test, model and create an unexampled restaurant escapade. The design reused where possible and, where not, the intention was to replace with an egalitarian insertion that would equally stand the test of time. The design team retained the original 1950s terrazzo floor and filled the supplementary areas with black concrete. Each room has a distinctly different feel, flooded with colour from the three large artworks by Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay/Gummaroi artist Reko Rennie. Sculptures by Peter D Cole and Shaun Gladwell cantilever off the walls and are framed by intense spotlights.

Di Stasio Carlton is built on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people.

Project credits

Designer Hassell Project team — Di Ritter, Bronwyn Uphill

See the whole gallery of images at the Eat Drink Design Awards website.

The 2022 Eat Drink Design Awards are organized by Architecture Media and supported by principal partner James Richardson Furniture, major partner Blind Corner, supporting partners Roca, No Rock and Latitude, and event partner Stomping Ground.

The Eat Drink Design Awards are endorsed by the Australian Institute of Architects and the Design Institute of Australia.