Based on the design concept already established in the original Pound Cafe in South Yarra, the intention for Pound 2 was to create a new fresh environment and aesthetic more suitable to its home in Elsternwick with a more spacious and generous room.
Where the aesthetic of the original Pound Café in South Yarra generated the notion of a small commercial delicatessen with a big kitchen in a tiny space with stainless steel and glazed tiles, the intention for Pound 2 was to create a more domestic environment with the introduction of materials such as wall paper and floorboards. While maintaining many of the trademark objects of the original pound, such as the backlit blue resin counter and sign, tiled façade and counter, and overhead stainless steel unit, Pound 2 becomes more playful with its materials introducing black and white checkerboard tiles in the kitchen area, and an aluminium trim to counters and tables, reminiscent of the a 50’s kitchen table. The design intended to allude houses from a number of eras, including the 70’s with the backlit orange battened light to the central column, and the embossed wallpaper, very popular in the living rooms of Victorian houses.
Similar to the original Pound, Pound 2 offers a number of levels and seating options, whether it is at the front window on high bar stools, at a communal table, at individual tables, or at the bar. This is necessary to ensure that a variety of people within the Elsternwick community are comfortable and content within the space.
Project Team: Grant Amon, Mike McCleod, Beth Courtney
Builder: Marcan Constructions P/L
Lighting: Studio Italia, Euroluce
Published: Venue Magazine Issue 22, 2008
Photos: Trevor Mein
