COMMERCIAL
RESTAURANT AND LOUNGE INTERIOR FIT-OUT
LOCATION
KUCHING
MALAYSIA
STATUS
COMPLETED 2018
AREA
5,600 SQ FT
PROJECT TEAM
Design Team:
ADELA ASKANDAR
TIA AHMAD

This was a fitout for a cafe as well as evening lounge area within a sensitive heritage building. The Old Courthouse in Kuching was commissioned by Charles Brooke in 1868 and completed in 1874. It was used as an administrative centre for Sarawak till 1973 and was fully restored in 2003.

The fit out for the Commons, as the cafe and restaurant was known, involved detailed documentation of the management’s vintage furniture collection and assessing where we could best fit them within the space and fill in the gaps with new furniture and fittings.

We have always envisioned an interior that was tropical yet fresh in materiality and details, in order to capture a warm old world charm in a contemporary restaurant setting.

Thus the eclectic mixture of vintage, rattan & string furniture from Kedai Bikin as well as plants, lend an almost domestic tropical respite from the busy streets outside.

Styling of key bookshelves and feature artwork by Lisette Scheers completed the overall flavour of the place.

We also had the opportunity of working with the local artisans, namely the Penan weavers, via Tanoti Craft.

We commissioned the weavers from Kuba’an Puak village to weave around timber panels prepared by the carpenters, and once woven, these panels were returned through Tanoti and sent to the carpenter’s workshop for fixing to the reception counter.