ichiro izakaya bar, vic

Located within Burwood Brickworks – which aims to be the world’s most sustainable shopping centre – Ichiro Izakaya Bar is a Japanese restaurant with a difference.

The design of the interior for this restaurant, is a fusion of traditional Japanese design principles, together with modern western elements.

A key difference with this interior design, is, the focus on the use of sustainable materials.  All finishes went through a rigorous selection and approval process before they could be used.  And we are proud to say, the entire fit-out is constructed from environmentally sustainable or recycled materials.

In keeping with the environmental consciousness of this fit-out, recycled messmate is the feature timber used throughout.  We also utilised recycled palettes – across the upper section of the bar, wrapping the extent of the rear wall, which were painted black, in keeping with the overall fit-out design.

Lighting elements were a key factor in this design, with beautiful led illumination washing down the recycled messmate cladding on the face of the bar.  All lights selected for the fit-out also went through the same approval process, the fittings are LED, and the materials from which the fittings are made are also sustainably sourced.

Walls were finished with a specialised textural paint (all low VOC), and overlaid with hand-painted Japanese wall murals.

The tight material approval process did leave more design challenges than a standard interior design, as we had a more limited range of materials to select from.  It did not limit us in the design however, and the resulting interior design solution is not only beautiful but also environmentally conscious.