Aligning with the hotel group’s French origins and seeking to unite the cities of Adelaide and Bordeaux, both renowned for wine and churches, Garcon Bleu is modelled on a 19th century Parisian brasserie, with timber panelling, mosaic tiling and salon hung art. Spanning the entire 9th floor, the restaurant is impressively fitted out; the warmth and grain of timber veneer balanced with marble, glass and polished metals; panoramic views of Adelaide and the Hills beyond adding to the sense of opulence. Generous and spacious, the restaurant ceiling hovers above 4m high walls finished in full height custom stained oak veneer.
The selection, sourcing and authenticity of the timber veneer was a vital factor in bringing the design to life. To coordinate with the selected French parquet floor, EG worked with Sofitel’s’ developer Palumbo to create a custom stained oak Woodwall which matched perfectly.
Sourced from over 4m long logs and sequenced matched, the flexible and paper backed WoodWall veneer allowed the crafting of perfect joints not possible with other forms of timber veneer. Pre-finished with a timber polish, elegant solid timber mouldings were added and stained to match the WoodWall creating a traditional fielded panel aesthetic.
The ease of application was combined with clever detailing to conceal service corridors and fire doors. As well as being the most cost-effective way to achieve a fully timber lined environment, the lack of space taken in traditional framing and substrates, significantly added to the floor area available for both circulation and FOH functions.
Unlike many timber panels systems, WoodWall is Group 1 Fire-Rated, making it perfect for all commercial applications.
A holistic, quality veneer with a perfect polish finish, defect free in sequence-matched runs, WoodWall is the most sustainable of our timber resources, using less than 3% of the timber used in a traditional panelling project.
Project: Garcon Bleu, Sofitel Adelaide
Design: Palumbo
Photography: Dave Ascoli