Award of Merit:

Russell & George for Society

Russell & George was created through the merger of the multi award winning businesses of Ryan Russell and Byron George Architects. The goal of the practice is to create design solutions that extend thresholds and blur the line between different fields of design practice. This creates a dialogue between people and the places they inhabit and engage with. In this way interiors become urban design schemes, industrial design works become art pieces, and architecture can become as singular and functional as industrial design pieces. We treat every space as a unique opportunity to reveal the hidden personalities and goals of our clients and/or their businesses. This is a fairly eclectic and sometimes difficult approach but it is one that constantly reinvigorates and reinvents our design view and process. Both directors are heavily involved in design advocacy and work with design and architecture bodies both in Australia and around the world, including a recent invitation to be keynote speakers at the Malaysian Interior Design Conference.

About the Project

Society is a space that is designed to invite you back again and again. Considered as a series of interconnected chambers, the transitions between the rooms are as important as the rooms themselves allowing patrons to be drawn into the next space & explore the next experience. 

All rooms at Society are designed to become a permanent fixture on the Australian and global dining scene. As a spatial experience it continues the tradition of Melbourne Great Rooms, like the ballroom at Flinders Street Station or the NGV Great Hall. 

Spanning over 1600 sqm across 2 levels the spaces include the Society Dining Room and Terrace overlooking Exhibition Street, a main lobby bar and lounge, a walkthrough wine cellar for 6000 bottles, a new pavilion custom built by the designers to house a euro centric bistro style offering and external terrace overlooking Collins Street, 3 private dining spaces and auxiliary spaces space for kitchens and back of house operations. 

Society is "establishment" - but it also mocks establishment. It's timeless and luxurious yet relaxed and approachable. It’s designed as an extension to the city of Melbourne, allowing patrons to drop in and out of for a quick lunch or a more grand celebrations. It is designed to be fundamentally convivial. 

The rooms are contemporary but have a sense of always being there, which is about proportion and scale, creating a feeling of permanence, and the weight of history. From the main bar, which is designed to look like it's carved out of a single piece of stone, to the manipulation of scale with curtain and drape in the main dining room. The design merges a variety of aesthetics from art deco, art nouveau, mid-century & brutalism to create a future contemporary design language of luxury & timelessness. 

The restaurant has been designed as a series of chambers and spaces, heavily layered, that evolve and transform the experience as you move through them. Using lines to draw the eye to different points, it's a sweep of geometry that leads the eye and then the room transforms around you via the movement of the patrons as they navigate the chambers or sit and dwell in each area. These geometries were derived from Helmut Newton’s iconic imagery of Grace Jones as a stylistic starting point and to maintain a global focus for the aesthetic of the restaurant rather than a locally derived one. 

Designed as complete bespoke work almost all elements including tables, all banquettes, the lounge armchairs, the chandeliers and light fittings throughout the project have been designed by the designer. This rare opportunity to have such a vast impact on the curation of an interior atmosphere makes this project a standout.

Category: Place

Designers and Project Team:
Byron George, Director
Ryan Russell, Director
Caitlin Ripper, Associate
Rimgaile Fletcher, Designer