QUT Botanic Bar Refurbishment

Premis was engaged under a design and construction contract, by the Queensland University of Technology Guild to complete a refurbishment of the Guild, Botanic Bar, located in the food court at the Gardens Point campus.

The brief was to give the bar a full refresh creating a lighter and brighter space with four defined areas: dining, socialising/entertaining, relaxing and games area. This was achieved through the use of bright and bold colours in both the furniture and feature walls, as well as a mix of textures.

Scope and Challenges

One of the key features, being the operable walls, now enables the client to offer multiple event spaces for hire. What was once a dark outdated space is now bright and contemporary with modern bespoke lighting that includes dimmable functionality.

Staging

To minimise the impact on bar operations the project was staged and involved the following:

• Stage 1 – Removal of old carpet, sanding and polishing of the existing timber flooring, installation of new carpet, painting of entire interior.
• Stage 2 – Installation of the new furniture.
• Stage 3 – Installation of new bespoke lighting, joinery, bulkheads and baffles above the new operable wall steel work and the new acoustic panelled feature walls.

• Stage 4 – Was the final stage and included the installation of the operable walls.

Challenges

Key challenges included working with limited accessibility and a very tight time frame to ensure the Bar was re-opened in time for new semester. We worked with the client to create a program that could accommodate, completing Stage 1 in five days and bringing Stage 2 from two weeks down to five days. To manage the tight time frames, we closed off the far end of the bar (Stage 2) and completed all noisy and dirty works before the bar opening time of 10am. Each night all building equipment was removed and materials stored away from customer areas.