Dining Hall, The Rocks

Dining Hall, The Rocks
© Neuman Studio
Dining Hall, The Rocks
© Neuman Studio

DINING HALL, THE ROCKS

Carter Williamson Architects

PHOTOS
Neuman Studio

AREA
0 sqft - 1000 sqft

LOCATION
Australia

CATEGORY
Hospitality + Sport › Restaurant

A discrete urban intervention reinvigorates a popular outdoor dining room in the heart of The Rocks, Sydney.

Dining Hall, The Rocks
© Neuman Studio
Dining Hall, The Rocks
© Neuman Studio

The Phillip’s Foote restaurant building has state heritage listing, but its courtyard has languished over time under an old lean-to roof that diminished its presence.

The new signature roof reimagines the space as an open-air banquet hall, a welcome addition among the labyrinth of cobblestone laneways.

The outdoor dining space lives under a vaulted roof that references the old while contemplating the future.

Dining Hall, The Rocks
© Neuman Studio
Dining Hall, The Rocks
© Neuman Studio
Dining Hall, The Rocks
© Neuman Studio

The courtyard sits at a fulcrum in the network of laneways at the rear of the old Phillip’s Foote restaurant. The old lean-to roof is replaced with a striking structure that references the pitch of surrounding roof gables in a repetition of steel trusses.

The assembly adds height and volume to the courtyard and a generous civic structure to the heritage laneways. Beneath the steel frame, timber lining adds warmth, while operable timber louvres mediate direct sun and shield from the elements.