two (or three) at many of the 6000-plus pubs that pepper our great
southern land today.
It has been 223 years since the country’s first legal pubs opened
their doors. They proliferated in the 19th century and, in many cases,
were the first structures to be built in newly colonised areas. In fact,
many towns were quite literally built around the pub, which typically
fulfilled numerous roles – post office, general store, restaurant,
morgue. That’s right, some pub cellars doubled as the local morgue.
Much changed over the following decades, not least the fact you’ll
no longer be drinking alongside the dearly departed. While a number
of pubs have fallen victim to social change and economic hardship, the
likes of the Newbridge Hotel hold firm as community icons. Meanwhile,
well-considered renovations are lifting many city boozers to new heights.
“The pub keeps reinventing itself, it never stands still,” says
Tanja Luckins, La Trobe University historian and co-author of
The Australian Pub. “Pubs are businesses, they change as our society
changes, with migration, with gender issues – society changes a lot
and the savvy ones adapt.”
If the size of his Merivale portfolio is anything to go by, Justin
Hemmes is one of the savviest of all. Hemmes’ empire comprises more
than 70 venues across Sydney and the crowds give the game away: a
Merivale revamp is a success story in progress.
With the hospitality trifecta of restaurants, pubs and bars already
entrenched as his trademark, Hemmes made a major splash in 2014
with the head-to-toe transformation of notorious dive, Coogee’s Beach
Palace Hotel. Now the Coogee Pavilion, the three-level beachside
venue is a hub of activity and one of its major drawcards is accessibility.
“The underlying principles [of Merivale venues] are the same,
which is really about inclusiveness,” says interior designer Kelvin
Ho, founder of Akin Atelier and regular Merivale collaborator. “It’s
about celebrating the Australian lifestyle, it’s about creating a space
where you could go on a date, you could take your grandparents, you
could go there with family or for a boys’ lunch – just creating a really“It’s about creating a space
where you could go on a
date, you could take your
grandparents, you could go there
with family or for a boys’ lunch.”
1122 AUSTRALIANTRAVELLER.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY:NIKKITO(TOTTI’S,THEROYALBONDIX2)super-egalitarian space for people.” Renowned for his unique vision,
Ho has worked with Hemmes on numerous Merivale assignments
including the Pavilion and subsequent pub projects The Newport,
The Collaroy and Queens Hotel in Enmore. He even had the
opportunity to work on his own local, The Royal in Bondi.
“It is so satisfying to go there now and feel like it still has the same
spirit, the same energy, but in a much more modern way,” he says.
“I feel that’s what people are often sceptical about with a pub changing
hands and getting renovated – losing the heritage and the character.
That’s probably the biggest part that plays on my mind, making sure
that we do a good job for the future patrons.”
Although it’s easy to romanticise the bygone era of well-worn
and much-loved pubs, there are a number of reasons many
have not survived the test of time. Andy Mullins, one fifth of
hospitality group Sand Hill Road, highlights the disregard for
female clientele as one of the major drawbacks of long-standing pub
traditions – something his team has attempted to address since its
first refurbishment, the Commercial Club Hotel in Melbourne’s
Fitzroy in 2000.
“Everything [we did at the Commercial] was designed to challenge
the convention of what we understood an Australian pub to represent,
which was still pretty ‘blokey’, filled with cigarette smoke, filled with
TVs and sweat,” he says. “Our point wasn’t to ... disrespect that, it just
felt like there was an entire half of Melbourne’s potential pub-going
market that wasn’t even considered in design.”FROM LEFT: Fresh
seafood overlooking the
beach at The Collaroy;
Plating up at Adelaide
favourite The Stag.
OPPOSITE
(clockwise from top
left): Fresh from the
oven, pizza at Merivale’s
Newport; You can now
enjoy fine Italian food
at Totti’s, The Royal
Bondi; Wedges are served
at The Stag Public
House; The rustic-chic
space of Totti’s, by
designer Kelvin Ho.