Name: Northform
Price range: $

"One of the five must visit places in Sydney!"

Wallpaper* Magazine

"Short Black reaches for superlatives to do justice to Awaba on Balmoral Beach. The food is superb, the position unbeatable, and the design breathtaking. Open just two weeks, it sets new standards for Sydney cafés. The menu is café sliding into restaurant, and everything that Short Black tasted was elegant and immensely satisfying. But it’s the interior that leaves you groping for adjectives."

Maggie Alderson, Sydney Morning Herald

Awaba Cafe

Awaba Cafe was one of the studio's first ever projects when we were founded 26 years ago. We are proud that our design still stands today. Even with a change of owners and name, the only design element has been altered in this time is the chairs. Awaba Cafe has far outlasted the market norm in terms of longevity. It is the perfect embodiment of our belief in the classic over the fashionable and designers' responsibility to create sustainably with 'embodied energy' in mind.

Responding to its breezy beachside location, Landini designed Awaba café to capture light and views, by allowing open air access to the foreshore and the spectacle of Middle Harbour. Patrons enjoy ‘wall free’ dining as concertina aluminium framed doors fold back along the two beachside façades. A wall length mirror above the banquettes ensures those who don’t face the beach enjoy the same view.

A recessed, cast concrete bar and take away servery runs through the restaurant, acting both as a ‘funnel’ for service staff and a visual barrier to the road and the take away trade. To enhance views, both inside and outside the café, the careful manipulation of natural and artificial light was a crucial design consideration. By day, a reflective white gloss painted ceiling enhances the café’s sense of airiness. By night, up lights recessed into the mirrored wall and under the banquette illuminate the space. The rear light-wall doubles as a giant menu while dividing the restaurant from the kitchen. We designed this light-wall as ‘visual central heating’, providing an all-important view substitute at night.