THE National Hotel in Victoria Street, Richmond, was fairly soulless before the latest renovation by Breathe Architecture. Built in the early 20th century, the pub seemed to have experienced a round of renovations every decade. "When we first inspected the place, the windows had been boarded up, with every second window plugged with an airconditioning unit," says architect Jeremy McLeod, director of the practice. "The carpet was sticky [from beer] and the plaster ceilings stained with smoke."
The clients wanted a new fitout but also wanted to activate the local strip, east of Church Street. "Our brief was to look at the immediate area, but also to make this place feel welcoming, as though it was an extension of people's living rooms," McLeod says.
The inspiration for the design came from China. "We didn't want to romanticise the mysticism of the Silk Road. We were thinking of the strong industrial presence China has today, found in cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen."
The other feature of Breathe Architecture's design was the spatial planning. "We see China as a series of smaller provinces within the one country. We've tried to break up the National into a series of smaller spaces or provinces," McLeod says. So rather than one grand gesture, there are a series of highly considered spaces at the National Hotel. The front area, referred to as the cafe, features a four-metre-long steel trestle-style table, with the top finished in timber parquetry. Distressed walls and exposed ceilings add texture and allow the original fixtures to be clearly read.
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"We removed all the acoustic tiles from the ceiling, as well as the plaster boards from the walls. Everything is exposed," McLeod says, pointing out the original ceiling with timber battens. The polished concrete floors have also been exposed, with some of the coloured dye from the old carpet showing.
Central to the design is a concrete bar, with holes and scuffs. Steel shelves, suspended from the ceiling and filled with bottles of spirit and wine glasses, form one of the few decorative elements. While most of the steel was fabricated with precision, other elements, such as the timber used for the feature wall dividing the booth seating area from the bar, was found on site - old paling fences, cut up into tiles. This feature wall also includes bar seating made from steel and concrete. At the rear of the premises is what's referred to as the Opium den, with television rather than a pipe being the focus. And with budget in mind, as well as practicality, the furniture in this space is made from plastic milk crates, covered with military-type tarpaulin.
The outdoor area was also completely reworked by Breathe. Previously there was a thatched Balinese-style hut. Now there are a series of tarpaulin-covered terraces, with the centrepiece a customised table tennis table, made of concrete and with a steel net. And for those wanting a more protected environment, there's also the indoor-outdoor function space, framed with glass, steel and polycarbonate doors. Accommodating 80 people, it's one of the dining options to choose from.
Recycling and respect for past objects is beautifully captured in the front awning. A tarpaulin from an old truck, complete with hundreds of patches, greets visitors. "It's a bit like this place, where everything appears to have been stitched together, and the imperfections are treasured, rather than discarded," adds McLeod.
Such campaigns include "Small Business Saturday," which American Express created in 2010 to help give exposure to those businesses during the busy Black Friday weekend. The idea has been embraced by Baltimore-area shops such as those in Hampden and Green Spring Station, which will offer special promotions and discounts on Saturday.
It has helped that the toy category is considered recession-resistant, said Adrienne Appell, a spokeswoman for the Toy Industry Association. Toy sales in the U.S. dipped slightly in 2011 to $21.2 billion, according to the latest statistics from market research firm NPD Group.
But "over the past couple of years, the industry has remained relatively stable. We attribute that to the fact that toys are relatively low-priced, and families will provide toys to their kids for the holidays," Appell said, noting that the average price of a toy is $8.
Sales at Shananigans Toy Shop in North Baltimore have headed up for the past couple of years, and this holiday season should be as good, if not better, said David Stelzer, one of the shop's owners.
"We're trying to find unique toys — traditional and nontraditional toys that you really can't find anywhere but here," he said, noting that "Magic 8 Balls and Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots are harder to find than you think, [when] Toys 'R' Us devotes a whole wall to the latest trend or movie. We're trying to be as competitive as possible with prices. And honestly, we offer, I would like to think, better service and a lot more familiarity with toys."
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