Decorative Metalwork for Locali by Romeo's by Di Emme

Metalwork and Murals at Locali by Romeo's 388 George St

Locali by Romeo's is a European-inspired food hall on the lower level of the redeveloped 388 George St in Sydney's CBD. Loopcreative designed the 1600sqm space comprising a supermarket, florist, deli, sushi station, wine room & bar, bakery, pizzeria, and restaurant. For eating in, they added counter seating and casual dining near each gourmet offering.

The restaurant and bar area has cylindrical support columns plus curved counters. The curve motif is repeated in the furnishings and other details like the rounded copper hood that defines the open kitchen. Loopcreative briefed Di Emme to design and construct the copper hood. With copper being prohibitively expensive to meet budget, Di Emme elected to fabricate the hood in aluminium and add a painted finish.

The compound rounded corners presented the greatest challenge. Di Emme commissioned a metal spinning company to produce aluminium hemispheres to form the rounded corners. Then Di Emme's inhouse artisans fabricated the hood in their Leichhardt workshop incorporating the spun metal. Once painted and installed, the hood appears as copper to even to a discerning eye. Di Emme needed to be flexible and responsive given the tight design-and-construct timeframe, changing measurements, and the late addition of a stormwater pipe that needed to be accommodated.

Di Emme was also involved in creating the regional Italian scenes beside the escalators and behind the registers at Locali by Romeo's. Di Emme worked with a Loopcreative graphic designer to develop a stencil mask to guide the hand painting of the murals. The monochrome mural subtly fades in and out to accommodate the Locali signage.