Hearth Restaurant & Lobby Bar at The Ritz-Carlton

‘Hearth’ is where fire, the West Australian Kimberley, and the elegance of the Ritz-Carlton brand meet – an iconic river-front all day dining restaurant and lounge at the lobby of the Ritz Carlton in Perth’s Elizabeth Quay.

The design takes patrons to the ‘theatre of food’, Hearth places fire at the focus of its culinary experience. A custom built, two-metre wood-fired grill and an entry fireplace take centre stage. A harvest table hosts the continental breakfast and transforms into a mise-en-place station for lunch and dinner service. It’s an opportunity to showcase hero ingredients and celebrates local producers from Western Australia’s Kimberley to the Great Southern regions.

Opening out onto the Swan River, the venue is subtly luxurious with a European edge, coping equally well when it transforms from a day to night venue. The lobby bar at the opposite end of the venue to the restaurant is a gentle invitation in, elevating a traditional Australian hotel lobby into an experience akin to the great hotel bars of Europe.

Collaborating with the Ritz-Carlton’s Hong Kong based hotel F&B designer, AND Associates, our design team translated the concept design for the venue through to design development and delivery. This partnership ensured The Ritz-Carlton’s brand and guest experience remained consistent throughout its portfolio of international hotels while localising the interior concept to subtly meet the Australian vernacular.

Having managed the hotel architecture, our design team also led the design and delivery of the back-of-house food service areas, including food delivery locations, room service kitchen, production and banquet kitchens, and commissary. Supporting the late design finalisation for the venues’ interior required agility in sourcing fittings and equipment with short lead times in a challenging market.

The base building design enables flexibility for the interior planning to occur late in the buildings’ construction phase, ensuring the resulting design was uniquely positioned to forge its own path against the F&B venues populating the developing Quay precinct.