Australian firm JAR Office has designed Central – a pared-back Cantonese restaurant and all-night venue in Brisbane that was modelled on the uncanny sets of television show Severance.
Set in Brisbane’s central business district, Central is the brainchild of restaurateur David Flynn, who wanted a unique space for a city lacking late-night dining options.
Rather than opting for a familiar take on traditional Cantonese restaurant interiors, JAR Office founder Jared Webb drew on unusual references, including theatres and corporate office spaces, for the interior of the basement eatery.
“We created a modern expression of Cantonese culture – one that evokes heritage through atmosphere and subtle design references,” Webb explained. “Inspired by the theatricality of Cantonese opera, we wove the theme of performance throughout the interior.”
Another important influence was the Apple TV show Severance, which is set in a nondescript office space where workers are disconnected from the world outside.
“Just like the characters in the show, guests descend into a space where they leave their ‘worker selves’ behind and step into a more relaxed, playful version of themselves,” Webb added.
The space centres around the kitchen, whose proportions were designed to evoke a stage. In this context, the chefs take on the role of performers, with their movements visible from every seat in the restaurant.
Illumination is provided by a grid of overhead lights that recall the office spaces found in Severance and many of the surrounding buildings in Brisbane City.
The illuminated ceiling also references the streets of Hong Kong’s own central business district, from which the restaurant takes its name.
JAR Office aimed to create a multi-sensory experience, evoking the intense activity that characterised this neighbourhood during its rapid development in the 1980s.
Materials such as the salt-and-pepper granite used for the monolithic counters aim to recall the glossy lobbies of 1980s corporate towers – described by JAR Office as “a subtle nod to the power and grandeur of the ‘greed is good’ era”.
A contrasting softer element is provided by fabric dividers that resemble the mesh-covered scaffolding often found on Hong Kong construction sites. These partitions, made by local textile designer George Park, offer a flexible option for separating tables if required.
The subterranean space retains original features, including walls made from rugged Brisbane tuff stone, that juxtapose with the modern interventions in granite and stainless steel.
A datum line divides the restaurant horizontally, with the majority of the project’s budget focused on the lower portion where customers interact with premium materials chosen to withstand demands of daily service.
The upper half of the space is more utilitarian, with exposed services surrounding the lighting grid, which conceals other aspects of the mechanical infrastructure.
At night, the restaurant transforms into an after-hours venue featuring a DJ booth and a disco ball that descends from the centre of the glowing ceiling.
According to Webb, the restaurant’s ability to accommodate both corporate power lunches and late-night parties sets it apart from competitors offering a standard evening dinner service.
“In a city craving late-night revelry, Central serves up the party Brisbane didn’t know it was missing,” he said.
Webb founded JAR Office in 2022 after working for a decade across architectural, interior and urban planning projects.
The studio has completed several spaces for clients in the hospitality sector, including a restaurant with exposed earth walls that was longlisted for Dezeen Awards 2024.
The photography is by David Chatfield.
