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Project Description
The Summit revolves around the second-highest floor of the 48-storey Australia
Square tower designed by Harry Seidler and completed in 1968. After three
decades of smorgasbord lunches and a la carte dinners delivered to tourists and
families celebrating special occasions, the Seidler interior has been revamped by
Burley Katon Halliday (with restaurant consultant Anders Ousback) to also appeal to
sophisticated professionals.
Concept Note by Iain Halliday
This project began with a brief to reinvent the Summit without throwing the baby
out and alienating the existing strong clientele. We decided to enhance the
experience by simply tidying up the space. We removed elements which disrupted
your vision through the interior and out to the view. There were five very high waiter
stations close to reception—designed in the days when plates were cleared into
plastic bins inside the stations. There was also a series of metal screens that broke
up the room—visual junk. We got rid of all the superfluous clutter and then set up a
limited palette of colours and materials, with classic Knoll chairs. It was a real trick
to reposition the business, but revenue has gone up and the company’s inquiries
suggest that new repeat customers now eclipse old repeat bookings.
Comment by Davina Jackson
Contrary to dodgy advice from a rival restaurateur that “it’s a dog, darling”, the
new Summit is splendid. Harry Seidler has rung the designers to congratulate them
on what Iain Halliday has described as “a respectful renovation” and Jørn Utzon’s
niece, Lene (an interiors stylist from Copenhagen), was also an admirer when RAIA
marketing supremo Stella de Vulder and I took her to lunch there on her recent first
visit to Australia.
Even without the panorama rolling by (the full circle takes about 105 minutes), this
split-level interior would be impressive. Although Halliday mutters darkly about poor
joinery and “things” not right, and the management was installing a new bar after
our photographs were taken, the general sense is there of a cool, classy and classic
scheme, infused with an appropriately 1960s sense of modernity.
The striking colours and smooth materials provide the fitout’s memorable qualities.
Interrrupting a background of white (terrazzo floor, Parbury Trezini resin joinery, Eero
Saarinen tulip chairs and Harry Bertoia dining chairs from Knoll) are several dashing
jolts: a vermillion carpet (custom-made twist-pile from Whitecliffe), an arc of
metallic silver curtaining (Jack Lenor Larsen cloth from Arkitex), a glossy black
piano in the bar, some cabinets veneered with exotic (non-plantation) palisander,
and the accents of metallic and matt paint on existing walls and the lift core.
The Summit retains (as a technical fundamental) the original split-level floor
system. The terrazzo inner circle is stationary and the carpeted outer circle glides
silently around the core. (It is still just as difficult to find your table after visiting the
bathrooms as it was during the Summit’s previous incarnation.) While the window
tables on the moving floor remain the most sought-after, BKH has inserted a run of
banquettes to directly face the view from tables around the edge of the fixed upper
floor—and these improve the situation for less lucky diners.
The bar and reception area are now much more open and inviting than they were in
the previous incarnation—even informal. The food is also good, although the pricing
is as high as the skyline beyond your window.
Davina Jackson is the editor of Architecture Australia.
Summit restaurant, Sydney
Architecture Burley Katon Halliday. Structural
Engineer Steigter Clarey & Partners. Services
Consultant Donnelly Simpson Cleary. Lighting
Design Coalition. Builder Accor Asia Pacific.
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