The Project

Stalactites has been a staple of the Melbourne restaurant scene since 1978. "As the longest established and most well known Greek restaurant in town, we were thrilled to be asked to design Stalactites' first baby offshoot, ‘Hella Good’," explains Ineke Hutter, from interior design company, Bergman & Co.

Bergman & Co wanted Hella Good to have it’s own fresh and contemporary identity, whilst paying homage to Stalactites. "In order to do this, we recreated the famous Stalactites ceiling," explains Ineke. "This time using hundreds of metres of dowel, in different lengths and varying diameters to create a more modern crisp and abstract representation of the geological feature. We carried this look down the wall with half round dowel, to extend the topographical aesthetic."

Bergman & Co divided the tiny space up into zones, using blocked colours and materials. Two thirds of the interior used pale Tasmanian Oak timber comprising a dowel wall extending  up into the cave like ceiling. Continuing the minimal use of materials, to create a seamless interior, the high eating table and stools are also made from timber dowel, making it seem like yet another geological feature.

All of this has made Hella Good seem like a fresh, stylish and appealing cave.

For Ineke, using Porta’s Tasmanian Oak timber is, "Beautiful to touch, clean, natural and warm. It is so versatile. Depending on its tone, it can be slick and sophisticated or fresh and playful."

The Verdict

VN Projects were engaged to bring Bergman & Co's design to life. "Tasmanian Oak is a good quality timber to work with," explains Scott Vail, Owner, VN Projects. "We use it in 50% of our work and find that it is an economical blonde coloured timber - which is popular and on trend."

Over 3,000 pieces of dowel were installed. “Porta’s dowels ensured a very interesting final result. We were completely happy with the timber, the select grade Tasmanian Oak had next to no defects or gum veins, and was a good quality product to work with,” says Scott.

Nicole Papasavas, Managing Director of Stalactites, states that she, "Absolutely adores the dowel timber ceiling as it is not only aesthetically beautiful and adds warmth and texture, it also is a modern homage to the original restaurant, Stalactites, which has plaster formations dripping from the ceiling."

"Dowel was the perfect material to be able to sculpt our ceiling with as it has a universality of tone and came pre made in a variety of dimensions. The convenience of the pre made half dowels then gave instant texture to our wall," shares Ineke.

VN Projects used Wattyl Spray Polyurethane, in a satin finish, to seal the end cuts.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATION:
Dowel 45mm Tasmanian Oak 3m & 3.6m | DOW45TOSL
Dowel 35mm Tasmanian Oak 2.4m | DOW35TOSL24
Dowel 30mm Tasmanian Oak 2.4m | DOW30TOSL24
Half Round Dowel 40 x 20mm Tasmanian Oak 3.6m | HR4020TOSL36

"I absolutely adore the dowel timber ceiling as it is not only aesthetically beautiful and adds warmth and texture, it also is a modern homage to the original restaurant, Stalactites, which has plaster formations dripping from the ceiling. "

_{Nicole Papasavas - Managing Director, Stalactites}

"Dowel was the perfect material to be able to sculpt our ceiling with as it has a universality of tone and came pre made in a variety of dimensions. The convenience of the pre made half dowels then gave instant texture to our wall,"

_{Ineke Hutter, Bergman & Co}

“Porta’s dowels ensured a very interesting final result. We were completely happy with the timber, the select grade Tasmanian Oak had next to no defects or gum veins, and was a good quality product to work with.”

_{Scott Vail - Owner, NV Projects}