Peachy Keen

Sitting pretty amongst Melbourne’s bustling Swanston street, Peaches is an exciting new cocktail bar that will transport you to another time and place with its Miami-style 70’s disco vibe. Peachy hues, shiny brass accents, plush velvety booths with terrazzo tabletops and oversized greenery all contribute to an elegant yet eclectic atmosphere. Designed as a collaboration between the Dexter Group and interior designers Pierce Widera the result is fun, innovative and welcoming. The space is a reflection of the cocktail and food offering; playful, inviting and Insta worthy.

Upstairs via a ‘soon to be iconic’ pink staircase, the Peaches rooftop is all summer vibes with its pastel blue and crisp white palette. Timber decking with white outdoor furnishings and umbrellas offer a chic modernist setting far removed from its busy commercial location. Offering a garden like escape from the concrete city.

Pierce Widera were tasked with the design of all three levels of the building with a focus on the level one restaurant, Cheek, and the Peaches rooftop. It was left to the owners to embark on their passion project for Peaches; their level two cocktail bar that evolved via with a very experimental approach to design.

Earp Bros are excited to share with you some insights into Peaches when we asked the owners a bit about their love affair with all things peach.

Can you tell us a bit about Peaches Melbourne?
Peaches is a cocktail bar located on Swanston Street above Cheek Restaurant. It is
designed to be a fun irreverent destination bar. Rooftops in Melbourne are very popular and we were worried that the middle level could get lost between our Restaurant Cheek and the Rooftop, so we wanted a place that would stand on its own.

What was your brief for this project?
The brief was essentially to design a place that was fun and welcoming.

What was your design approach and how did it evolve throughout the project?
Because we were the clients, designers and builders the design was not really structured. We had a several concepts we all agreed upon at the start, but this evolved significantly during the build. There was a lot of input from the tradespeople on site and many of the ideas were decided upon on the spot during endless conversations of how to make different things work.

How did you factor colour into your design?
Colour was essentially the foundation of the design, we wanted a bar that would stand out, stand alone and be destinational. We wanted a fun, unique and irreverent vibe in which customers could enjoy a relaxed and fun night but also have a sense of occasion. The fit-out only has four colours Peach, Green, White and Gold. We went to a lot of effort to make this happen. Even the the terrazzo was custom made to match the two upholstery colours.

What were some of your main sources of inspiration?
Our main source of inspiration was the Iranian/French designer India Mahadevi. We loved her bold and unique colour schemes, where she uses a unique colour for the vast majority of a project but then accents it with a bright pop of colour on smaller items such as the stools or counter tops. We obviously did this with the Peach colour being our primary and then accenting this with the sharper mossy green.

Who is the target market for Peaches and how did you accommodate them in the design?
We have never discussed or attempted targeting a specific market. One of the venues principles is to be welcoming to everyone. We want everyone, regardless of their demographic, age or profession to feel welcome.

How did you decide to use tiles from Earp Bros on this project?
As stated above, we wanted the venue to be welcoming to all and during the evolution of the design, we felt that the venue might be looking a bit exclusive which we wanted to avoid. These tiles from Earp Bros are a matte finish, which pulled the tone into a more subtler feel. Also because they are cement, they will age and patina quicker which will suit the building. The building is very old and we wanted the fit-out to feel natural in this old building, we feel that these tiles will help.

What was it like to work with Earp Bros on this project?
Great! I ordered the incorrect amount, so had to order more and they were helpful with that. They were knowledgeable about the concrete product and advised on cleaning and sealing as well.

How is Peaches different? 
I think the fit-out and colour scheme in particular is unique. We are not trained designers and so could perhaps approach the project from a unique angle thus creating a unique space.

Peaches is located at 301 Swanston St, Melbourne 4pm to 1am Monday to Thursday and 12pm to 3am Friday to Saturday.