As a frequented and popular venue, Northcliffe Surf Club’s hospitality offering needed to transform to manage the increase in patrons – maximising the opportunity to capture the local community as a casual weekend destination and seasonal tourists looking for an authentic surf club experience.

Our design takes a previously underutilised interior and unlocks opportunities to streamline a high traffic venue. We opened the interior space as much as the existing structural engineering would allow, replanning the seating and providing additional private booths increase the capacity of the venue. Maintaining the existing joinery and materiality where the floorplan allowed, with cosmetic updates to the interior, enabled us to manage the scale of the project and provide the maximum impact within a modest project budget.

The material palette is inspired by the coastal shack vernacular, capturing the essence of its local context, existing materials, and new materiality that subtly satisfies tourists frequenting from larger cities. Existing and new joinery is clad with white JV board, brightened with retro leather booth seating. Wallpaper references the clubs sporting history, keeping the refurbished space relevant to locals and provides a sense of the club’s legacy. Suspended copper beer drums feature above the existing timber rafters under a backdrop of subtle perforated ceiling panels - a contemporary brewery-style edge to a beachside surf club.

Rather than a separate private function space, the extended alfresco dining area is complemented with operable doors, providing additional floorspace that the club can hire out to generate additional revenue or open to create a larger open space as part of the overall bar and café area. It’s a welcome addition in a subtropical climate, where outdoor dining is highly desired by patrons.

In line with increasing the capacity of the venue, the gaming room, amenities, and entry have also been refurbished, carrying through the bar and café scheme. At street level, the new Northcliffe Surf Club updates include a new exterior paint scheme. The new roof structure is highly visible to the public, complementing the existing building and opening the alfresco dining to the beach views and streetscape. The design creates a hub of activity at a key pedestrian node in the heart of Surfers Paradise and takes the club forward with a new casual dining experience.