All Meat & Wine stores take their inspiration from Africa, whilst staying grounded within each site’s unique Australian surroundings. All of them take inspiration from the various cultures, the traditional architecture and pattern making, the romance and the nostalgia. There is a concept widely known as the spirit of Ubuntu. Ie giving and sharing and this is something that we try very hard to capture in each store. The menu and food offering talk to this idea of sharing by the way the menu is designed and the spaces within the restaurant echo this in the stores are laid out with many areas conducive for getting together and larger groupings. To this end, each store has its own interpretation of a “Boma”.The word Boma is used by many languages in Africa and is a term used to describe an enclosure for the safety of people and livestock. It’s also a place for storytelling and the coming together of people. In meat & Wine, the Bomas are all Private or Semi-Private Dining rooms or areas where larger groups can gather and are interpreted differently for every Meat and Wine store. In this particular case of Adelaide, you can see them in the heart of the store, represented by beautiful knotted and hand weaved rope installations.

We have gone to great lengths to curate a multitude of spaces that will each represent different experiences to different people across different dayparts. As the store has a very limited shopfront, with most of the store removed from natural daylight, we made the conscious decision to turn this into an advantage by curating spaces very where surprise and delight will transport the patrons to a rich tapestry of African Inspired Interior Architecture. For this site, we have developed a beautiful central art installation of woven and knotted rope that will also double up as 4 semi-private dining rooms. These are based conceptually on the idea of an African “Boma”, a safe place traditionally constructed in woven twigs or branches. The brightly hand-dyed rope is also used to separate the holding bar from the main dining area but still allow dappled light to transfer between spaces.

It is always great however to work in these heritage structures as they have a patina and sense of history and tactility not found in any modern structures. As humans, we are drawn to them because they are irreplaceable and unique. There is a sense of nostalgia and belonging in a space touch by time and a rich tapestry of real stories. They all represent different challenges, but they also all seem to bring out the best in us when we search for the solutions that would be most befitting and respectful.

Design Team:
Callie van Der Merwe
Roberto Zambri
Calvin Janse van Vuuren

Client: Seagrass Boutique Hospitality Group