Light Years
Studio Plenty and Sarah Ellison have done it again. After their Byron Bay success, the design duo tackled Perth’s CBD with Light Years Asian Diner, nailing the tricky transition from coastal cool to city sophistication. The brief was clear but challenging: create something that works for tourists, locals, and the corporate crowd. Not easy when you’re dealing with a heritage building that feels more like a cavern than a cosy dining spot.
The lighting strategy tackles that natural light problem head-on. Instead of fighting the darkness, they’ve embraced it, creating what they call “a harmonious gradient of light to dark, from open to intimate.” Smart move. What really impresses is how they’ve solved the acoustic challenge. Big spaces usually mean loud spaces, but somehow they’ve achieved “gentle conversation levels” throughout. That’s the mark of designers who actually understand how people use restaurants. Studio Plenty’s philosophy – “that’ll be plenty, cheers” – runs through every decision here. No excess, no showing off, just thoughtful design that works. The result is a venue that feels right whether you’re grabbing lunch with colleagues or settling in for a long dinner.
📍BYRON BAY / NOOSA / BURLEIGH / NEWCASTLE / PERTH