Hawker & Roll

Sylvia Park + Commercial Bay Auckland 

Ballarat St Queenstown 2017 

Little sister to the well established Madam Woo, Hawker & Roll sits within a relatively new type of restaurant experience where service is fast, relaxed and fun. The brief called for a space which acknowledged Malaysian street food restaurants and their easeful ability to consistently serve the gutsy dishes Malaysia is famous for to many people in a day.

Owners Fleur Caulton and Josh Emett are passionate storytellers; they want to disseminate their love of Malaysian food and culture through these restaurants. 

In the same way flavours have been transcribed from Malaysia to suit a New Zealand palette, so too has the interior. Elements have been hand-picked from those found in heritage areas like Georgetown, Penang and re-organised to invoke the same feel without being overly literal. For example, ceiling are high and are filled with whirring fans, walls are tiled up to dado height with specialist plaster finishes above and are cool to touch - an antidote to the heat of the spice.

Hand made shuttered walls and painted tiles line the exterior of the bar which protrudes from the shopfront acting as a takeaway collection point. Bamboo blinds imported from Penang have spray-painted Hawker & Roll logos and define the edge of the outside dining space. Colours are muted - as if they have been on the walls for years. Brightly coloured furniture cuts through the haze of these colours.

The restaurant transitions from very public outdoor dining areas to a busy, communal central dining space, to a more intimate, domestic scale dining space at the back.

Scope of service; Full interior architecture for Auckland sites, and assisting the owners as required in the production of the others.