Light Years Asian Diner banner
Project by
Year of completion
2023
Building style
Art Deco

Light Years Asian Diner is an exploration in tonality, texture and threshold: honest materiality and playful gradients were central in capturing the famed local personality of restaurant, cuisine, cocktail and wait-staff. Studio Plenty teamed up with Sarah Ellison to achieve this bold concept; an elevated departure from the restaurants humble beginnings.

Studio Plenty was approached by the Light Years team to design an expansion and renovation of their original restaurant in Byron Bay - a fun fit-out that had served them in their humble formative years. The ensuing project brief was to capture the famed playful personality of Light Years, to refine and elevate the brand to a new plane. The brands sister venues all exhibited common thematics, but it would be the Byron location that would be the jewel in the crown.

In what appears to be an overtly playful scene, undertones of sensibility are threaded through a series of dining and interstitial spaces; tonal and textural gradients, material thresholds and quaint openings give each space a distinct spatial identity. The dining experience is defined by the character of each localised composition but ultimately observed as a holistic theme, harmonised as a complete continuum. It was in collaboration with Sarah Ellison that the theme was complimented as a furniture concept, her mastery of tactility, simplicity and rational design were immense in achieving a successful outcome.

Awards and
recognition

2023
The Emerging Designers Awards
Commercial Winner
2023
Australian Interior Design Awards
Shortlist Hospitality Design
2023
DeZeen Awards
Restaurant and Bar Interior
2023
Eat Drink Design Awards
Best Restaurant Design
2023
Dulux Color Awards
Commercial Interior – Public and Hospitality
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Products used in
Light Years Asian Diner

About the
Professional

Studio Plenty in a small practice based in Byron Bay; we opt for sensibility in design over all else. ‘Plenty’ is our opposing attitude to the common state that more means happiness. Our ideology is an antithesis to this mind set, simply put, ‘that’ll be plenty, cheers’.

Studio Plenty was born late-2020, having coffee and a laugh with a mate at a small cafe, Roadhouse, in Byron Bay. Our practice was formalised in the foreshadow of our proud project Light Years Asian Diner, which would ultimately be awarded The Local Project’s Emerging Designer Award in 2023. We are a team of 3 with several exciting projects in the pipeline in Byron Bay, Melbourne and Brisbane, Studio Plenty looks forward to a bright and bubbly future.