An old retail space and storage rooms at St Kilda’s Prince Hotel have been reimagined as Little Prince Wine, a contemporary wine store and small bar that makes a charming extension to the hotel’s offering.

Echoing our approach to the new designs for the Prince Dining Room and Prince Public Bar, we’ve created a new retail and hospitality venue that’s undoubtedly modern, yet redolent of the old hotel’s history and character. We opened up the available space as much as structural engi-neering would allow, providing greater amenity and creating connections, both internally and with other parts of the hotel. Furniture and fittings were introduced in a style consistent with the neighbouring Public Bar.

The material palette at Little Prince Wine is robust and utilitarian, and includes galvanised steel, natural Australian hardwoods, glossy green wall tiles and even fibreglass. The application of these materials is highly refined, and they provide a pleasing juxtaposition with other ele-ments, such as the terracotta formwork ceilings and concrete beams, that have been left raw and unfinished.

Beneath the main space, an old cellar provides an additional dining area and an extension to the retail offering. It’s been updated with a waiter station and another custom steel table, while the existing bottle storage racks and timber floor have been retained and restored.
Carefully choreographed lighting ensures that the mood here is darkly dramatic, marking this subterranean vault as a rather special place to seek out fine wine.

With the sophisticated, European-feeling Little Prince Wine now providing a more intimate drinking and dining experience than the beautiful Public Bar next door, locals to this part of St Kilda really are spoilt for choice.

Location: St Kilda, VIC
Name of Traditional Owners of the land on which the project is built: Boonwurrung Land
Year: 2020
Area: 150m2