Project Winner

When the Orange Room opened in the hip Guvernment nightclub complex in 1998, the design theme was Cubism meets the Sixties. Its most recent iteration might be dubbed electric fuchsia meets black, for the original citrus colour scheme languishes under recently installed layers of mirrors, mosaic tiles and chrome laminate.

Patrons enter the Orange Room through the entrance tunnel, a black and chrome-clad corridor with orange-fuchsia painted MDF slats. The tunnel culminates in a deejay booth clad in polished chrome laminate, where the turntable-spinner floats above the partying crowd.

The bar is covered in retro mosaics patterned after textiles by Sir Paul Smith, British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s favourite fashion designer. The mirrored backbar reflects the antique brass chandelier hanging above the deejay booth. Above the bar, go-go dancers gyrate on a platform concealed behind black velvet drapery. Dance-floor patrons seeking a modicum of seclusion can repair to banquette seating sheltered by a metal canopy with random-sized gaps that give glimpses of the happening scene. A custom-made beaded chandelier illuminates the dance floor with a sunset-pink glow.

Bullock: I’m not sure what’s a solid object in these photos and what’s not, which testifies to the mind-bending properties of the design.
Daoust: Those cut-outs in the enclosed area look like mirrored laminated strips. That’s inventive.
Drobot: Here is an exciting integration of lighting in the space.