“TIMBERS on acid” is how Rachel O’Malley and Mike Petre describe the restaurant and brewery they designed in Matakana. And that, it is. Its interior includes, among several others: Old Man Pine, Birch, Japanese Cedar, Totara, Macrocarpa, Beech, and Pohutukawa. They are all used in a variety of ways ranging from furniture and structural through to cladding and finishes.
In many instances, saw marks are visible on the surfaces as a sort of physical representation of the name of the beer brewed here (Sawmill). On others, there are stains and accidental patinas.
What is clear, however, is that the natural material is a perfect complement to the ethos behind this eatery and its food. According to O’Malley, the idea was to have a space that is relaxed and natural but…
