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A Concrete render curtain exposing brickwork
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In 2013 I had the opportunity to fulfil a life-long dream to design the fit out and interior of Archies Flame Grille Chicken & Burgers store in Sutherland, South Sydney. The owners gave me free reign on the project to come up with a personal style for the brand that could be adapted on many mediums and for future stores.
I created the brand identity and marketing material from the ground up, working hands on for the design, layout of the shop and assist with sourcing product and equipment for the project. Including furniture, lighting and finishing’s.
With the branding for Archie’s I wanted to make a memorable impression on consumers, the food joint required a modern logo that was adaptable in many mediums from social media, to hoarding signage to printed t-shirts and uniforms. I came up with idea of the Archie’s crown when the owners of the business told me they had named the eatery after their little son Archie. I felt the branding had to make a big bold statement that was modern, playful and purposeful.
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The Creation of the Archies Crown Wall
The main feature wall for the Archies project was an old 1970s rendered wall. Not knowing what was behind the concrete render I took a chance and hit it with a hammer, once I could see what was underneath I then made test cut with an angle grinder. My spontaneous decision paid off and it allowed me to create the now famous Archies crown logo. It was perfect and gave the store an industrial, modern city feeling in the middle of suburbia.
I carefully staged the cutting of the render wall, so I didn’t loose any of the shape to accidental cracks. To create the large crown I scaled the logo up by marking the points and then I ticked out the apexes and the straight lines by using a string line.
I found the wall render was only 15mm deep so I had to be careful to only cut the crown down to 10mm in depth, if it went through it would have cut the brick wall. I didn’t want the crown to look like it was cut out of the brick wall, I wanted it to have a heritage feeling. Using my knuckle as a guide for the depth, it helped me gauge the thickness. My next challenge was getting the circles on the crown points perfectly round. Being a major perfectionist this was a must for me to get right, seeing that I could not get a crisp round cut with the angle grinder without doing many cuts. So I went back down to the hardware store and bought a multi tool to finish it off. Then the finial finish to this part of the job was a good old hammer and chisel. Needless to say the adjoining shop neighbours were not too happy with the noise of the constant hammering!
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Finishing on the Crown Wall
With the cutting finalised, the wall was then cleaned and washed down. I allowed the wall to dry for 24 hours and once the bricks were dry I applied a clear, then applied a clear Estapol matt finish to concrete and exposed brick work – this contained any further dust spreading to the food area once the store opened and adhering to food and safety rules and cleaning.
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Stage Two Work – The Dining Bench
Originally as part of the brief the Archies owners wanted internal seating in the shop, but the area was too small. With a shop full of people waiting to order, there was not enough space for chairs and tables. Dreaming up a solution to this dilemma was fun, I sketched out a floor plan and came up with the idea of small concrete floating benches that protruded from large steel U beam that was set into the rendered wall. There were no legs on the benches and there was space between each one so people could stand in between them and have a quick burger meal on their feet. Each concrete slab had two 16mm booker rods set into the brick wall and when they dried it allowed me to mount them directly into the brick wall which had extruding metal rods creating more stability. Keeping with the industrial feel of the Archies store, I created a casual, chilled vibe for those wanting to eat on the run.
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The Metal Aging Process
Once I had mounted the booker rods into the crown rendered wall, it was time to age the steel beams. Firstly, I hit it with grey paint, then I’ve applied a rust finish from Porter’s. I found their products work best for a superior finish, next I used a watered down acid solution of methylated spirits to create the rust effect. Using metho is good because it dries out the moisture in the solution and made the activation faster. I mixed up 3 types of paint like Light rust finish, mid finish, heavy finish for the best result. The final effect is an authentic aged look.
To seal, a clear coat was then applied to finish steel beam. Next up, I inserted Flexi Neon along to bottom of the steel beam, the yellow of the flexi neon was chosen to match a drop shadow of the Archies logo. Once it all came together the end results spoke for itself.
It really was incredible to see the final store, I have so much love for this project!
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Over the years the brand has been adapted to many mediums including:
- Advertising
- Social Media campaigns
- Sponsorships
- Menu boards
- Uniforms
- Vehicle wrap
- Packaging
- Point of sale
- Merchandise designs
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A bit about Archies Flame Grille Chicken & Burgers …
Their meat and poultry is ethically grown, hormone, steroid and chemical free. Marinated with smoked salts, herbs and spices, the traditional wood-fired smoked meat and poultry is cooked in, and on, custom-built wood-fired grills and ovens. The result is a trademark-smoked taste, reminiscent of the owner’s cooking heritage and love of a fiery grill.
Archies has now carved out its following as one of Sydney’s best-known burger joints.
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Take a look & explore more progress work Archies
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If you’d like to chat about your next fit out and design – contact me on 0417 66 75 23 or email
