![Interiors of The Imperial restaurant venue, designed by Alexander & Co](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/01/imperial-hotel-alexander-co-interiors-restaurants-sydney-australia_dezeen_hero-1-852x479.jpg)
The Imperial restaurant in Sydney is designed to look like "lost palace"
Australian studio Alexander & Co has set sumptuous furnishings against worn brick walls to channel faded opulence throughout this Sydney dining venue.
![Interiors of The Imperial restaurant venue, designed by Alexander & Co](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/01/imperial-hotel-alexander-co-interiors-restaurants-sydney-australia_dezeen_2364_col_2-852x639.jpg)
The Imperial plays host to a series of jewel-tone dining spaces that have been designed by Alexander & Co to boast a similar atmosphere to a "lost palace".
It is situated in the suburb of Erskineville and has been a go-to venue for members of the local LGBT+ community since 1983. However, over the past two decades the building had undergone little maintenance work and fallen into a state of disrepair, leaving it in need of a complete overhaul.
![Interiors of The Imperial restaurant venue, designed by Alexander & Co](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/01/imperial-hotel-alexander-co-interiors-restaurants-sydney-australia_dezeen_2364_col_10-852x1136.jpg)
"Something in the metaphor of the restaurant is the ability for this rawness to never feel like a construction site, but instead a theatre of colour, a visual outrage," explained the studio.
"Although the project feels immediately decorative, it is, in fact, a collection of robust building materials faced in makeup – brickwork, concrete, steel, all represented in colour and high fidelity."
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The ground floor now contains a 250-seat restaurant called Priscillas. It takes its name from 1994 comedy film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which follows the journey of a transgender woman and two drag queens through the Australian outback.
Several of the time-worn walls have been left in their found state or freshened up with a coat of white paint, while a new mural akin to what could be seen in a church has been painted across the ceiling. Dotted throughout are dark wood dining tables, illuminated by fringed lamps and chandeliers that have been suspended overhead.
![Interiors of The Imperial restaurant venue, designed by Alexander & Co](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/01/imperial-hotel-alexander-co-interiors-restaurants-sydney-australia_dezeen_2364_col_0-852x639.jpg)
Should guests want to relax in a more casual setting there are also some lounge-style areas that are dressed with gold velvet sofas and tasselled seating poufs. There is also a pink-hued private dining room, which has a sculpture comprised of strings of coloured paper dangling at its centre.
Another bar at this level, which has a crimson-coloured marble counter and matching leather stool seats, looks through gridded glazing into an indoor courtyard.
![Interiors of The Imperial restaurant venue, designed by Alexander & Co](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/01/imperial-hotel-alexander-co-interiors-restaurants-sydney-australia_dezeen_2364_col_19-852x1136.jpg)
Stairs lead to a second-floor eatery, named Up, which is finished with oversized velvet armchairs, a partially mirrored bar counter, and a multicoloured carpet patterned with geometric shapes.
Guests are also have access to a roof terrace that's anchored by a shiny gold pizza oven.
![Interiors of The Imperial restaurant venue, designed by Alexander & Co](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/01/imperial-hotel-alexander-co-interiors-restaurants-sydney-australia-extra-up_dezeen_2364_col_5-852x1136.jpg)
"Conceptually, this space is conceived as an arts social club, a public salon which references Studio 54 and distant memories of Andy Warhol," added the studio.
This year will also see the space used as a same-sex marriage venue.
![Interiors of The Imperial restaurant venue, designed by Alexander & Co](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2019/01/imperial-hotel-alexander-co-interiors-restaurants-sydney-australia-extra-up_dezeen_2364_col_8-852x639.jpg)
Brooklyn-based studio Workstead also opted for an opulent aesthetic when it transformed an old brothel in Oklahoma into a wine bar – the space features velvety benches, brass lighting and blush pink walls.
Project credits:
Principal architect: Sophie Harris
Interior design team: Jeremy Bull, Larissa Raymond, Madison Faye, Lucy Forlico, Rouda Taouk