BROTHER ALEC

719 High St, Thornbury

Visited: 2nd February 2014

Design: When you start covering things in chrome they look sexy. Whoever came up with the idea of covering all the window panels and the panels of a very standard door with chrome, brilliant!!! I take my hat off to you. The panels alongside the black tiles, stenciled numbering and cafe name works amazingly well. The contrast between the different materials is surprisingly good.  It's like taking a horse and carriage, covering it chrome and all of a sudden these cowboys have just stepped out of Battlestar Galatica, (not the new one). It's clean, (even though it's a little beaten around) it's slick and it catches the eye. Even though the job is a little rough it almost gives references to Art Deco. The beautiful old chrome handle helps this and is a delight in the hand with its thin grip. The bold stenciled lettering is so nice. The light gray, pastel yellow and dark brown hexagon tiles work well against the cement and the light gray welcome mat with a cursive HELLO to greet you. I absolutely love the rusted vintage chain OPEN/CLOSE sign in various fonts that gives a little jingle as you open the door. The door has a squeak that feels like a favourite old corner store door, so nice to the ears. Simple trading hours keeping in the theme of stencil done on brown paper. You can't get better. The door is clean and uncluttered with a central positioning of signage. Even the Good Food guide stickers which I normally hate aren't noticeable and are pushed off to the side with some new arrival baby photos and the menu. The door had a nice slow return. There was a slight warp in the door, I guess from over the years of being exposed to the weather, so there was a slight gap. I'm not sure what that would be like with a draft in winter, but minor issue. The diagonal window and the triangle panel pillar next to the door added just another level of unique goodness.  

Door resistance: 2

Closure mechanism: Hydraulic arm

Draft: Medium

Squeak level: 3

Change return time: 48 sec

MIDDLE FISH
122-128 Berkeley St, Carlton

Visited: 30th January 2014

Design: I felt like I was entering an underwater cave coming through this doorway. You are enticed in by the rustic recycled white timbers, the retro plants, and the dark cavernous hole of the large interior inside. The combination of the white walls on the exterior, the roller door and the timber work well together. Once in the doorway you go through more treated pine that looks as though it has had a green wash put over it. The recessed door adds to the mystery surrounding the entry. Specials are displayed on the actual wooden door made from ply and welded steel. Every time I have visited this place one of the two doors have been open so I haven't had the chance to physically use this door to asses its workings. I can say from the interior looking back on the entry, the wooden box of the exterior folds back in on itself. Solid, robust, bunker-like you feel secure behind this construction, like nothing could penetrate its structure.   

Door resistance: ?

Closure mechanism: Manual

Draft: Maximum

Squeak level: ?

Change return time: 31 sec

THE OLD FIRE STATION - CAFE/GALLERY
378 High St, Preston

Visited: 28th January 2014

Design: There is nothing better than a door with a bit of age to walk through. Everything feels good about it. The sounds it makes, the feeling in the hand, the chipped paint and the worn marks from years of traffic, all come together to create a comforting experience. This was one of those doors. The bright red paint job felt like you were stepping into a fire station or an old London phone box. The multiple square glass panels gave it an almost English village pub feel alongside the red brick. I loved the old steel curved handle and the brass rectangular plating for the palm to push against. It did feel a bit cluttered with too many stickers and way too many blackboards telling you they were open. There was a beautiful rustic element to it though with the worn paint. Surrounded by what feels like half finished pillars, I think if they had taken them to the ground it would have made the door sit more solidly in the wall. There was a great squeak to it on the open that can only come form years of use and exposure to the elements. All in all, a wonderful experience.

Door resistance: 2

Closure mechanism: Hydraulic arm

Draft: Medium

Squeak level: 2

Change return time: 2.10 sec

PANACHE CAFE & CREPERIE

68 Hesse St, Queenscliff

Visited: 25th January 2014

Design: There are times when you walk through a space and you instantly feel transported back to another time period. The entry to Panache created intrigue and wonder. I was a kid entering a lolly shop, I was a teenager entering a country takeaway. 

  There was so much going on in this entrance, such as the naive hand painted specials on the blue pool tiles, the mosaic black and white checkered floor (and some random patch up jobs with multi-coloured tiles), lead light windows around the ceiling panel, the vinyl lettering and the plastic strips to keep the flies and heat out. All of this combine with the 4 socket power board hanging randomly from the roof and plugged into nothing. For some reason in this setting, in this little town and it being a creperie shop, it somehow all worked perfectly to create a sense of nostalgia. I miss the plastic stripping of corner stores and fish and chip shops. Coming through the plastic stripping creates a grand entrance as you divide the strips like Mosses. They create the feeling of short lived royalty as you enter and everyone inside waiting for their meals turns to see who has come through the door then goes back to their trash mags. The sound of the plastic slapping together as they part and come back to their original position and their snaking motion as a sea breeze flows across them, fills me with many holiday memories. Such a simple design and yet so effective.

  The door itself was a beautiful old white solid timber frame with a modest window at the top. The handle was the classic round stainless steel ball design with the push button lock on the back that always feels lovely in the hand. I could caress those all day. Let's not go there. You know the ones? You get them all the time on laundry doors in duplexes or townhouses. To add to the cliched smorgasbord there was even the, "YES WE ARE OPEN" sign hanging in the window. The one thing that really topped it all off was the sign in the front window, a before and after promise. Before, being an image of a reasonably unattractive, bucktoothed, balding character, then after you have one of PANACHES coffee's you will look like George Clooney. 

BIG CALL!

Door resistance: 1

Closure mechanism: Manual

Draft: Medium

Squeak level: 2

Change return time: 10 sec

PAVILION CAFE & BAR

50 Viaduct Rd, Warrnambool

Visited: 24th January 2014

Design: I am torn with this one. The Pavilion Cafe & Bar in Warrnambool is one amazing building architecturally. Consisting of silvered panels of wood, cement, green glass and steel that blends into the surroundings of native grasses. It's like a cross between a shipping control tower and a German war bunker. Then they go a put this door in it as the front entrance. WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY THINKING? It's not a Big 4 park cabin. Really disappointing. Also, the handle was way too low. Great if you are a 10 year old having lunch with your grandparents who can't bend over anymore. 

"Its ok Grandma, I'll get the door."

However, in saying that, the colours of the frame work well with the cement and roofing. I love the arrows and font used for  <<<SLIDE<<<  on the soft white strip. You get a good view of the interior on entry with the large windows. The sliders didn't really roll that well, it felt gritty. You get that on a beach though. This would be a nice door, just somewhere else. It lets the rest of the building down.

Door resistance: 4

Closure mechanism: Manual slide

Draft: Minimal

Squeak level: 2

Change return time: 1.43 sec

HAYMARKET PLACE

212 Berkerley St, Carlton

Visited: 15th January 2014

Design: The hidden second door. I haven't had that before. Classic Melbourne, up a laneway where you enter through a newly built cafe door that sits behind the original roller door. What do I do here? I will just have to go with the visual door. I like the idea of the newly built purpose door and the original roller is a second wall of security. Nothing really stood out with this one. It was your classic shop front aluminium black framed structure. There were two features that I thought were interesting touches. The first being the stainless steel square tubing on the handles. Not always pleasant on the hand to grip however, instead of just your usual corner weld, each corner join of the handle recessed back on a 5-7 degree angle. The second feature was the black and gold thin pin stripe that runs horizontal across the glass. Subtle, but lifts the mundane to another designer level. I really wasn't expecting that touch and discovered it by accident. I like it when you come across those unexpected surprises. Once again the sage green of the floor works with the black.    

Door resistance: 2

Closure mechanism: Hydraulic arm

Draft: Minimal

Squeak level: 0

Change return time: 1.13 sec