After more than 75 years of dedicated service to veterans and the Rose Bay community, Club Rose Bay reopened last December with a bang, following its first major transformation since 1979. The extensive project was led by Merivale CEO Justin Hemmes, who enlisted the expertise of Akin Atelier for architecture and interiors, while styling was executed by the Merivale Design Studio under the leadership of Design Director Nasim Koerting. The brief provided to the team was both clear and loaded with responsibility: they were tasked with honouring the club’s legacy, modernising its facilities, and ensuring the venue stays relevant for generations to come.
What’s compelling here is how carefully the design team handled the material language of the building. Timber, brick, and textured glass are utilised as contemporary reinterpretations of the club’s 1940s architectural fabric, creating an environment that feels familiar without being nostalgic in a hollow way. The intent, as Akin Atelier Founder Kelvin Ho puts it, was to evoke “warmth and a sense of community,” drawing directly from the spirit of the classic Australian RSL. Ken Oath!
The hospitality offering unfolds across a series of layered spaces designed to guide the visitor experience. Notti’s dining room looks out over Rose Bay through cherry-stained timber partitions and amber-tinted hammered glass that throws dappled light across the room, creating a dynamic visual atmosphere. The adjoining Pizza Oven Bar picks up the original façade’s corbelled brickwork, ensuring the building’s DNA remains visible and legible within the new context.
Then there’s Mr Pop — arguably the most distinctive move in the project. Conceived as a 1950s airport lounge, the space nods to the site’s history as Australia’s first international airport. The interior features plush carpet that intriguingly folds up the walls, corduroy banquettes, bespoke cherry-wood speakers, and patterned glass lightboxes casting a soft peach glow to envelop guests in a retro ambiance.
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The sports bar stays true to the traditional RSL vernacular, featuring pool tables, leather banquettes, and chrome-edged tables set upon diagonally patterned carpet. It also incorporates solid timber tables inlaid with mahogany chess boards for patron use. Outside, the venue extends into landscaped courtyards that include alfresco dining, an Airstream bar, a full-size pickleball court, and a half basketball court — spaces designed specifically to encourage casual encounters and family use.
Perhaps the most quietly meaningful element is the memorabilia hall — a custom-milled timber room featuring integrated curiosity cabinets that house photographs and artefacts drawn from over a century of Australian service history. Each evening at 6pm, the Ode of Remembrance is read and a minute of silence observed within this reflective space. “There are so many beautiful stories to be told,” says Koerting, “and we feel truly fortunate to have been part of sharing them.” This is a project that understood its obligations early and didn’t blink.
[Images courtesy of Akin Atelier. Styling by Merivale Design Studio. Photography by Anson Smart.]
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