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A rustic commercial restaurant dining area featuring custom solid timber log stools, an orange leather banquette bench cushion, and a shiplap hardwood wall paneling backdrop.

Nando’s Penrith

Telling the story of the Afro-Portuguese origin

#Australia
#Nando's
#Selected
#Hospitality & Leisure
#restaurants


Every Nando’s restaurant design represents an adventurous journey, challenging creative boundaries to deliver a hospitality environment that is rebellious, authentic, and deeply rooted in the brand’s global heritage. The interior architecture for the Westfield Penrith site rejects transient, synthetic materials in favor of an environment that feels enduringly real, natural, and grounded. The spatial layout is deliberately layered, inviting patrons to wander through and explore a sequence of thoughtful details that inject life and soul into the floor plan, ensuring guests feel completely at home while immersed in a rich, multi-sensory landscape.

The restaurant’s structural volume is masterfully divided by a monumental, floor-to-ceiling timber open grid partition screen that anchors a double-sided central waiting bench. At its base, raw shiplap hardwood planks support cushions upholstered in alternating blocks of vibrant terracotta leather and deep charcoal woven fabric, accessorized by heavy, turned solid-log timber pedestal stools. Suspended within the grid compartments are hand-woven, cone-shaped basket pendant lights that cast intricate textures across the wide-plank oak flooring. This organic warmth is juxtaposed against a bold, back-of-house service zone featuring high-gloss red and blue bulkheads and a main kitchen pass wrapped in industrial, cobalt blue corrugated steel sheets.

Honoring the brand’s ethos where creative energy and seductive design collide, the material selection relies heavily on sustainably sourced, renewable resources. The timber is real, and the color palette is fresh and unapologetic. Along the main dining axis, a dramatic, three-dimensional ceiling canopy composed of dozens of angular timber slats folds sharply down onto the perimeter walls, cocooning deep, button-tufted dark leather circular booths. Collaborating with local African crafters and artists, Design Clarity curated the space to prominently feature oversized, expressive abstract oil canvases alongside a custom, hand-painted typographic mural detailing the brand’s Afro-Portuguese origin script. The journey transitions effortlessly through an expansive bifold glazed door threshold out onto a sun-drenched alfresco terrace lined with terracotta wire-mesh chairs, completing a cohesive, texture-first neighborhood destination that celebrates raw craftsmanship and authentic visual storytelling.

The spatial layout leverages a dynamic, repeating sequence of curved booth enclosures tucked beneath a complex architectural timber framework, maximizing privacy and visual perspective within a high-density commercial dining room.

A luxury hospitality dining area featuring curved tufted leather booths, custom angular timber slat ceiling structures, solid wood round tables, and hanging terracotta bulb pendants.
A commercial hospitality interior showcasing an exploded timber slat ceiling feature, deep tufted leather booth seating, custom geometric timber table edges, and dark porcelain flooring.

The central dining hall architecture coordinates a dramatic, three-dimensional timber ceiling installation that flows down onto the perimeter walls, wrapping guests in an energetic structural canopy that creates a sense of profound enclosure.

The external architecture implements a fully operable bifold facade system to dissolve the threshold between the interior dining floor and the shopping precinct promenade, actively expanding the restaurant's active trading footprint into a bright, airy alfresco setting.

A commercial hospitality storefront highlighting an open bifold door threshold, a custom timber blade sign, wire mesh patio dining chairs, and a canvas-lined alfresco seating enclosure.
A commercial restaurant interior design highlighting a floor-to-ceiling timber open grid screen, a double-sided leather banquette bench, custom woven basket pendant lights, and large abstract wall paintings.

The central floor plan employs a monumental timber grid screen to divide the deep interior footprint into distinct dining zones, maintaining broad visual transparency while framing layered perspectives of the venue’s rich textures and custom light installations.

The longitudinal spatial layout capitalizes on wide-format architectural openings to blur the boundary between indoor and outdoor dining rooms, establishing a continuous, sun-drenched hospitality environment that optimizes seating density across the threshold.

A commercial restaurant dining floor featuring open-plan timber dining tables, wire mesh patio chairs, a long tan leather banquette sofa, shiplap timber walls, and custom track lighting.
A modern restaurant service area featuring a blue corrugated counter, a timber beverage station, high-gloss red and blue bulkheads, and linear oak dining tables.

The back-of-house service boundary implements high-contrast color blocking and industrial corrugated textures, separating the active commercial kitchen zone from the main dining floor while reinforcing the brand's rebellious, high-energy aesthetic.

The longitudinal spatial progression aligns the deep internal dining rooms with the bright perimeter storefront, leveraging warm timber overhead canopies and expressive graphic walls to create a highly transportive and continuous neighborhood hospitality destination.

A commercial hospitality interior showcasing a hand-painted brand heritage mural, custom timber ceiling bulkheads, terracotta wire-mesh patio chairs, and an open bifold door storefront threshold.