Transforming a Heritage RSL Dining Room with Artificial Greenery - Mess & Barracks, Ararat

Transforming a Heritage RSL Dining Room with Artificial Greenery - Mess & Barracks, Ararat

Key Info

Client: Ararat RSL Sub-Branch Inc
Market Sector: Clubs & Hospitality
Project Classification: Simple
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The Vision

Mess & Barracks, the dining and bar venue operating within the Ararat RSL Sub-Branch's heritage-listed building on High Street, was undergoing a full interior fitout. The design brief called for artificial greenery that could bring warmth and a garden-inspired atmosphere to a space defined by its raw architectural features — exposed brick walls, soaring timber columns, and deep forest-green joinery - without the ongoing upkeep demands of live planting in a busy regional hospitality environment.

Evergreen Walls was engaged to supply and install a commercial artificial plant solution across multiple zones within the venue, delivering cohesive, lush greenery that would perform long-term with zero maintenance.

The Process

The scope spanned four distinct installation elements across the full venue, each designed to feel connected as part of a single botanical interior.

Column wrapping formed the backbone of the install. Trailing artificial pothos and ivy were layered densely around five structural timber columns, cascading from ceiling height downward to create the impression of natural climbing growth. Each column was treated individually to ensure balanced coverage and consistent drape from every angle throughout the dining room.

Above the bar, a large-scale ceiling canopy was installed - a dense overhead cloud of mixed trailing greenery suspended directly from the ceiling structure. This feature anchors the bar zone as the visual heart of the venue, drawing the eye upward and reinforcing the garden-in-a-room atmosphere.

Adjacent to the entry, a feature wall installation was created using dense trailing pothos and ivy, massed along the top of the wall and allowed to cascade downward in organic layers — framing the host station and setting the tone for guests arriving into the space.

On the exposed brick dining wall, a cluster of Planter Discs - supplied in small, medium, and large - were grouped organically to form a botanical wall sculpture. A mix of ferns and trailing pothos within the discs plays off the raw texture of the heritage brickwork, creating a layered focal point in the quieter dining area.

The Result

The finished venue is a cohesive, immersive interior where artificial indoor plants feel like a considered design material rather than an afterthought. The greenery reads differently from every part of the room - as overhead canopy at the bar, as living columns through the dining space, as a welcoming wall feature at the entry, and as a textural accent on the brick wall. Together, these elements transform a heritage RSL building into a contemporary hospitality destination with genuine visual impact.

The maintenance-free artificial greenery requires no watering, no replacement, and no specialist care - a practical outcome that is especially well-suited to a regional venue operating across multiple dining and bar zones.

This project demonstrates how a considered, multi-element commercial artificial plant installation can unify an entire venue interior, delivering lasting atmosphere and a premium finish tailored to the demands of a working hospitality environment.

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