One Trick Pony

In a distinctive wedge-shaped building on the corner of St Georges Road South and Newry Street, One Trick Pony occupies a prominent position within a network of long-standing neighbourhood venues. The building is shaped by daily movement rather than destination.

Two wine glasses and a menu on a table, part of "One Trick Pony".
Shelves displaying a curated selection of wine bottles for "One Trick Pony".

For more than 140 years, the site has accommodated successive incarnations of a local pub. Through periods of change and redevelopment, the building has retained a strong emotional presence, forming attachments that persist across generations. Long described as an extension of people’s living rooms, it has historically supported social gathering and quiet solitude with equal ease.

2022
Fitzroy North, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Land

Patrons

35pax

Floor area

123m²

Melbourne has a long tradition of artists attentive to the small, often overlooked details of everyday life. From street corners and suburban rituals to moments of quiet observation, this lineage finds beauty in the familiar rather than the monumental.

Painting of children on bicycles titled "One Trick Pony" with colorful, expressive brushstrokes.

Danila vassilieff Soap Box Derby (1938) Private Collection, Victoria.

Children playing outside in a lively scene from "One Trick Pony".

Danila Vassilieff Children Playing in Collingwood School (1939) Corporate Collection, Melbourne.

Among these figures, Danila Vassilieff offers a resonant reference point for One Trick Pony. Arriving in Australia in the late 1930s, Vassilieff settled in Melbourne and painted scenes of Fitzroy and Collingwood with an instinctive, unpolished clarity that captured the rhythm of neighbourhood life. Marked by a naïve yet perceptive style, Vassilieff’s work conveys warmth, simplicity and emotional immediacy. Picnics in Edinburgh Gardens, exchanges at the school gate, daily errands and quiet streetscapes become vessels for shared experience.

"One Trick Pony: Expressionist cityscape with vibrant buildings and dynamic street scene."

Danila Vassilieff Fitzroy Street with Grating (1938) Private Collection, Sydney.

This sensibility informed the decision to invite Joe Terliker to paint local scenes directly onto the walls of the venue. Integrated into the architecture rather than applied as adornment, the artworks function as vignettes—anchoring the interior in place, memory and familiarity, and allowing One Trick Pony to evolve as a reflection of its community.

Modern bar interior with shelves of wine bottles, part of "One Trick Pony".

Within this context, the venue occupies a compact footprint within the existing structure. Spaces are arranged with clarity and restraint, moving from wine shop to bar and on to the dining room above. The progression is modest and intuitive, allowing the interior to be understood gradually through use rather than spectacle.

"One Trick Pony features a stylish bar setup with champagne bottles and a turntable."

The interior is defined by a careful balance of form and material. Solid Tasmanian Oak joinery establishes warmth throughout, paired with rendered walls that provide a quiet backdrop. In the wine shop, a teardrop-shaped bar with an elegant grey marble top forms the social centre of the room. Its bullnose edge softens the stone, while an integrated bottle cooler and vintage record player embed function within the design.

Elegant dining setup with abstract wall art in "One Trick Pony".

Wine selection is integrated into the interior. Rendered shelving, scalloped in plan, invites patrons to browse and choose bottles as part of the experience. A freestanding wine display positioned centrally also functions as a high bar, supporting multiple modes of use—from dining, to a casual glass of wine after work, to a short stay—without privileging one over another.

Modern restaurant interior with elegant table settings, part of "One Trick Pony" series.
Modern dining area with wooden chairs and tables, part of "One Trick Pony".

The dining room is anchored by solid Tasmanian Oak banquettes designed with the clarity and openness of park benches—structured, democratic, and easily accessible. The banquettes trace the external wall of the building, offering shifting outlooks depending on one’s seat: toward the kitchen, across the roundabout framed by gum trees, or inward to the room itself. Above, custom lighting composed of opaque glass spheres recalls the soft ambient glow of street lighting, cast over a combination of brass and timber tabletops to establish a calm, even atmosphere.

Dining area with wall art and mirror from "One Trick Pony".
Bird painting on a white wall from "One Trick Pony".
Red tiled bathroom with a wall-mounted sink and Aesop soap, from One Trick Pony.
"Elegant table setup with wine glasses and napkins from One Trick Pony."

Taken together, the venue continues the role it has long held within the neighbourhood. Calibrated to support different patterns of occupation across the day, it accommodates brief visits and extended meals with equal ease. Like the iterations before it, the space operates as an extension of people’s living rooms—familiar, welcoming, and shaped by return rather than events.

  • Project architectural floorplan
  • Project architectural floorplan

Credits

Photography: Sharyn Cairns
Contractor: Rosa & Co Fitouts

Related Projects