Set within the Sydney CBD’s well-known ACA Building – built in 1939, its history draped across lines of appealing art deco architecture – both The Charles and its subfloor neighbour, Tiva, prove what can be achieved when acknowledgment of the past, while being mindful of the future, are extensively explored and seamlessly entwined.

Ultimately, The Charles is immediately transportive to a time of European art déco splendour – a proud wink to the brasseries of France and Italy, if an elevation of such outposts.
The grand, double height volumes of the brasserie itself are tied together by a sculpted joinery stair ‘heroing’ local craftsmanship. A bold central banquette in Tibero stone occupies the ground floor and gazes towards the open kitchen – a peek into the theatrics in play. The adjacent ‘bar a vin’ continues the theme as an intimate space that can be received on its own or as originally conceived – as the starting point or an ‘aperitif’ that progresses to a (long) lunch before things move downstairs.

Working with and featuring local artists including Alina Gozina, Clare Dubina and Clementine Maconachie, among others, adds a further layer to The Charles’ delivery as a reworked and contemporary take on the ‘traditional brasserie’ – so too its relationship to the original building and many maintained heritage features.

Downstairs, Tiva is luxurious and bold – raw and exposed concrete aligned to velvet, steel marble and what is a sense of decadence. To be here is to lounge against dark lighting, recessed booths and a palette of navy and black tones. Like its upstairs upstarts, work was undertaken with local artists (Dina Broadhurst, Anya Pesce, Tim Swallow), to deliver what is a unique and welcoming new offering that sets a new agenda in appeal.