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Upper Lobby, Quay Quarter Tower, 50 Bridge St, Sydney NSW 2000
Mon. – Fri. 8am – 3pm Closed weekends
Circular Quay Station

Parla

Lofty Opulence and Harbour Views

When it comes to beautiful cafes, Sydney is spoilt for Dixon explains: “The original inspiration was around
choice. And Parla at Circular Quay is right up there. Imagine photography. I observed how photographers were illumi-
sitting by a vast window with a knockout view of the Sydney nating this kind of scene with LED panels and it made me
Harbour Bridge, sipping a cold brew coffee with dehydrated think a lot about natural lights, LEDs and how you were able
orange and wattle seed, in a loftily opulent space designed by to do all kinds of things that you don’t usually do with LED.
stellar UK designer Tom Dixon, in a building that won the That was the departure point.”
World Building of the Year Award at the 2022 World Archi- Zach Hiotis, owner of Parla, has been incorporating
tecture Festival. Ready to pack your bags? native Australian ingredients, such as wattle seed, coastal
Quay Quarter Tower was designed by architects 3XN and rosemary, finger lime, karkalla and salt bush, into his cafe
BVN, while Tom Dixon’s design and innovation agency, Design menus since 2016. Parla’s food menu brings together some
Research Studio, won the competition to design the interiors of the best elements of modern Australian, Italian and
of the soaring lobbies and public spaces. Parla, located in the Spanish cuisines while sourcing exclusively from local
upper lobby, centres around a sleek brass-clad counter, and is Australian producers. Parla coffee deli bar offers a unique
further enriched with distinctive furniture and lighting designed combination of the finest specialty coffee from Veneziano
by Tom Dixon, including FAT lounge chairs and complex and Coffee Roasters, cold meats, paninis, focaccias, natural
varying lighting solutions. Dixon’s approach included creating wines, spirits and cocktails.
custom luminous parasols to sit beneath, while Spring, a light- Parla’s unique blend of visual delight and culinary
ing piece, features pliant ribbons of stainless steel arranged like excellence make it a must-visit destination for both locals
a whisk around a custom-made dimmable LED module. and tourists alike.

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