A café located at the head of Southbank Parklands, serving university students through office workersSwich Café was designed around the principles of circular design and waste reduction. This is present from material selection through construction methods, user experience, and the menu.
Swich Cafe
Location
Located at Southbank's QCAD Campus for Griffith University, Swich was built with sustainability as the priority. The immediate vicinity and surrounding suburbs embody life, from the winding Brisbane River through parklands and bustling city streets, but what it didn't have was an affordable place to get lunch that prioritised sustainability above all else. This led to Swich's conception.
Brand Philosophy:
Too much waste is made through the pursuit of expanse. We aim to reclaim, refine, and redefine what is waste and excess, reformatting it into a modern, consumable experience. This encourages a conscious mental health and wellbeing boost and minimises environmental footprints.
How was this achieved?
Aspiring to make sustainable decisions in design, the combination of a minimal, seasonably available menu, paired with recycled/reclaimed materials throughout the fitout is a perfect integration into a design campus that prioritises sustainability. Reclaiming materials and the space from idling and waste through consumables sourced in collaboration with local cafes, restaurants, and bakeries to avoid excess stock going to waste. All food will be screened and only used if still healthy; the business will primarily focus on redeeming excess ordered stock as major ingredients, rather than going-out-of-date stock.
Energy Reduction
Lighting will be utilised only during later operational hours, except for task lighting. Task lights will utilise energy-efficient measures and efficient spacing for maximum lighting.
Energy Consumption
Griffith University campus at Nathan is heading toward a 100% renewable energy goal by 2029. If this effort is extended to the South Bank campus, the café could join the cause and partake in the installation and use of the solar panels to reduce the environmental impact (Harris, 2025). Storage through battery cells could also assist in powering the fridges, and potentially with natural gas used to power the cookers.
Transport Reduction
By sourcing locally, less environmental impacts from vehicular transportation.
Waste Reduction
Food and construction material waste is reduced through the behaviours of the venue.
Form over Function is quiet common in design, where aesthetics become the main goal. For SWICH the goal was to integrate both, yet retain a spacious, usable space, and minimise environmental impact.
Minimising the amount of new materials in the construction was forefront, with the predominant material of choice being Plywood. A wood surface formed through the sandwiching of thinner panels together, is common in construction and staging alike, and almost just as commonly it is disregarded rather than repurposed. Opting to utilise salvaged construction materials, utilised in varios fashions, we aim to reduce environmental impacts.
The booths seating features modern, square lines, and will be adorned with green, durablee cushioning.
The indoor table will utilise a larger panel in the centre, and use thinner panels that have been treated and bent to form legs.
The outdoor tables will not be uniform, and only shown simply like this for the renders. The tops may have abstract shaping to them, and can utilise recently disregarded set pieces from stage design to create alternating pieces.
The chair, made from smaller plywood panels will be investigated further in the project more.
