Five Guys | George Street Sydney | Restaurant Design

Five Guys Australia is designed by Design Partnership Australia.

Five Guys 383 George Street Sydney, Australia | Design Partnership Australia

Location: 383 George Street, Penrith, NSW, 2750, Australia.

Size: 330sqm

Category: Quick Service Restaurant Design

Completion: 2022

Client: Five Guys Int. & Seagrass Boutique Hospitality Group
Build: Franchise Fitout Group | Nicolas Bachtis

Heritage Architect:

Electrical: Lifestyle Electrical

Plumbing: TTP Plumbing

Painter: Pixo Painting

Plasterer: ZJ Build⁠

Cool Room & Exhaust: Hytec Cooling

Signage: Sign Action

Engineers: Building Service Engineers

Lighting: Ark Lighting

Photographer & Video: Pixflix Productions

Project Manager: George Kyrpianou

The Five Guys Story

Five Guys is a family run burgers and fries joint offering a craveable menu made from scratch. Five Guys has been a Washington, D.C. area favourite since 1986 when Jerry and Janie Murrell offered sage advice to three of the Murrell brothers: “Start a business or go to college.” The business route won and the Murrells opened a carry-out burger joint in Arlington, Virginia. Under the guidance of Jerry and Janie, the little burger joint quickly developed a cult-like following.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the Murrells perfected their simple concept. Five Guys became “the place” to get a fresh, juicy burger with all the toppings you could stuff between two fresh-baked buns. Two more brothers joined the team and as the family grew, so did the business. Early in 2003, Jerry and Janie, together with the “Five Guys”, began offering franchise opportunities. In just under 18 months, more than 300 units had been sold.

Now, decades after Five Guys first opened and redefined the burger landscape, it lands in Penrith. But don’t expect anything too flashy inside – that’s all part of the appeal. “From the beginning, we wanted our customers to know that we put all our money into the food. That’s why the décor is so simple; only red and white tiles. We don’t spend money on décor, or guys in chicken suits,” Chad Murrell said.

Chad Murrell said “From the beginning, we wanted our customers to know that we put all our money into the food. That’s why the décor is so simple; only red and white tiles. We don’t spend money on décor, or guys in chicken suits. We’ll go overboard on food. “By maintaining a simple ethos, coupled with highest quality ingredients, we continue to follow through on the vision since 1986.”

What started as a family run burgers and fries restaurant in 1986 is now a global franchise with sites across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The Murrell brothers who founded the business has a no freezer, no microwave policy – all burgers and fries are made fresh every day.

Lean mean patties are made every day on site, while the bread is baked fresh five days a week in a locally contracted bakery.

Robby Andronikos, brand manager of Five Guys Australia, said “It’s been an incredibly fun journey to bring the Five Guys opening to this point. A massive team effort from Five Guys, Seagrass BHG and the multiple Australian producers and businesses working in partnership to launch this brand with the exacting standards required. “I’m excited to finally be able to open the doors to our first store in Penrith with many more Australian restaurants on the horizon already planned.”

Welcome to FIVE GUYS 383 George Street Sydney Australia.

Five Guys Australia Promotional video leading up to its opening debut.

FIVE GUYS 383 George Street Sydney Australia concept images by Design Partnership Australia.

Exterior Views.

Interior views of the restaurant.

The Location's History,

Spiden House is one of two heritage listed buildings on the site that was part of a redevelopment completed in 2018 and included the amalgamation of four separate properties accommodating retail, commercial and residential uses. The amalgamated site has frontage to York Street to the west and connection to George Street through a public pedestrian link that utilises the former cartway in Carlton House. The original buildings fronting George Street have been demolished and replaced with a new building that abuts and connects with Spiden House and Carlton House

The site is an amalgamation of formerly four separate buildings that have been integrated as part of a recent redevelopment (see below). Spiden House and Carlton House have frontage to York Street to the west and the back of 383 George Street to the east. York and George Street are connected by a public pedestrian link between the new development at 383 George Street and the two heritage listed buildings (Spiden House and Carlton House) that utilises the former cartway and courtyard to the rear of Carlton House. The former two buildings fronting George Street have been demolished and replaced with the new podium building that connects with the remaining two heritage buildings on York Street. A new residential tower is located over the top of the new George Street building and partially over the rear of Spiden House. As seen from York Street, both Spiden House and Carlton House retain their own identity and appearance as separate buildings. The subject fit-out is located in the basement of Spiden House and it is only accessible from the rear of the building in the courtyard.

Spiden House
Spiden House (formerly known as Hardwicke House), is a 7 storey plus basement warehouse building built in Victorian Free Classical style. The building is located in the York Street warehouse precinct and adjacent to two other warehouse buildings of similar height including Carlton House (36-44 York Street) to the north and York House (50-54 York Street) to the south.

York Street elevation (Spiden House)
Spiden House has had two major phases of alterations and additions. The first was in 1911 to extend the building by three levels and to lower the basement by 1m (designed by Joseland & Vernon), and the second in 1935 (Ross & Rowe) for reconstruction following a fire. Although the original architect has not been identified, the association with prominent Sydney architects around the early part of the twentieth century is significant. The elevation of Spiden House reads as an important expression of expansion of Sydney including the boom following the gold rushes of the 1870s and 1880s and the need for warehousing, and in 1911 owing to the growing prosperity and commercial wealth at the time and requirements for warehousing activities. The other major change has been internal modifications during the 1980s following the growing need for office accommodation in the city; however, these latter changes can in most cases be considered intrusive. The lower three levels of the façade as well as the parapet (even though altered) are attributable to early 1880s work. The façade above the third level is 1911 and represents the additions by Joseland & Vernon. The whole facade above first floor level is singularly intact from the 1911 additions except for replacement of window joinery. This elevation is expressed in a unified classical architectural language, with its various components contributing to a singular architectural idea. The alteration work made above the ground floor openings to accommodate the addition of an awning in the 1960s (since removed) is unfortunate, however this does not greatly diminish the overall significance of the York Street façade.

Basement (Spiden House)
The basement level of Spiden House was altered with longer posts in 1911 when the floors were lowered (work to lower the basement level floors are shown on the 1911 drawings). Sections of sandstone block wall construction exist along the southern party wall, central dividing wall and eastern wall, all underpinned by 1911 brickwork. […] The north basement retains all but one of its 1911 timber posts on the inner row while the entire outer row of posts was removed in 1963. The southern half has some of the timber posts replaced with steel.

The Conservation Management Plan
The following Statement of Significance is quoted from the Conservation Management Plan titled Carlton House and Spiden House, 38 – 44 & 46 – 48 York Street, dated November 2011:
Both Carlton House and Spiden House belong to a varied collection of surviving pre World War warehouse buildings located within the western precinct of the Sydney CBD. Such extant traditional mercantile buildings remain as physical reminders of the proliferation of warehouse structures that dominated this part of the city during the late 19th and early 20th century, and which were allied to the activities of the many mercantile traders who relied upon transportation of goods to and from the numerous commercial finger wharfs that existed on the eastern side Darling Harbour.
Carlton House and Spiden House, together with the similarly-scaled former warehouse building adjoining the southern side of Spiden House (York House at 50-54 York Street), form a strongly coherent group of buildings in this part of York Street, the compelling streetscape presence of which has been termed the “York Street Wall”.

Carlton House
Carlton House has aesthetic significance as a good example of the Federation Warehouse style of architecture. Designed by the well-known Sydney architectural firm of Robertson & Marks, the building is a relatively restrained example of the early work of that practice, and although an accomplished design, it is not one of their finer or better known buildings. It has some scientific value due to the survival of the central cartway, which is one of only eight such examples remaining in the central business district of Sydney. The location of the cartway thoroughfare and associated rear courtyard is known to predate the construction of Carlton House by at least forty five years, and so has historic importance and potential archaeological value since it contains ground that has been little disturbed for more than 150 years. The interior of the building has aesthetic significance due to the existence of original Wunderlich pressed metal ceiling and cornice panels on most levels. Although damaged in places as a result of successive later office fitout works and building services upgrades, the surviving pressed metal work exhibits an interesting range of decorative patterns which were highly fashionable at the time that the building was constructed, and helps to demonstrate an original hierarchy of internal spaces.
Building modifications carried out during the 1980s included new office and shop fitouts as well as the replacement of all of the original timber windows in the façade and the rear elevations with aluminium windows. Most of the original internal joinery elements including staircases have been removed.

Spiden House
Spiden House has historic and aesthetic significance as an example of a typical late Victorian warehouse of three storeys that was extended vertically in 1912. Although recognizably Federation in terms of its architectural character, the design of the later (upper) section of the façade (by architects Joseland & Vernon) has nevertheless been skillfully integrated with the configuration of the original façade, and is an example of how to add additional levels in a sensitive manner. This early twentieth century addition is an indication of the growth of the city at this time, and the way in which many property owners increased the sizes of existing buildings in response to economic demands for more commercial space in the CBD. The building contains little original internal fabric apart from some columns, beams and floor structure on the lower levels. The survival of the building following a fire that occurred in 1935 causing severe damage, and necessitating the reconstruction of the top three or four floors is in itself remarkable. The post-fire reinstatement works including the installation of pressed metal ceilings were overseen by another highly respected firm of architects, Ross & Rowe. Only a small number of the original timber windows survive on the lower floors. Internally, the building has been extensively re-modelled since 1980, and has lost much of its early integrity as a result. Spiden House has a considerable degree of aesthetic significance as a quality warehouse façade and as a contributing component of the streetscape.