Railway Cafe

This project brought new life to a rarely used space within the Queenstown Station complex, home to the iconic West Coast Wilderness Railway. Built in the mid-80s, the station site is heritage-listed, and its tourism offering celebrates Tasmania’s rich history. Our brief was to relocate the existing café and create an experience that honoured the operation’s history while providing a welcoming, contemporary facility for locals and visitors alike. We introduced design elements that reflect the grandeur of historic stations and the romance of train travel. The material and colour palette draws inspiration from copper, long mined in the mountains surrounding the town, for its natural tendency to age into a beautiful patina.

Given the site’s remote location and limited resources, we designed the fit-out to make the most of what was available.  New joinery was fabricated off-site, while thoughtfully restoring or crafting some furniture in the Railway Workshop.

“It was a great pleasure to work with Karryn and Dean (IN-TERIA) to create a new cafe for the West Coast Wilderness Railway in Queenstown. Essentially, we had a large blank canvas to work with, a very loose brief and some serious funding constraints. We were keen to create a new cafe space that would appeal to the many locals who support us all year; however, we were also looking to design a cafe that tourists from the rest of Australia and the world would also enjoy!! It was also in the brief NOT TO  overplay the faux-heritage look and create a contemporary feel. I am delighted to say that Karryn and Dean did just that – the cafe has been well received by our regular customers and enjoyed by tourists. The final product is functional, light, warm and welcoming, and revenue has risen considerably!”

Michael Saville
General Manager, West Coast Wilderness Railway

Project Name // Tracks Cafe
Project Type //  Cafe, Bar & Restaurant Design
Location // Queenstown, Tasmania
Client // West Coast Wilderness Railway
Photography // Dean Baird