Studio Y’s humble brief was this: to create the next best restaurant in the world. Our clients wanted to take the most exciting elements of the Melbourne design, food and beverage industry and inject them into the cultural district of Foshan, China. The Locksmith is a three-story restaurant, cocktail and beer garden, but it’s so much more than that. Intensely stylized and conceptual, The Locksmith is like an opulent, abandoned European mansion, an eclectic and rebellious playground that transports you to an enigmatic world of intrigue. The name itself inspires mystery and suggests you’re entering something quite unexpected. Entering from the ground floor, The Locksmith is sophisticated and traditional, but as you make your way upwards the interior personality starts to change. The cocktail bar on the first floor is moodier and more enigmatic and drenched in lush velvets, ghoulish fixtures and eclectic props. By the time you’ve completely surrendered to the The Locksmith’s charm, you enter the rooftop garden where animals run wild amidst overgrown vines, brass monkeys and floral motifs. The Locksmith is an experience in every sense of the word. Everything from the music to the staff uniform, door knobs and the light fixtures were all carefully selected to play their part in transporting visitors to a different time and place; to give them a feeling “you can’t quite put your finger on” and one they’ve certainly not experienced before.