XO Dining, Hargrave Andrews Library

Located beneath the Hargrave-Andrew Library, the Hargrave Cafe designed by Kosloff Architecture offers a new dining experience for staff and students at Monash University’s Clayton Campus.

Semaphore were engaged to develop a narrative for the space to inform the branding, glazing decals and amenity identification signage.

For this, we drew reference from Newton’s Apple Tree, found in the Kenneth Hunt Garden adjacent to the cafe. The distinctive tree is a clone of the original that helped Newton formulate his theories of motion and gravity.

The brandmark is a direct reference to the symbol for a distinctive tree—as used in orienteering and rogaining maps. Other clues, directly referencing the surrounding spaces, entice curious visitors to look a little deeper.