The latest offering by the Lucas Group – after Chin Chin (Flinders Lane), Baby Pizza and Kong (Richmond) – has been delivered with finesse and, importantly, a sense of "looseness" that allows diners to enjoy the dining experience without being overtly conscious of the design.

For Hawker Hall, where the building was previously used to sell second-hand furniture, the brief to Craig Tan Architects was to create a sense of the hawker markets (outdoor eating markets) found in places such as Singapore and throughout Malaysia.

"Our clients regularly used the word 'loose', something that didn't feel overly designed," said architect Craig Tan, who worked closely with interior designers Bergman & Co and also Samantha Eades Design. "They [the clients] wanted that looseness to translate both to the aesthetic of the place, and importantly, the way it felt."

While the building's 450-square-metre footprint in Chapel Street, Windsor, was more than generous enough to allow for a contemporary Malaysian-style restaurant and beer hall, it felt relatively cavernous before the false ceiling was removed (to reveal an original Victorian lightwell and striking timber trusses) and the rudimentary aluminium window front converted into a window seat, complete with bench seating for patrons and for shoppers passing by. "We wanted to activate the street front as much as the interior spaces," says Tan.

Although not visible, the architects also excavated below the ground floor to allow for a basement for cool storage, preparation space and other storage, including kegs. "It was a relatively complex project. We had to allow for underpinning the adjoining buildings to create this basement," said Tan. However, when the ground floor was fully stripped out, with the pop-out lightwell revealed, Tan could start to plan the various dining spaces, including the bar and the open kitchen that are diagonally opposite one another.

"It was a relatively vast space. We felt that it was important to create a level of intimacy within this space," said Tan, who loosely delineated Hawker Hall into three interconnected zones. At the front of the premises is the entry zone together with a dining area comprising tables and chairs. The bar area at the core of the floor space includes booth-style seating, tables and chairs, as well as stools lining a zinc-clad bar. "We used zinc for both the bar and the booth tables. There's that lovely sense of touch and patina that comes from the effect of the contact with one's hand," said Tan. Zinc was also used to frame the stainless steel-lined kitchen.

The location of the kitchen and bar also delineates the third portion of Hawker Hall, with simple Thonet chairs and tables creating an informal ambience. And to provide a sense of the street and the hawker market effect found in Malaysia, illuminated street signs of various concocted Asian restaurants light the space. The loosely brushed painted brick walls and concrete floors also provide a sense of the outdoors. Built-in cupboards, displaying pastel-coloured bowls, add another layer to the interior.

One of the architectural highlights at Hawker Hall is the lantern-like pitched ceiling, simply clad in pegboard (for acoustic control). Part of this ceiling has been enclosed with a stained bamboo screen, organised in a herringbone pattern. This screen not only picks up on the building typology found in many Asian cities, but also veils the bathrooms on the mezzanine floor. "You can wash you hands in the trough and enjoy looking through to the entire hall," says Tan, who also enjoys seeing the silhouette from patrons as they cleanse their hands.