Michael J. McCann – Dreamtime Design

By Franz Scheurer

Michael McCann changed the way we look at restaurant, bar, resort and hotel design and fit-out by being ‘an insider’. McCann is no architect, but spend many years in hospitality. McCann considers himself a chameleon as he will adapt to his environment and he recognises that different countries and cultures need a different approach and have different needs.

He was born in Miami in the USA and grew up in the hotel business in the Bahamas where his father operated a fishing resort. His father ruled with a stern hand and as he was worried that young Michael was growing up in rich resorts, he stuck him in the kitchen, washing dishes, shelling lobsters and peeling potatoes to earn his pocket money and experience ‘the other side’, and most importantly, gain good work ethics.

McCann naturally fell into the hospitality business and after graduating from hotel school in the US pursued a career in hospitality. His dad was one of the three people that started Hyatt International hotels around the world and he taught McCann that he had to be in Food & Beverage as this was the area where most of the costs were controlled, making or breaking a venue. So McCann slowly worked himself up and spent more than 25 years in Food & Beverage.

His main job was in development. If a new place was to be set up, it was McCann’s job to make it all happen and to project manage it. He was the one who was choosing the fabrics, the chairs, the tables and the colour schemes. He hired the staff, put together the wine lists and opened the venue and kept on managing it until such time as his services were needed somewhere else. ”I learnt quickly to ‘read’ the locals, finding out what their customs were, what the trends were; did they like a lot of light, dim light, lots of booze or no booze at all, and then presented what I thought would work in the specific market place to my bosses. I was usually the first guy on site so I had to look at everything from spas, to meeting places, restaurants, you name it.”

McCann worked in 12 countries and he would work together with a design company, telling them what he needed to achieve his vision. “I hated hotel restaurants, and I still do. Most of them look like airport lounges with tables and chairs so I really rebelled, asking why can’t it be like this or like that? Usually the bosses said, ok, that sounds good, tell the designers!” So he went ahead and did so, but as big hotel design companies were hired every time, they wanted to give it their stamp and every place looked the same. Because of this lack of knowledge inside the design companies he had to work with, he had to get involved. A big flowery chair did not match his vision of a Paris Bistro so he had to find a magazine to show the designers what he wanted. As he became more and more involved in the day-to-day design work he gained an intimate knowledge of what was available worldwide. His understanding of materials, surfaces, and furnishings grew and with his level of expertise in running a restaurant or hotel he quickly acquired a unique skill set.

As he was getting more and more edgy with what he wanted from design and he could clearly see that the world was heading this way, and away from hotel restaurants, he realised that he could be a designer in his own right and do it better.

“I never wanted to be a designer, but life takes funny turns”

McCann worked for Hyatt International for 12 years, and his last employer was Mandarin Oriental. He opened 120 restaurants, bars, resorts or hotels and knew how to put together a successful venue, which he proved in 12 different countries.

His first job in Australia was Gekko in the Park Lane (now the Sheraton on the Park), which was quite revolutionary back in 1991. He brought Dietmar Sawyere in to be his head chef and Liam Tomlin to be his number two. Gecko really changed the perception of dining in a hotel with its cutting-edge design and the first open kitchen and wine cellar on display. McCann also lowered the wine prices to 10% above bottle shop price instead of the 300% mark up quite common at the time. Gekko had an amazing collection of wines with Anders Josephson’s Private Wine Collection, and the wait staff were all dressed in chef’s uniforms. Many of today’s great chefs came from there. Of course Sawyere and Tomlin, but also Sean Connolly, Mathew Kemp, Justin North, Detlef Haupt and David Bitton.

With a lot of hotels insolvent at the time and Japanese investor money leaving the Australian hospitality industry, McCann joined the Mandarin Oriental and worked on a property in Mexico. With the crash of the peso, McCann could either return to a different country or change sides and become a designer. Thankfully for all of us he chose the later path and returned, now married, to Sydney in time for the Olympics and started Dreamtime Australia. “Even at that time I still didn’t make the total transition to design, but billed my new company as a developer / operator. Unfortunately, in Australia, this just doesn’t work as everyone is an expert and the owners will cut off the four corners of a square and you end up with a circle. So we decided to give up on this concept and just design. I did offer operational help while setting up, but not ongoing. I had enough of the 2.00am phone calls telling me that the pastry chef just quit. So we came up with a whole menu of services, from finding the customer a site, finding a suitable name and the graphics to go with it, a style, a menu, the concept for the venue, including the financial projection, finding a chef, and handle the PR and literally get down to the nitty gritty all the way to what the music on the floor was going to be. The customer can then chose the services he is prepared to pay for. I think one of the most important things I have learnt is to say ‘no’, when I feel that the partnership won’t work.” McCann works from a modern office in Rushcutters Bay and he works with a team of young designers who obviously adore him. He insists that he designs everything, right down to the fabric and tiles used, but his team helps put his ideas to paper.

Michael McCann’s Dreamtime Australia is responsible for some of the most recognisable venues, not just in Australia but also in Asia, the Middle East, in fact, all over the world. He probably came to the attention of Sydneysiders with his design and fit-out of Flying Fish. To quote from his brochure: “In what has become a very transient bar & club scene, today’s social set easily abandons the current favourite for the ‘next big thing’, presenting both the designer and operator with their biggest challenge – create unique spaces that will not quickly date or easily lose their appeal.“

He does that very well indeed!

McCann is currently working on resorts, eco resorts, villas and spas in the JEBEL HAFEET MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK in the UAE, the interior and kitchen design at the ST. REGIS HOTEL in Bora Bora, the HILTON TAHITI HOTEL in Papeete, the KARMA KANDARA RESORT in Bali and multiple restaurants and bars for the Dockside Group in Sydney, Luxury House Developments in Yowie Bay and Pittwater in Australia, the SALAT HOUSE RESTAURANT in Cairns, a luxury vacation home development for cricket legend Tony Greig, a new store for VIC’S MEATS in Woollahra, the 16 FOOTERS SKIFF SAILING CLUB at the Spit and the BAIN DE SOLEIL in Balmoral and finally the redesign of the SYDNEY SEAFOOD SCHOOL.

Seems Mr. McCann and Dreamtime Design are busy and let’s hope they stay busy, despite the world economic downturn.

I wish you all the best!

Dreamtime Australia Design

Suite 307, Level 3, 19A Boundary Road

Rushcutters Bay NSW 2011

Australia

Tel.: +61 (0)2 9368 0800

Fax.: +61 (0)2 9368 0400

e-mail: enquiries@dreamtimeaustraliadesign.com

Web: http://dreamtimeaustraliadesign.com