Table of contents for 86 May - June 2015 in (inside) interior design review

Welcome to the second issue of (inside) for 2015. We’ve been enjoying balmy late summer days and the Christmas break is but a memory; however, there are still many opportunities to relax, take in the warm weather and enjoy this exciting issue of (inside). While we have been at home in Australia, there have been exciting things happening abroad. We journey first to Singapore where the Australian Tapestry Workshop unveiled its latest tapestry collaboration (p32) with artist Brook Andrew. Then it’s on to Denmark for Olafur Eliasson’s Riverbed (p38). In this issue, we profile Kennedy Nolan, the winner of the Single Residential category and Overall winner from IDEA 2014 (p44) and we talk with the team at Techne Architecture + Interior Design about their practice (p34). In Survey, we discover…

top 5 objects Regarded as the queen of all things bohemian – beading, embellishment and printed swathes of colour filled silk – Camilla Franks is one of Sydney’s most loved fashion designers.With Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Harrods and Selfridges stocking her designs, she is also clearly well-loved internationally. In fact, with a current portfolio of over 200 international retailers, she may be our best export. 01. Metal painted Milagro charm from Etsy— I am obsessed with Mexican artefacts and culture, and one of my lifelong inspirations is Frida Kahlo. This embossed metal and paintwork piece is beautiful; it’s like my lucky charm. I have many pieces I find in my travels and I’m particularly drawn to charms and little objects that have an energy to them. 02. Birdcage…

Situated in the Industry Business Hub building in bustling South Melbourne, Adele Bates Design Studio is an example of a multifunctional space designed with incredible attention to detail within a clean aesthetic. The studio occupies an industrial area that features exposed ceilings and concrete floors that are offset with clean, folding forms accented with light timber. An organic screen has been placed at the entrance to the studio, which helps accentuate the high ceilings of the building. The work desk has been placed centrally and overhead hanging plants form a constantly changing living sculpture. The greenery also helps soften the crisp lines of the office environment. The meeting area is part of the open space and creates an inclusive and relaxed environment for conversation and discussion. A custom-made large marble…

This country’s artistic talent is among the best in the world and this was evident at the Australian High Commissioner’s Residence in Singapore this January at a ceremony to unveil a tapestry that was a collaborative project between creative juggernauts the Australian Tapestry Workshop and Brook Andrew. This tapestry is the ninth in the Embassy Tapestry Collection, which was initiated and supported by the Tapestry Foundation of Australia (TFA) in 2004. The series places tapestries in Australian embassies and high commissions around the world. The tapestries are designed by Indigenous Australian artists and woven by the artist-weavers at the Australian Tapestry Workshop. Catching Breath is an extraordinary work by multidisciplinary artist Brook Andrew that has been interpreted by weavers Chris Cochius, Pamela Joyce and Milena Paplinska. Andrew has yet again…

part 1 Once considered an element of decoration not to be confused with the more serious end of interior design, accessories are coming into their own. Indeed, as clients increasingly require a total consideration of effect, interior design incorporating everything from furniture to cutlery, napery, crockery, ornaments and objects is on the rise. Interior designers are of an exceedingly resourceful mindset, and where this is working well is in the increased use of objects as both structural device and visual statement. A very large vase placed in the centre of the table provides a truncated vertical thrust to activate the space without limiting spatiality, for example. Conversely, small bowls and objects may be strategically placed within the scheme to bring movement and form to draw the eye to, or from,…

Glamorously reinstating the über chic of mock Regency, Bates Smart has very cleverly chosen to emphasise rather than repress the scale and pomp of this classic Double Bay establishment. The 1902 bones of the former Ritz Carlton “were just right”, according to Bates Smart studio director, Brenton Smith. Well, almost. Where the exterior boasts the classic symmetry of Regency, some of the interior architecture is off-centre, including the lateral lobby thoroughfare, which pairs with the ballroom entrance, but not the exterior window of the same line. This, however, is quibbling and arguably an aspect only an architect or designer would notice. And it is here that Bates Smart has succeeded so well with the project. It has not quibbled with unnecessary changes. It has, rather, looked through a grande dame…

The Caroma Contura Collection has arrived! Caroma, Australia’s leading supplier of bathroom fixtures and fittings, has set a new standard for sanitary ware with the unveiling of this new collection. The design of the Caroma Contura Collection draws on the company’s 70-year heritage of innovation and technical intelligence, while the sculptural form of the collection is a luxurious addition to any bathroom. The form of the design is simple, smooth and organic and the technology incorporated into the products offers state-of-the-art functionality for the user. The inspiration for the collection emanates from European design trends; however, the collection has been created to suit an Australian sense of style. It consists of toilet suites that feature a soft-close lid that blends seamlessly with the pan and a freestanding bath with generous…

James Geer James Geer was born and raised in Melbourne. He began his photographic career in 1999 and laid the foundations for his place in the fashion and lifestyle categories in New York City. Since then he has been commissioned by distinguished publications, advertising agencies, and entertainment and corporate companies worldwide, and is noted for his portraiture. His work, including his recent Melbourne solo show DEEP, has been exhibited at various art galleries and museums. Joy Weideman Art director, art critic and collector of note, Weideman has a long association with the art world as a principal of the Art Market Report from 2005 to 2012. Art books of note include Tony Bevan, Serisier House, Ian North: Felicia and a soon to be released publication celebrating the work of Brian…

Getting notoriety out of the way early, Marcus Binney (architectural correspondent of The Times, London) commences his introduction with an acknowledgement of the prima donna tendencies of Anouska Hempel, aka Lady Weinberg. “Never mind her incandescent temper, her impatience, her contempt towards those who cannot keep up with her or no longer amuse her, she has an untiring energy, an unquenchable appetite for work and for pastures new,” writes Binney. In confirming rather than denying her oft-reported temper, Binney claims it as a fact, marches straight over it and gets on with discussing the projects. A task he does exceedingly well. One of the most striking things about Binney’s observation of Hempel’s oeuvre is the proclivity for dark, dark interiors. Layered and saturated with antiquities, art, reflections and textural nuance…

The clients approached the team at Mr.Mitchell to design a concept for the Railway Hotel that would revitalise the iconic Chapel Street venue. Utilising the original architectural detailing of the circa 1927 building, the beginnings of a new design concept were born. Geometric shapes that have been repeated in the timber detailing of the first floor windows provide a striking reference point for a number of design elements throughout the project. The pattern comprises a diamond overlaid with a cross, and this has influenced the creation of interior and exterior screens, as well as a number of spin-off applications, which include a modern chevron design on the face of both ground floor and first floor bars. A fresh colour palette of cool greys and aquamarine sits comfortably beside accents of…

A partnership is a beautiful thing and when two people come together with complementary ideas and similar visions, then there is a great possibility for success. Take Technë Architecture + Interior Design for example, an architecture and design practice that has created hundreds of successful innovative and exciting hospitality, commercial and residential projects. The practice has grown organically over the years, but the beginnings were humble. Technë was founded by two architecture graduates, Nicholas Travers and Justin Northrop. Travers, who hails from Adelaide, and Northrop, from Melbourne, completed their architecture degrees at Adelaide University and Melbourne University respectively and met while working together at Peddle Thorp in Melbourne, before a serendipitous opportunity presented itself in the form of a disused building in Bligh Place, Melbourne. The idea was to design…

Tasked with incorporating a lively art, furniture and ceramics collection, Arent&Pyke chose an interesting path. Rather than gallery hang, that is, provide a neutral palette for the art to dominate, the studio has opted for the French colonial tradition of complementary dominants. To do so, the designers transformed a very dark, very stylised and masculine interior into a home of brightness and breeze. Quite a task given that every surface was papered, textured, built or affected towards a highly decorated interior. Indeed, the woven grass texture, swirling pink on black wallpaper and built-in cabinetry all went. “We took out a whole wall of mirror. Yes, there is a harbour view and, yes, it is a beautiful view…” says Sarah-Jane Pyke, with Juliette Arent continuing, “but there were no walls for…

In summer the seaside town of Sorrento on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula is buzzing with tourists and holidaymakers. Along the coast each of the villages overflows with people and the cafés do a fine trade. Driving is a challenge and when the sun is out a mere 10-kilometre journey can take time, but travelling all around the Peninsula to Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula will take hours. Of course, there is an alternative – take the car ferry. Drive on, park the car and then relax in comfort for three-quarters of an hour and enjoy the outstanding views from Sorrento to Queenscliff and back again. Welcome to the MV Sorrento and the last word in nautical chic. It’s not often that a design company has the opportunity to put its stamp…

Continuing our love of Scandinavian design, Interstudio’s latest range is the incomparable Friends and Founders. Joining brands such as +Halle, Magnus Olesen, Engelbrecht, Montana, Scandinavian Business Seating, Holmris and Add Interiors, along with some of the best of Australian design, the Friends and Founders inclusion reiterates Interstudio’s position as a design house of substance and style. Taking the Stockholm Furniture Fair by surprise, last year’s inaugural showing of Friends and Founders received unprecedented accolades. Listed by Wallpaper* magazine as the best release at the Stockholm Fair, Friends and Founders was then invited by the magazine to show at the Wallpaper* Boutique Exhibition at Milan last April. Endorsing the range’s place on the world furniture stage, Elle Decoration Swedish Design Awards named Friends and Founders’ My Chair Net as the winner…

Building Better: Sustainable Architecture for Family Homes The Danish standards for energy efficiency are among the most rigorous in the world. Arcgency has surpassed this by an impressive 50 percent with WFH House, a sustainable prefab prototype that evolves as climate and occupancy changes. Meanwhile in Spain, Ábaton Arquitectura has built an off-the-grid home that generates its own power and water supply. In China, Rural Urban Framework has included a pig-raising courtyard to fuel a biogas cooking system. In Germany, Renzo Piano Building Workshop has devised a prototype shelter that generates its own power, composts its toilet waste, is sustainably made of wood and integrates geothermal heating. Sustainable design can and should be a functional integrated element well beyond the lip service of mitigating solar overexposure – aka drawing the…

The new Artedomus showroom in Richmond is a gallery-like experience of curated zones, centred on Italian bathware company Agape, featuring Japanese ceramics, European porcelain and exclusive stones. The dramatic transformation was the result of a collaboration between designers Hana Hakim and Kestie Lane from Studio You Me and Thomas Coward Studio. The designers were able to bring the client’s brief to life by transforming the once cavernous and dark basement showroom of Artedomus into a light filled space. The functional requirements of the project were challenging – to curate and edit from hundreds of items of showroom and warehouse stock, and showcase them in a minimal, sculptural style. The result was the design of the ‘display pods’. Each aspect of the pod setting has been carefully orchestrated to highlight the…

How did you come to ceramics? Did you have family influences? Did you make ceramics as a child? I first tried pottery when I was 13 years old at summer camp. I’m not a spiritual person, but the first time I put my hands in clay I felt a connection. How did you find yourself on the path to become a designer? My pottery teacher in college told me I had no talent and should move to New York and be a lawyer. I moved to New York and got fired from a series of jobs in the entertainment industry. I gave myself a year to try pottery and to figure my life out. It’s working out so far! Who were your greatest influences as you developed your style as…

Tucked away above The Wolf and I Hotel in Melbourne’s trendy Windsor is the latest private event space on the block that has been carefully curated to offer an ambience of eclectic style coupled with old world comfort. The Wolf Upstairs is situated above The Wolf and I, a hotel that occupies a Victorian corner building constructed in 1871 complete with Heritage façade and contemporary interior. Upstairs, however, is the antithesis of all that lies below. The hotel attracts the smart young things drinking and eating in modern surrounds; but the design brief from client Steve Powell for his upstairs space was something completely different – redesign the stark white interior, pay tribute to the architecture and create a modern day ‘club’ or meeting place. Meme took the brief to…

Tasked with creating a visually unified display space within a double-height warehouse for Living Edge’s expansive and ever expanding collection of design houses, Woods Bagot principal, Domenic Alvaro and head of Interiors Todd Hammond have drawn on the visual language of each designer. With companies as diversely harmonious as Herman Miller, Walter Knoll and BassamFellows, the effect is extraordinarily seamless. Indeed, much as a domestic interior space flows cohesively through shared and complementary tones of material, texture, scale and colour, so too does Alvaro and Hammond’s spatial curation and material use provide an orchestrated relationship between the separate brands. Pale grey washed American oak, for example, defines the BassamFellows area, while American walnut has been used for Walter Knoll. Neither, however, is as simple as a separate box or frame.…

Halliday+Baillie Stair rail bracket fitting The brand new Halliday+Baillie stair rail bracket fitting comes complete with wiring capability for LED. The HB525 has been designed to incorporate a hollow channel to allow for 12-volt wiring supplied by your electrician to connect to LED lighting strips. Couple this with the plain HB527 (without channel) to allow for the visuals to marry together along the length of a stair wall. Simply ask your electrician to supply the coloured LED of your choice, plus the transformer, have the builder or stair company groove the underside of your timber railing whether it be round, square or rectangle to house the LED strip flush and then the visual is complete – subtle and stylish lighting while serving another purpose. Available in a number of great…