In anticipation of IDEA 2019, we’re taking a look at some of this year’s shortlisted entries. This week we step into The Stella Collective’s entry in the Residential Multi category.

When conceptualising the interior design of a collection of eight townhouses in Melbourne’s fashionable bayside side suburb of Elwood, The Stella Collective started out by imagining the lives that would unfold within.

Each stage of the design process was painstakingly workshopped, resulting in homes that are a stylised, instinctual extension of effortless, modern living.

The interiors inject a sexy and luxurious beach vibe into the spaces, while the glamour of the Art Deco design creates the perfect backdrop for residents seeking the ultimate in Melbourne bayside living.

Each home includes a sun-drenched private terrace, inbuilt daybeds, an outdoor shower and a kitchen for real cooking, as well as premium finishes such as terrazzo tile, timber flooring, porcelain tiles and custom pieces.

A key driver of the design process was the desire to create spaces that were an instinctual extension of Elwood’s relaxed modern lifestyle from both a visual and functional perspective.

Finding harmony between style and storage capacity, while emulating a sense of elegance wasn’t an easy task, and designers added inclusive fixtures to the spaces to ensure adequate storage without compromising quality.

An example of this is in the bathroom, where beautifully designed timber medicine cabinets sit sculpturally on the wall, creating an additional home for toiletries. 

In both the bathroom and kitchen, a fixed space was designed to sit between the tap and marble splashback as a place to put hand soap and dishwashing liquid.

Other interior highlights include a custom-made feature mirror and chef’s caddy made with brass and black steel, both of which emulate the homes’s exterior curves.

Finishes have aspects of reflectivity and neutrality from the brass tapware to the cabinetry and rangehood, white walls, white tiles and light grey terrazzo flooring in the bathrooms.

The Stella Collective’s Pine Ave Townhouse Interiors has been shortlisted for the IDEA 2019 Residential Multi category. They’re up against:

• NEOMETRO + MA Architects + Hall Studio’s 6 Little Smith Street
• Carr’s 131 Residences South Yarra
• Woods Bagot’s 537 Elizabeth Street, EB Interiors’s Allure
• Mim Design for Costa Fox, Architects Koichi Takada’s Bower Manly
• Flack Studio in collaboration with Fieldwork’s Nth Fitzroy by Milieu
• Travis Walton Architecture’s Prahran Residences
• Mim Design with Powell and Glen’s Sussex
• Tecture Architecture and Interior Design’s TGIPF Townhouses
• Mim Design with Peter Kennon and Elenberg Fraser’s The Eighth
• Woods Bagot’s The Englefield

See who is crowned the winner on 22 November at the Timber Yard in Port Melbourne. Tickets are now available. Be sure to secure yours soon as they will sell out.

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