‘Originality is overrated’ – Jury chair Paul Hecker reveals what he will be looking for at IDEA 2025

Paul Hecker, founding principal of multidisciplinary Melbourne design practice Hecker Guthrie, has been named as the jury chair for the 2025 Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA).

Now in its 23rd year, IDEA is Australia’s longest-running independent architecture and interior design awards program with winners selected annually by a panel of seven expert industry judges.

Hecker tells Australian Design Review that he is “honoured” to chair this year’s jury and ensure that “lively debates are had, all voices are heard and ultimately the right outcomes are achieved”.

The interior designer possesses the clear eyes necessary to steer these discussions and make the tough calls on any tied votes. It’s a skill he has honed over the course of nearly 40 years in the industry.

“Do you become a little bit cynical as you get older? Absolutely, ” Hecker says. “But I’m looking for genuine. I think when you read a designer’s description of why they’ve done something, you’re trying to find those ones that connect.”

Decades in design

Originally from South Australia, Hecker first became an interior designer after graduating in 1986. He cut his teeth at Darryl Jackson Architects and Bates Smart before striking out on his own in 1997. Awards programs like IDEA were incredibly valuable to him when he was just starting out.

“Recognition for anyone spurs you on,” he says, adding that the job can sometimes be “pretty thankless”.

“I think with any creative pursuit, you want to know that people respect you and it’s a great way of saying: we respect what you do.”

Hecker can also attest to the value of receiving an award further along in your career. In 2011, he and his studio’s co-director Hamish Guthrie received the IDEA program’s ultimate accolade, taking home the Gold Medal in recognition of an influential and enduring contribution to Australian design culture.

The evolution of Hecker Guthrie

Hecker Guthrie’s body of work spans hospitality, retail and residential. It boasts major projects like The Ivy in Sydney, which won the IDEA Overall award in 2009, and The StandardX in Melbourne, an offshoot of the renowned international hotel chain, designed with the “rebellious” spirit of Fitzroy in mind.

More recently, multi-residential projects have become Hecker Guthrie’s “bread and butter” – among other evolutions in their practice. Another example is the realisation that “decoration is not a dirty word”, but is just as important as any other stage of architecture and interior design.

“Often it’s that final push – the styling, artwork, furniture and things like that – that feels a little bit thin. So we are making sure we focus on those things,” he says.

Many of the spaces he enjoys now could be described as “less designed”.

“I often think some of my favourite spaces are those where people have almost created a very pure, gallery-like space and then filled it with extraordinary objects, whether they be furniture, art or things like that, so certainly my priority has changed,” he says.

It’s no surprise then that Hecker is most excited about the IDEA Residential Interior Curation category. The winner of this category for the past two consecutive years was interior stylist Simone Haag, who got her start at Hecker Guthrie.

“Her talent is off the chart and her commitment to design is off the chart,” Hecker says.

What will Hecker be looking for at IDEA 2025?

“From my perspective, and this changes, I always go: ‘How do I feel?’” Hecker says of the projects that impress him. Even if an interior appears to tick all the right boxes, he will still sit with his own emotional response and reflect on whether he would want to return to the space. When asked if it’s hard to get this sense from project photos, plans and written submissions, Hecker says age helps you judge an authentic design response from a post-rationalisation.

“You can start seeing through all of those things. I am often wary of people who use too many words to describe their space. You go, ‘Really? That’s a far stretch,’” he says.

As a first-time chair and member of the IDEA jury, Hecker will be focusing on how well the shortlisted projects sit among their surrounding buildings, neighbourhoods and landscapes. He will seek out projects that are discreet and aim for longevity, giving less weight to whether they’re original.

“I think originality is overrated. I think what most people are looking for is familiarity in this world where change is happening all the time,” he says.

“Most of us borrow and are influenced by something and, to me, that’s absolutely fine. How you interpret it is where your skill comes to the fore. Often I see interior designers as editors: we take ideas and we edit them together. How we place them together is what makes them unique.”

Finally, Hecker says he will be heeding projects that are “kooky” and “over-the-top” or that make grandiose environmental claims.

“I’m wary of design that is trying to be innovative purely for innovation’s sake. There is a lot of wonderful innovation, but with that innovation, there’s usually an intellect and an intelligence that you can see,” he says.