Outback Queensland and the French countryside don’t typically exist in the same sentence, but for the McMahon family, the two go hand in hand. After 100 years of running their Stanthorpe family farm, the McMahons are sharing the love with a new purpose-built 150-capacity wedding venue on the property that brings the essence of France […]
For many designers, materials are selected to solve practical problems. For Jamal Ghouzali, they are an opportunity to tell stories. The founder of Sydney-based design studio and showroom Amazali approaches every project with a simple question: how far can a material be pushed before it reveals something entirely new? It’s a philosophy that has shaped his […]
Thanks to the advocacy of the Design Institute of Australia (DIA), designers will be formally recognised in Australia’s official occupational classification system on the National Census, marking a significant milestone for the evolution of the country’s design industry. Following the DIA‘s behind-the-scenes work, the Australian classification system used for the national Census will include graphic […]
The distance between a brilliant drawing and a flawless installation is almost always a handover. At Krost’s manufacturing facility in Sydney, design engineering and fabrication share a single footprint. Keeping the entire operation local and in-house brings rare agility to complex custom work, protecting tight tolerances, zero-joint edging details and material continuity from initial prototype […]
This 260-square metre billiards club in Adelaide, designed by YO.Q Design and Kasawoo, reimagines a cue sports club as a swish, mid-century-inspired social lounge. Heyball, or Chinese pool (or eight-ball), has taken off in popularity recently, especially here in Australia. That may be thanks in part to Lilly Meldrum, the 18-year-old world champion from Brisbane […]
Australian Design Review’s regular round-up of appointments, promotions and other practice news in Australian architecture and design for July 2026. Appointments Arcadia Arcadia has elevated nine people in its 2026 promotions. Ryan Lewis has been promoted to senior associate in recognition of his leadership across complex projects, ability to build trusted client relationships and ongoing […]
For many people, hospitals are places visited during life’s most challenging moments. They are where we wait for answers, recover from trauma, welcome new life, grieve, heal and hope. They are deeply human places that sit at the centre of our communities. For health planners like Rowena Sequeira and Vanessa Zakrzewski at HDR, designing hospitals […]
A new world-class cultural centre by Architectus has been unveiled at Santa Maria College in Perth, adding to the city’s reputation for delivering leading performing arts education. Perth has some prestigious theatre chops thanks to the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, affectionately known as WAAPA, the alumni of which includes the likes of Hugh […]
COX Architecture has completed an office fitout for legal firm Mallesons at the top of Governor Phillip Tower in Circular Quay. The seven-storey workplace is a deliberate evolution of more conventional law firm environments. COX Architecture considered how distinct spaces – such as client-facing areas and staff settings – can work more cohesively while balancing […]
The latest exhibition to open at Melbourne’s Heide Museum of Modern Art is a dreamy trip into a misty and magnificent Paris of yesteryear. No matter what the folks at the Parliament House end of Collins Street in Melbourne will tell you, there is another little spot not a million miles away from the city’s […]
Flexible workplaces promise choice and adaptability. But when flexibility is not clearly defined, the resulting environment can look responsive while being harder to use in practice. ‘We need a flexible workplace’ may be one of the most familiar requests in contemporary workplace design. It sounds clear, but in practice it can mean almost anything. For […]
Most people, at some point in their work, know the particular satisfaction of a plan landing better than they’d hoped for. This is what that looked like, at 10 metres long, in the middle of Chapter House. When Jon Goulder and Henry Williams were invited to create a work for Chapter House – the cavernous […]
With concept and design by Adèle Winteridge of Foolscap interior design studio, in collaboration with Melbourne glass artist Hamish Donaldson, a new collection of eight unique glass vases is on display at Pieces of Eight Gallery in Melbourne’s CBD. Glass has always captured imaginations, from the first glass beads of Ancient Mesopotamia to the Murano glassblowing artisans […]
Following a year of building upgrades, the Brett Whiteley Studio has reopened to visitors in Sydney. Located in Whiteley’s final home and studio in Surry Hills, the Brett Whiteley Studio offers an intimate and unfiltered encounter with the life and practice of Brett Whiteley (1939-1992), one of Australia’s most influential contemporary artists. Revitalising a piece […]
A Carr-designed estate spans two titles, blending solar-passive architecture with resort-style wellness and entertaining amenities. Occupying more than 7500 square metres across two titles, this new residence by Carr Architecture reads less like a family home and more like a private wellness retreat, one where the architecture itself is arranged around the idea of slowing […]
A dismantled Victorian cottage in Collingwood gets a second life, reassembled brick by brick accompanied by a bold contemporary extension that refuses to blend in. In a Melbourne suburb where architecture and design are defined by a juxtaposition of historic industrial heritage and cutting-edge, sustainable modernity, a dilapidated Victorian workers’ cottage has been preserved rather […]
At this year’s 3daysofdesign festival in Copenhagen, family-owned Italian design company Arper is presenting a new exhibition, (RE)CONNECTING, built around themes of returning to the present moment and the people around us. Taking place this year from 10-12 June, 3daysofdesign is Denmark’s official design festival and represents one of the key events of the global […]
The new Powerhouse Parramatta is bringing over 50 designers from across Australia together to shape the spaces and experiences of the new museum in Sydney’s west. Ahead of the museum’s opening later this year, the collective of emerging and established Australian designers will be crafting the fabric of the building as well as its public and exhibition […]
Back for its 17th year, Brisbane Open House has announced its biggest line-up yet. Taking place over the weekend of the 18 and 19 July, this year’s event features 93 buildings, including a record 16 private homes and various government institutions, commercial towers and heritage gems. Many of the buildings are joining the ranks for […]
Carmelo Nastasi is a Sydney-based designer at Tzannes and sessional academic who was inspired by both his parents and the creative video platforms of his formative years. As a member of Australian Design Review‘s 30UNDER30 for 2025/2026, he tells ADR how a love of Sims was one of the pathways that led to a career in […]
Designed by Billard Leece Partnership (BLP), the Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Western Sydney has opened the doors of its new Wattle Building. Alongside the new Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick (Stage 1) and the Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre, which opened at the end of 2025 and were also designed by BLP, the new building […]
Anny Benjamin, as founder and creative director of Studio ab, created a diverse perspective for design and creativity. As part of the 2025/2026 cohort of Australian Design Review‘s 30UNDER30, she reflects on community, collaboration and building a meaningful design practice. Australian Design Review: Why did you enter the 30UNDER30 program? Anny Benjamin: I entered the […]
Shalini Rautela is a Melbourne-based architectural designer who uses a multidisciplinary approach in practising architecture and design. Joining the cohort of Australian Design Review‘s 30UNDER30 for 2025/2026, she shares her views on instinct, collaboration and the evolving role of architecture in a changing world. Australian Design Review: Why did you enter the 30UNDER30 program? Shalini […]
Dasha Tolotchkov is a Melbourne-based exhibition designer at the National Gallery of Victoria. Australian Design Review‘s 30UNDER30 for 2025/2026, she brings a playful and detail-driven approach to creating spatial experiences that evoke emotion, curiosity and quiet surprise. Australian Design Review: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? Dasha Tolotchkov: In my spare time, […]
With a slew of projects recently completed and several more announced, Australia’s build-to-rent (BTR) sector is entering a phase of accelerated development. The national pipeline of apartments (operating, under construction or in planning) has increased from 39,300 in Q2 2025 to 51,000 in Q1 2026. The sector value has increased from $30.1 billion to $40.1 […]
There’s a reason the best studios in the country clear their calendars for June. While the daily work happens in the studio, Design Show Australia is where the industry solves its biggest project challenges. It is the definitive platform for discovering new brands, latest product releases, and the emerging trends that will shape Australian projects […]
Marlo Lyda is a Sydney-based designer and a multidisciplinary practitioner focused on material experimentation. As a member of Australian Design Review‘s 30UNDER30 for 2025/2026, Lyda talks about the need for community, her insights on sustainability and how she uses overlooked materials. Australian Design Review: What do you hope to get out of the program? Marlo […]
Three remarkable artists have claimed Australia’s most celebrated art prizes, reaffirming the enduring power of paint, place and cultural story. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are advised that the following article contains references to a deceased person. There are years when Australia’s most storied art prizes feel like a collective exhale, a moment when the […]
Twelve works, three Dharug artists and one curatorial agency are transforming a Western Sydney motorway into a living testament to Aboriginal story and place. When the brief calls for public art along a motorway interchange, the expected outcome can be often decorative, something that softens the roadside concrete and signals some semblance of civic effort. […]
From sculptural furniture and glowing glassware to First Nations storytelling and radical material reuse, this year’s Melbourne Design Week 2026 (MDW) arrives with an expansive program that pushes design beyond object making and into culture, community and conversation. Across 11 days and more than 400 events, exhibitions and installations, the festival will transform galleries, warehouses, […]
Having recently joined Grimshaw, following a stint at AJC Architects, Simone Carmody continues to be driven by her passion for the environment, for promoting regenerative and sustainable design, and for designing spaces that connect people, place and the planet. As a member of the 2025/26 cohort for Australian Design Review‘s 30UNDER30, she says she’s proud to […]
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