Wood Marsh drew from the “corrosive nature” of the Victorian coastline to inform the “sculptural geometry” and material selection of its RACV Cape Schanck Resort. Located in a “natural saddle” adjacent to the Bass Strait, the 120-room hotel, day spa and golf course/club was “carefully positioned” in the coastal landscape. “The soft, rolling dune-like quality […]
The day you stop being inspired is the day you should stop designing, says Melbourne interior designer Mim Fanning. The design veteran and head of Mim Design sat down with ADR recently to chat about the 20-year anniversary of her studio. “If you’re a designer, you live it, you breathe it. It’s part of your […]
The 2021 Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) Gold Medal has been awarded to Donald Watson, with the jury describing him as “Queensland’s foremost architectural historian” and a “protagonist of postmodernist design”. Australia’s most prestigious architecture award, the Gold Medal recognises distinguished service by architects who have designed or executed buildings of high merit, producing work […]
Beauty can come from “shutting out the noise” and creating in solitude and isolation says Melbourne interior designer Kate Challis. “We live in a hyper-interactive world, which is fabulous, but we don’t always know when to close that off and focus just on what’s at hand,” the designer told ADR recently. “Otherwise we can become […]
David Flack has been named the fifth judge for IDEA 2021, joining Chelsea Hing, Brahman Perera, Hassell principal Domino Risch and Adelaide-based Ryan Genesin. Entries for IDEA 2021 are now open. Enter before 2 May to save $90 on your entry. Don’t worry if you can’t finish it by this Sunday. You can log back in and edit your entry as many […]
Technē Architecture and Interior Design‘s Bianca Baldi has been promoted from interior designer to associate. With more than 10 years of industry experience at the Melbourne practice, Baldi has worked in a variety of sectors including hospitality, residential and commercial spaces. She began her career as an undergraduate in 2010 and went on to work […]
The Australian public, and designers in particular, shouldn’t be afraid of being political, says IDEA 2020 Designer of the Year David Flack. “Within our current world, politics has become a dirty word, but it’s not. It’s actually the place all design starts from,” says Flack. “There is a fear within a lot of Australians, but […]
The Adelaide-based director of Genesin Studio has been announced as the second IDEA judge for 2021. Early bird entries for IDEA 2021 are now open. Genesin will be joined on this year’s panel of industry experts by Hassell principal and workplace designer Domino Risch, along with five other judges, which we’ll be announcing soon. An […]
Each new project by Melbourne-based interior designer Chelsea Hing is a surprise and a delight. She speaks to ADR about her design approach and life post-COVID. Chelsea Hing views her projects as an expression of her life philosophy, rather than being guided by a design philosophy or aesthetic that is recognisable across her body of […]
The Sydney design director takes us inside his reconfigured terrace home in Glebe, which references Moroccan riads and the pleasures of a central garden. From 19th century Italianate terrace to interwar boarding house, Agius’ Courtyard House acknowledges its eventful, but not always glamorous, history by carefully retaining all elements of the original 1885 structure. In […]
The designers behind the IDEA 2020 overall project winner and Residential Single award winner open up about their design process, their creative vulnerabilities and their future as one of Australia’s best loved studios. Kirsten Stanisich and Jonathan Richards made names for themselves as the directors of SJB’s Sydney interior design department. In 2018, they left […]
Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal have been awarded the 2021 Pritzker Architecture Prize. The French duo best known for its social housing, cultural and academic institutions, public spaces and urban developments, made a name for itself most recently with its transformation, alongside Frédéric Druot, of Tour Bois le Prêtre. The crumbling 1960s tower block in […]
Make Architects has transformed a former chocolate factory in the Haymarket district of Sydney into a boutique office that retains the look and feel of the old building. Located on Cunningham Street, the 20th century building is 413 square metres spread across three floors. In its refurbishment, Make Architects maintained the original steel beams, timber […]
For more than 25 years, Kerstin Thompson has explored how architecture can “respond to local conditions to positively shape lives and communities”. In Kerstin Thompson Architects: Encompassing people & place, the extensive body of work of the practice and the achievements and lessons learnt by its founder are chronicled in what publisher Thames & Hudson […]
Designing for aged care should not be a challenge, but an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the evolution of the current model, says Gabriella Avenia. The Hassell architect recently penned an insight piece on the sector and the relationship between social connection and mental health with particular emphasis on the recent COVID-19 lockdowns. “Often designers […]
Hassell has announced appointments into its principal, senior associate, and associate groups across its nine global studios. Hassell managing director, Steve Coster said the new principals reflect the firm’s focus on bringing together both strategic intelligence and creative design. “This group of people have a broad and positive influence across Hassell, leading great projects, inspiring […]
Patricia Urquiola has teamed up with Laufen to bring together the “rigour of architectural minimalism” and the “dynamism of water and sound waves” in a new basin and freestanding bathtub. Featuring a gently rippled exterior that mimics the way sound waves travel through water, the new products complement the traditional smooth surfaces found in the […]
With less than a month to go before we announce the winners of IDEA 2020, we thought we’d take a minute to delve into the contenders for the second most sought-after award of the night – the Emerging Designer of the Year. If you haven’t gotten your tickets to IDEA 2020, grab them now and […]
With just a month to go until we announce the winners of IDEA 2020, we thought we’d take a look at the studios vying for the night’s top prize – Designer of the Year. With past alums like Kennedy Nolan, DesignOffice and SJB, Designer of the Year is always a hard-fought category, and this year […]
Jakarta-based Andra Matin talks about beginning his practice in an economic crisis and the need for a paradigm shift in Indonesian contemporary architecture. To herald local, traditional design while simultaneously championing a nationwide modernisation is a balance few could find with the elegance of Andra Matin. Since founding his eponymous Jakarta-based studio andramatin in 1998, […]
Made For is a Melbourne-based architecture and design practice founded in 2016 by husband and wife team Mitchell Jones and Cara Stizza. We speak to Jones about Made For’s troupe of eight and the future of design after COVID. “I go under the guise of creative director because it’s one of the only titles in […]
Hames Sharley has partnered with Khoa Do of Curtin University to enhance the practice’s design process and bridge the gap between academia and the private sector. Bringing with him more than two decades of experience in university and private architecture sectors, Khoa Do is currently Associate Professor of Architecture and Deputy Chair of the Curtin Academy. […]
Tamsin McLean has been named ASPECT Studios’ Chief Operating Officer, leading one of Australia’s most revered landscape architecture practices into a post-pandemic future. McLean has previously held key managerial positions at Woods Bagot and Bates Smart and was a principal at Activate Strategy Group where she collaborated with service-based businesses facing critical organisational change. It […]
It’s December already! We’re kicking off our review of 2020 with a look at the year’s best interviews with Australian designers and architects. “We’re here to live, not to defy death. Our architecture should do the same” – Koichi Takada A chance virtual encounter with Koichi Takada in the middle of Melbourne’s second lockdown turned into an […]
Bringing Australia’s architecture and design community into focus since 2009.