Table of contents for INDESIGN #82 - Hospitable Design in INDESIGN

Well the last months have been a roller coaster ride haven’t they? We have been finding our way forward, adapting as we go and Indesign has been powering ahead and making its presence felt. As a media company it’s heartening to see just how Indesign has adroitly made virtual it’s own, successfully re-imagining and re-inventing all manner of media to engage with our community. The team has worked overtime to ensure success, as this is a defining time for our industry, but Indesign has risen to the challenge and is continuing, dare I say, to shine. Since March we have had to do everything differently creating new platforms and formats in which to engage. We have presented a plethora of digital offerings such as the Design after Distancing webinar series,…

Defined by a subtly interwoven backstory — or “narrative”, as the designer calls it — there isn’t so much a signature as a sense of character to the designs of Ross Didier. Whether that character is the functional companion of a Tiller or the hedonism of a Puffalo, each object has a raw and singular energy that reads as a continuum. Initially, it was through undertaking the Tertiary Orientation Program at RMIT that Didier’s interest in industrial design was sparked. This quickly gave way to a passion for fine art sculpture and a fusion of focus: the blurring of installation art into interiors. At some point, Didier became a self-confessed student workaholic applying industrial design to art-making. (For context, this was the late 1980s and early 1990s when the art/design…

Sustainability is paramount in modern design. One could argue that if a design isn’t sustainable, it isn’t truly modern. With a clear understanding of the negative implications of climate change, selecting sustainable materials isn’t a choice - it’s a long-term commitment. American hardwoods, with their extensive sustainability credentials, should be top of mind for any architect and designer who looks to minimise the negative impact on the environment through their practice - and create stunning visual outcomes along the way. With a plethora of benefits including durability, versatility, and even positive effects on human wellbeing, American hardwoods come from an abundant sustainable and natural resource. Trees are allowed to grow to size before being selectively felled. Each year, growth far exceeds harvest and for every tree felled, more than 2…

Mastini, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by DesignOffice Mastani, on High Street, Armadale offers a discreet view of the fashion label from the street. Perspex sheets with a burnished edge frame the garments that hang in the window. Inspired by the fabrics represented in the store — sourced from Italy and India, and many of which are from handlooms — there’s a strong, confident and feminine sense to both the clothing and the fit out. “There’s a play of both strength and beauty,” says designer Mark Simpson, co-director of DesignOffice, who collaborated with Mastani owner and designer, Kudrat Makkar, and creative agency Ortolon. Creating an experience for those who enter the narrow-fronted store was at the forefront of the minds of all those who contributed to creating this understated fit out. “It’s…

As design ideas from residential projects have been incorporated into our workplaces, so too has the essence of hospitality joined forces with retail to create a more hospitable offering. With coffee carts now commonly positioned within commercial buildings, pop-up cafés adjoining lobbies in public spaces and retail shops offering coffee, water and wine to VIP customers, hospitality abounds — something that is evident in the Winning Appliances Richmond Showroom. The commission from Winning, a Sydney-based kitchen and laundry market leader, was awarded to Cera Stribley after a rigorous interview and presentation process. As this was the company’s first venture into Victoria, Winning wished to express their brand in a way that was place-specific and would speak to a Victorian clientele. The core of the brief was to showcase the multitude…

For designers serious about addressing the climate emergency there’s no shortage of detailed information, good advice or, more recently, thoughtful commentary about how coronavirus recovery can help the cause. What’s hard is sifting through it all and identifying a few key steps that’ll have most impact for your particular practice and clients. COVID-19 makes this harder in some ways, easier in others. Harder because lockdown has hit industries such as hospitality and development hard and changed clients’ priorities, project schedules and budgets overnight. Clients struggling to retain staff and re-build markets may not prioritise going carbon neutral as highly as they would have just a few months back amid global climate strikes, bushfire devastation and Architects Declare’s Carbon Neutral Pledge. Easier because lockdown has amplified demand for cities and spaces…

Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving Club Page 96 Architect Wood Marsh Interior Designer ZWEI Interiors Architecture (The Dunes Café) Construction/Builder Ireland Brown Construction Structural Engineer Webb Consult Services Engineer Wood & Grieve Landscape Designer TNLA Duration 11 months Wood Marsh woodmarsh.com.au Finishes Glass throughout, Viridian. Metal roof and wall cladding, Colourbond. ‘Natural White’ and ‘Helsinki Flame’ paint, Dulux. ‘DesignAclad batten 55’ exterior timber cladding, Frencham Cypress. ‘Vogal Joint System’ perforated plasterboard ceiling, Atkar. Bathroom ceramic tiles and reception area bluestone tiles, Signorino. ‘Granite Safe. T Grey’ locker room slip resistant vinyl flooring, Tarkett. Villaboard locker room wall lining. Exposed insitu concrete flooring ground and honed with Bluestone aggregate. Victorian Ash Crown Cut interior timber cladding with matte black stain. Eva Tilley Memorial Home Page 104 Interior Designer Studio Tate Architect…

The most progressive architecture and design in the Indo-Pacific. Celebrating INDE.Awards 2020 On Thursday 13 August the winners of the 2020 INDE.Awards were announced in a special virtual gala event. With a record-breaking 473 submissions received from 14 locations from around the Indo-Pacific, the INDE.Awards this year has been an outstanding showcase for innovative and creative architecture and design that articulates the breadth and diversity of our Region. Congratulations to all our winners, your extraordinary projects and achievements have set design precedents this year. INDE.Awards 2020 Jury Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, Formafantasma (Netherlands) Budiman Hendropurnomo, Denton Corker Marshall (Indonesia) Chan Ee Mun, WOHA (Singapore) Eleena Jamil, Eleena Jamil Architect (Malaysia) James Calder, ERA-co (Australia) Jan Utzon, Utzon Architects (Denmark) Joshua Comaroff, Lekker Architects (Singapore) Koichi Takada, Koichi Takada Architects…

The history of architecture and design gives us a perspective on what’s truly new — and more importantly, of what came before. It is the past that creatives draw from for inspiration, whether it’s architecture, furniture or fashion. Rather than simply reproducing the past, the best of them take ideas forward in order to give people a new insight: a different way of dressing, living, seeing or working. Unfortunately, in our current design world, the past is often ignored; wherein schemes that are heralded as groundbreaking are simply re-worked ideas that offer very little true innovation. This may not be intentional, given the flood of images one receives on a daily basis via the internet. But how can one design anything without knowing history, whether it’s in the field of…

Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving Club, Ocean Grove, Victoria, Australia by Wood Marsh Designed to be contiguous with the surrounding landscape, the Wood Marsh design of Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving Club posits a continuation of the undulating form of the sand dunes. Moreover, each element exists in reciprocity with the location via the natural being woven throughout. A case in point: the control tower physically denotes the Victorian coastline. As Wood Marsh principal Roger Wood explains: “It makes reference to the rocky sandstone outcrop below the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse. It has to do with the age of the Victorian coastline and erosion so that little pinnacle of a control tower is meant to be looking like one of those defiant pieces of sandstone rock along the coastline that hasn’t…

Café Lafayette, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by Hassell A historic 150-year-old converted townhouse sits in Niagara Lane, one of the oldest laneways in Melbourne’s city centre. This heritage-listed site has been transformed into a feat of innovative and daring design, blending theatre, creativity and contemporary flavours. Run by co-owners Solar Liang and Monique Wu, Café Lafayette is not your typical café. When the world shut its doors earlier this year, we never expected the simple joys of celebrating and eating out to disappear so quickly. It is in these last few months that we have recognised that a restaurant is much more than its food offering; it is the culinary spectacle of intoxicating aromas, plated artistry and an energy in the atmosphere that delves deep into all five senses. The result…

As I write this piece, we are approaching week six of working from home. Notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic arriving and fundamentally changing the way we live, even fleetingly, the evolution of hospitality spaces in recent years tells a story of a discipline disrupted. Shifts in how we travel, dine and entertain have thrust the sector forward, reflecting changes in how we work, consume and communicate. In short, the changing face of hospitality is a friendly one – one that has willingly learnt from its peers in workplace and retail in order to make people comfortable. The increased popularity of co-working in non-traditional spaces is fascinating. The ground plane of public buildings — which not long ago mostly featured grand marble lobbies with a single purpose as a transition zone —…

The idea of hospitality design is generally realised in the realm of the service industry; cafés, restaurants, bars and hotels are, of course, the mainstays of the sector. But think for a moment about hospitality design as hospitable design; the places and spaces that offer generous amenity, public access, flexible usage, connection to nature and respect for place. Almost every project these days offers a certain amount of generosity or a hospitable inclusion. It may be extrapolating the idea to claim that a large commercial building within a Business Park can be hospitable – but think again. Botanicca 3, located in Burnley and just seven kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD, is Gray Puksand’s latest commission and is every centimetre a hospitable project, built for people to inhabit with ease. The project,…

Design Notes Just when you thought there could be no more design elements included in a pendant light Luxxbox launches Motif. Motif introduces a whole new dimension in lighting design-pattern. With Luxxbox’s acoustic range already addressing light and sound, now you can add playfulness and personality to a space through pattern as well. Jason Bird, Founder and Creative Director of Luxxbox says the Australian design studio is excited to introduce a solution for adding pattern to their entire acoustic lighting product range. “The benefits of acoustic lighting has long been recognised in workspaces, hospitality or learning environments where hard, often industrial spaces can make conversations difficult. This is a great way to benefit from the noise acoustic lighting in a more relaxed way.” The initial release includes a selection of…

A couple of years ago I saw a wonderful exhibition in Munich by Hella Jongerius and Louise Schouten Schouwenberg entitled ‘Beyond the New’. It included this powerful quote: “True innovation is enabled through entertaining a vivid dialogue with the past and linking the stories to the here and now.” This quote was in my head when I caught up with Perth-based design practitioner Penelope Forlano, as it resonates with her credo as a designer. She grew up in Perth with a love of arthouse films (especially those made by British director Peter Greenaway), theatre, and television shows such as Melrose Place (which used sets with subversive interventions by a group called GALA). These influences fuelled an interest in set design, which she noticed was often done by architects. “That’s when…

Eva Tilley Memorial Home Balwyn North, Victoria, Australia by Studio Tate For a long time, health facilities such as hospitals and aged care homes were anything but hospitable. They were not welcoming and not places where anyone wanted to be. But things have been changing in recent years. Hospitals have led the way with a new emphasis on wellness, in recognition that life-affirming contexts – warm internal finishes and external connections to sunshine, natural light and nature – help drive faster recovery rates. Traditionally, aged care homes, with their drab internal palettes, crusty furnishings and inward-focused planning, sent a message that life was in the past but this model is now being challenged. An excellent example is the newly refurbished Eva Tilley Memorial Home in Melbourne’s Balwyn North, where designers…

In January, we had whipped coffee; in March, frantically hoarded spaghetti; April was sourdough starters which eased into focaccias; and in July some of us realised we’d been cooking rice the wrong way all along. In a year that has seen time lose any sense of definition, it has been food which has reenergised our living spaces and punctuated months of home schooling, Zoom calls and life spent indoors. This fixation on home cooking reflects the filling of a hospitality void, a migration from metropolitan bars and suburban diners to the comfort of lounge rooms and island benches. With social distancing the mantra of 2020, our homes have presented an alternative to going out: a place to gather, to connect and to host our nearest and dearest. In this pursuit…

Change We have witnessed change through all periods in history. 2020 is, unquestionably, no exception. The human spirit is inherently creative, allowing us to address change, to evolve and adapt to new challenges. Designers are at the forefront of this creative thinking, innovation and problem solving. Hospitality Hospitality, at its heart, is about forging connections between human beings. We thrive on shared experiences and the stimulation of the new. Our enforced isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the vital, life-affirming role that social connection and immersive experience plays in our lives. While the online world is our lifeline and companion, it simply doesn’t provide the pulse or joy of genuine human connection. Restaurants and hotels are the theatrical stages on which these interactions take place; contexts…