Table of contents for INDESIGN #91 in INDESIGN

Setting their sights high

With sustainability and ethical supply key drivers for both Autex Acoustics and Willie Weston, the pairing of these dynamic entities was in many ways inevitable. Developing a curated range of printed carbon neutral acoustic wall linings by First Nations artists from Willie Weston’s range, the Autex Acoustics x Willie Weston collection reimagines how First Nations culture can be both meaningfully and beautifully represented in designed spaces. The latest artist to join the collection, Lisa Waup, is a mixedcultural First Nations artist and curator from Naarm (Melbourne) whose practice encompasses a diverse range of media, including weaving, printmaking, photography, sculpture, fashion, and digital art. With a deep connection to the symbolic power of materials, her work reflects her personal experiences, family history, country, and broader historical narratives. This combination of fine…

1 min

Cairns Convention Centre: A gem that celebrates its setting

Reframing and repositioning the Cairns Convention Centre in relation to its stunning outlooks of both the Trinity Inlet and the city’s dramatic, verdant mountain range backdrop, COX Architecture has embraced the opportunity to design the expansion of this iconic destination. Taking these stunning views into the project is facitlitated by the curve of the building, which embraces the panorama with a 130-metre-long façade. Featuring a sunscreen fabricated from glass reinforced concrete (GRC), the façade is oriented with the aid of computer modelling to track the sun’s path and provide strategic shade for reduced heat gain. The glazed curved wall required a substantial number of mullions to ensure structural strength for cyclonic conditions. That said, in using timber cladding created from trees cleared for mining at Weipa and reclaimed by the…

Designing life

There is no more passionate person than Vince Frost, whose love of design, business and for life itself shines through in his words and actions. Frost’s grasp of the visual arts, through his graphic design expertise, has touched people far and wide and his resolution to exceed the brief is legendary. At one stage or another we have all seen his work and it has influenced us whether we know it or not. Vince Frost was born in England and the family moved to Canada for a brighter future when Frost was young. However, missing England, they returned to the UK when Frost was 15 years old. A shy boy, the young Frost was not so interested in academia but excelled at visual communications and so at the end of…

Finding the Light

A new pocket park in North Sydney is the vitamin-d injection workers have been craving. While the Sydney CBD is blessed with a setting enjoying a north facing slope terminating at the shores of Sydney Harbour, just a bridge length away, North Sydney is inversely challenged, sitting in the shade of a geographic spur that begins at the harbour and winds its way to the Hawkesbury River in the north. Consequently, our experience of the two CBDs is completely different. One is light and bright with pedestrians often scurrying to find shade and protection, while the other sees pedestrians often acting like cats, shifting sides of the street to capture the sun. As a fraction of the size of its southern neighbour, North Sydney is typified by shaded streets and…

2 min

Tea with a view

Wrapping purpose within nature ARCHSTUDIO’s design holds centre stage of this important tourism destination. ARCHSTUDIO, led by founding partners Han Wenqiang (Chief Architect) and Li Xiaoming, have delivered an extraordinary project. Indeed, this is more a mobius curve that sits naturally in the environment, than anything expected. Though, the unexpected is increasingly becoming ARCHSTUDIO’s touchstone. Inherent to tea growing is a landscape of continuous slopes and connected hills. As such, Han and Li elected to use the only significant flat area of the proposed site as a square to sit below the bridge of the primary volume before expanding to connect with a second volume. With grassed rooftops, large spreading lawns and terraced gardens (Shanghai Garden Group), the volumes, located at the top of adjacent hills, effectively mimic the terraced…

The decorporatisation of design

Monash College Docklands is leading the way in adaptive reuse that decorporatises a building for a future life of learning and teaching. Reflecting a conservatory aesthetic, there is warmth and sunlight and connectivity to the outside vistas providing students with a unique opportunity to enjoy the outside indoors. As a place of education, there can be no better than Monash College Docklands. Located at 750 Collins Street, Melbourne, this learning hub is part of a ‘pathway program’ for international and local students to support them in their journey to higher degree courses at Monash University. Repurposing and refurbishing the interior of a former corporate building into a spacious and light-filled facility for teaching and learning, the project is unique and exceeds the brief through creativity and style. The project was…

A Pocket of Loveliness in Byron Bay

Nestled in the heart of Byron Bay on an otherwise ordinary street is a small moment of delight. Designed by Nyree Mackenzie, The Swell Hotel is more about the mood of Byron’s hinterland than the typical beach aesthetic. Signalled by warm caramel velvets, golden glows and organic materials, Mackenzie’s design draws on the lifestyle of Byron to deliver an unexpected pocket of loveliness. Richly diverse materials, textures and patterns are overlain without fuss to deliver an interior that Mackenzie notes “is as comfortable when you want to wear high heels as when you want to be barefoot.” This is an interesting departure for Byron which has always been a bit of one or the other. Rather, Mackenzie has designed around a clientele that is drawn to Byron Shire’s passion for…

In Praise of Glocalism

Over the last 20 years we have seen a flattening of difference, an eraser of the individual fingerprints that lend our cities and communities their unique qualities. This erasure has been to the benefit of uniformity, efficiency, and affordability. In the early 90’s it was unique to see McDonalds opening onto the Trevi Fountain, now there is a Starbucks on every corner of almost every square in the world – and to my mind the novelty has well and truly worn off. We have been served well by engaging with the world, by learning from others. However, our propensity for copy clipping has seen the importation of large swathes of other cultures into and onto our own, to an extent that we now often fail to observe the difference. This…

Introducing the Voices of Indesign

Adam Haddow, Director, SJB Adam has been a director at SJB since 2002. As a studio, SJB is acclaimed nationally and internationally for their work. SJB’s buildings gestate in the belief that architecture should provide an armature for community life; that the activities buildings facilitate are just as important as the physicality of the buildingsthemselves. Adam is a Churchill Fellow who investigated alternatives to conventional models of urban design. The sabbatical resulted in a research project entitled ‘Shall We Dense’ an examination into the state of modern density living in Australia and led to successful collaborations within the professional and architecturalrealms. As NSW Chapter President of the Australian Institute of Architects, Adam leads the Institute in its mission to promote excellence in architecture and advocates for the role of architects…

The Designer, Indigenous Engagement, and the New Green Star Credits Winya Indigenous Furniture

New Green Star credits are set to change the way designers should be thinking about Indigenous Engagement, Indigenous Cultures and Identities. In order to achieve the credits, designers will need to focus on deeper and more genuine engagement rather than the “tick the box” type of work that emerged after the introduction of the Indigneous Procurement Policy back in 2015. The Indigenous Procurement Policy, set by the government commited up to 3 % (this has increased in some states) of their budget to be spent within Indigenous businesses. This policy was developed with the vision to support an Indigenous middle class of business people who had statistically proven to be greater providers of support to their communities than non-Indigenous businesses. This also meant that a number of major corporate bodies…

An architect of distinction

Brit Andresen is an architect who has developed and shaped architectural ideas through her words and designs. Having travelled the globe before settling in Australia, her contribution has been crafted by her experiences and a reverence for the land, an important influence on the architecture she creates. Brit Andresen was born in Norway and from an early age travelled the world with her family. During this time there was exposure to the built form in many foreign lands that engaged her imagination and inspired her love of both the landscape and buildings. While travel developed curiosity in the young Andresen at high school, it was drawing and making that brought out her creative side. After high school, Andresen left for England to study mathematics but then returned to Norway and…

A woman of vision

Shimul Javeri Kadri is a woman of our time. As an architect she has achieved many accolades and much success, however, it is her ethos and ethics, those things that she measures architecture and life by, that marks her as singular. Her practice, SJK Architects, is one of the most renowned in India and, as its Founder, she has led a 40-strong team for more than 30 years, building an exemplary client portfolio and creating projects that impact the social and cultural fabric of her country. Shimul’s demeanour is thoughtful and measured, she thinks logically but is influenced by her heart and it is these traits she brings to her practice and that resonate in her architecture. Shimul grew up in a family of professionals, doctors and chartered accountants, and…

Intensifying the Narrative

Can the modern tropical hotel provide guests with a deeper sense of place? ONG&ONG, together with Nic Graham & Associates proves so with the newly completed Artyzen Singapore. In Singapore’s Orchard Road shopping district along Cuscaden Road, a new hotel has altered the skyline. The 20-storey Artyzen Singapore is a slim tower, with multiple landscape-filled voids cut into its form, while a series of bronze-coloured screens – some scalloped, some meshed – animate the façade. Artyzen Singapore is the 15th property of Artyzen Hospitality Group (AHG), which is the bespoke lifestyle hospitality specialist arm of Shun Tak Holdings Limited. It is AHG’s first property outside Greater China, and one of the many new hotels that has opened on the island after the Covid-19 pandemic. Australian Nic Graham was in charge…

Government done differently

When a government department comes to you to design their workplace, it’s a protocol-first process. For the new Victorian Department of Transport and Planning workplace, peckvonhartel used its deep understanding of government to push the boundaries… within reason. There’s multiple facets to designing for government – the requirements are quite different to privately owned entities; requirements, guidelines and protocols become the framework within which a brief will be issued and a creative response delivered. And there’s a reason for that: it allows for a degree of uniformity where staff can transition between different departments and hubs with familiarity and ease, and a department’s capabilities can be ramped up quickly to accommodate shifts in policy and politics. As Tim Giles, Design Director at peckvonhartel (pvh), says, it involves a considered approach…

Timber on the rise

Stepping away from our usual remit of interior architecture and fit-outs, we look at Jackson Clements Burrows’, T3 and the latest thinking in sustainable architecture. Getting the bones right for any building is paramount to how well the building performs, how happy the tenants are and how well the city functions. That is, when the buildings are good, engaged with their surroundings and sustainably undertaken, so too can the city and citizens flourish. With T3 by Jackson Clements Burrows, the building is very much a sustainable envelope to support the loose fit of interiors as tenants occupy and evolve. With large open floorplates, a surround of windows and minimal support incursion, each floor is an open proposition waiting to be fulfilled with client needs and the endless possibilities of configuration.…

IN CONVERSATION THE BUSINESS OF LIVING

Adam Haddow As a profession we’re often engaged in trying to find solutions to our housing challenges – ultimately, we end up in discussions around the business of housing, but I wonder if we could pivot our conversation to talk about the business of living instead. Kerstin Thompson So when you say business of living compared to housing, how are you understanding the difference? Adam In my mind the business of housing is about ensuring someone has somewhere to sleep – it is quite binary, the business of living on the other hand is talking about the networks and infrastructure that allows us to be a community – to thrive and look after each other with dignity. I’m interested in how we step away from the fetishisation of architecture as…

12 min

EMBRACING THE SLOPE

Practice Dangar Barin Smith Location: Wonnarua land/Hunter Valley NSW There is a patience to being a landscape architect that must be admired. Great landscape outcomes are the result of slowness – often taking decades if not centuries to reveal themselves. So, making a new project feel like it has always been there is no mean feat. The Queensland Bottle Tree (Brachychiton Rupestris) is a tree that lends itself to this long-ness, a sense of permanence in waiting. Although not Will Dangar’s favourite tree – it appears a bit ‘pompomy’ to him, it comes with the benefit of quickly making a place look permanent while cutting a mean profile on the sky. Will Dangar of Dangar Barin Smith is a master of his trade, able to find a balance between ‘found’…

THE ULTIMATE INDUSTRY CHEAT SHEET

Shimmering Ruins The latest at White Rabbit Gallery, ‘A Blueprint for Ruins’, curated by David Williams, offers a startling realisation of change. Beneath the glossy surface of progress lurks a simmering undercurrent of violence. Cities tear themselves apart to make way for towering skyscrapers and gleaming high-rises. However, in this bright new world, one question arises: where have all the people gone? Streets devoid of life and vacant apartment blocks stand as haunting reminders of an abandoned dream. Like solemn tombs from a long-lost civilisation, these forgotten monuments silently bear witness to the cost of rapid urbanisation, where each new creation necessitates the destruction of another. ‘A Blueprint for Ruins’ reverberates with the shadows of the dispossessed within China’s urban metamorphosis. The artworks guide us toward the remnants of memories…

15 min

Designing for Wellbeing

In an unexpected departure from traditional office design, a striking transformation through collaboration with Humanscale has been achieved by Hames Sharley Melbourne Studio. The result is a vibrant, sensory-driven workspace featuring Humanscale furniture that helps to shape this innovative environment. Integrating ergonomic products including chairs, monitor arms, and task lights into the design, the project prioritises individual wellbeing, productivity, and sensory engagement while championing energy efficiency. Occupying the third level of a grand Art Deco building on Melbourne’s Collins Street in the heart of the city, the design honours the site’s rich historical legacy while introducing a contemporary design aesthetic. With curved walls and large bay windows nodding to the building’s architectural tradition, the design plays on the structural grid and original features, while bespoke detailing evokes the Art Deco…

The passion to design

Colin Seah is an architect and designer who, through his work, has made an indelible imprint on the built landscape of Singapore and beyond. Not only does he conceive projects that stand the test of time, he is a proponent of design that is thoughtful and experiential, a supporter of art and photography and a man with a clear view of what great creativity can bring to people and place. As the Founder and Director of Design at Ministry of Design (MOD), Seah advocates exemplary ingenuity on every level and the proof is a burgeoning portfolio of projects that span the breadth of architecture, landscape, interiors, master plans, signage, product, graphics, art curation and installation, plus brand strategy. While Seah is obviously a driving force of architecture and design today,…

Beauty and Grace

MESHKI HQ by Those Architects Texture and form have become the main means of expression for the designers; a soft, curvaceous language reigns throughout. But what about the workplace? This HQ is, after all, very much a working office – so how have the architects met requirements both functional and cosmetic? The answer lies in Those Architects’ design process, which starts with rigorous attention to the prosaic, architectural problems at the core of the brief; the aesthetics come later. It’s an approach that doesn’t diminish the aspects of beauty in a design, but rather anchors them more meaningfully in genuine architectural solutions. In the case of MESHKI’s HQ, the core problem to solve was programmatic. Having grown exponentially in just a decade of operations, the fashion brand had a wide…

The working home

A workplace that is a home for working. A timeless and luxurious aesthetic defines the interior of the new Melbourne office for Forbes Global Properties (Forbes), part of the Forbes media family. With a concept that is sophisticated and perfectly tailored to the brand, this workplace is so much more than simply a place to work, it provides a glamourous and functional destination for clients and staff alike. Relating to the workplace as a home office, the idea has been flipped to create an ‘office home’. As the lines of residential and commercial interiors become increasingly blurred, the design of this workspace by Gillianne Griffiths, Creative Director and Principal Designer, Studio Griffiths, with interior curation of furniture and art by Swee Lim, Principal, Swee Design, is amplifying the trend and…

Village Charm

A village within a village, Yiyun Bishan Hotel is rather wonderfully a far cry from the flamboyance of statement hotels. Challenging expectations of a soaring street presence, Yiyun Bishan Hotel sits discreetly amongst a traditional village of ancient Anhui architecture of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1644, 1633-1911 respectively). Matching scale, height and materiality with its surrounds, the outward presence of the hotel is subtle and muted. Moreover, as the hotel sits within the village it is necessary to arrive via the narrow winding lanes of the village. “During my initial survey of the site, I faced some challenges such as the unavailability of direct access for vehicles, uneven terrain, limited space, and less-than-ideal scenery. However, as I stood in the area, I found myself captivated by the picturesque surroundings…

The Jewel of Guangzhou

Charming does not even begin to describe this immaculate gem of colour and delight. Located within the Mandarin Oriental, Guangzhou, the Mandarin Cake Shop is a perfect respite from the fast-paced glamour of this sprawling contemporary metropolis. Located on the banks of the Pearl River, Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) northwest of Hong Kong, is a city well known for its extraordinary architecture including Zaha Hadid’s Guangzhou Opera House; Rocco Design Architects’ Guangdong Museum; and the iconic Canton TV Tower Skyscraper by Information Based Architects (IBA). Moreover, as a port city its uniqueness is steeped in culture, both traditional and trade derived. The entrance and interior designed by CCD reflect these elements with grace and ease. The entrance itself is discreetly identified by a new version of the Mandarin Oriental…

THE COMMONS: WHY SMART, LOCAL DESIGN IS A COWORKING WINNER

With 11 premium locations and an all-Australian roster of collaborators including renowned practices such as Flack Studio, DesignOffice, and Foolscap Studio, The Commons’ commitment to championing local design has set us apart in the fast-growing coworking market. Established with my schoolmate Tom Ye in 2016, The Commons has rapidly expanded our portfolio to encompass more than 56,000 sqm of coworking workspaces across Melbourne and Sydney. Our collection of community-focused and dynamic working environments has positioned us among Australia’s top coworking operators, attracting well-known companies like PayPal, Spotify, Broadsheet, and Wise, with membership numbers now surpassing 7,000. As occupancy rates rise above 90% portfolio-wide and work progresses on five new locations, The Commons is showing no signs of slowing down – and I believe our strong partnership with Australian designers has…