Interior Interior Dec/Feb 2018

The ever-so luscious Eat Drink Design Awards have recently been announced. According to the jury panel, the process of selecting the top hospitality interiors in Australia and New Zealand elicited some interesting ideas about the design and build process. According to them, hospitality design in 2017 was marked by a lack of common themes but an overarching sense of ambition: “within the scope of such ambition we saw more genteel and conservative entries, and entries with irony, verve and wit,” wrote the jury. Likewise, some projects showed that when large budgets were not available, artisanal detail took its place. “In the place of budgetary excess, there has been a renewed investment in and commitment to making by hand through thoughtful, artisanal detail,” the jury continued. And it is true, 2017…

TOAKI OKANO Photographer Toaki is a Tokyo-born photographer specialising in still life and portraits. He shot the Laminex feature (page 74) and the Interior Awards judges (page 10). IN THIS ISSUE, YOU SHOT THE LAMINEX FEATURE AND THE INTERIOR AWARDS JUDGES. HOW DID THESE GO? Laminex was exciting to shoot and, at the same time, I got to know new materials and surfaces, which is useful information as a still photographer. When you shoot portraits in a group, it is important to make them relax (which most find difficult in front of a camera normally) but all the judges were very easy to photograph. YOU SPECIALISE IN STILL LIFE PHOTOGRAPHY. WHAT INTERESTS YOU IN THIS GENRE? Still life photography is a challenging but much calmer process than other shoots, face…

Jack McKinney Jack is an architect and director of McKinney + Windeatt Architects, founded in 2002. The practice is focused on creating site-specific, individually tailored buildings. Jack has worked across a range of project types and budgets with a particular focus on hospitality projects and bespoke residential work. A consistent ambition is to deliver the best outcome for each commission with a rigorous approach to detail. He aims to provide strong, resolved and enriching architecture. The practice has won a number of awards at both local and national level, including the Supreme Award at the 2017 Interior Awards. Maggie Carroll Maggie is co-founder and director of Auckland based boutique architectural practice Bureaux. With an ethos of delivering their clients a total concept, fully integrated design, Bureaux’s projects are noted for…

Sydney-born Rachael Challinor is bringing international ‘athleisure’ brands to these shores with People Like Us, a shining beacon of freshness and fitness in East Auckland’s Orakei. The interior fit-out was designed by Jessica White of Room by Room and features Yves Klein blue drikolor paint applied to high tubing along the back wall of the dressing rooms. “This creates an almost organic form within the space,” says White. “A dichroic colour application to a high acrylic wall creates an everchanging backdrop. Throughout the day, light and shadow play with this material to reflect a multicolour glow.” According to Challinor, the design of the store brought in a good number of pre-orders before it even opened. “I had so many eager customers walking past the shop as we were hanging up…

The sculptural installation Under/standing looms large and strong over Brancott Estate’s grapevines and at the same time, seems right at home there, with the intersecting lines of rust orange Corten steel merging with the linear geometry of the rows of vines. According to Benshetrit, interacting with the installation is integral to capturing its purpose. “The whole meaning of this piece is that you have to literally stand underneath it to understand it.” On site, the designer encouraged the viewers to get under it, to climb it if we dared. The sculpture was fabricated by Auckland’s Design Production and arrived on the vineyard in flat-pack form. After being lifted into the air, the piece almost effortlessly unfolded as it was steered onto its site. “This idea of going from flat to…

The diverse pool of 158 entries (within Commercial Interior, Commercial Exterior, Residential Interior, Residential Exterior and Landscape categories) was united by the simplicity and honesty of timber applications in Australian and New Zealand design. The judging panel – comprised of Bronwen Kerr, director of Kerr Ritchie; Maria Danos, founder of Maria Danos Architecture; Cameron Bruhn, editorial director of Architecture Media; Geoffrey London, Professor of Architecture at the University of Western Australia; and Douglas Curr, technical sales and specification manager at Intergrain – was struck by the high quality of entries along with the continuing trend of showcasing the true quality of timber. This year, six projects were honoured: the winning entry in each category received $2,000 in prize money and 100 litres of Intergrain product; and one outstanding project, finished…