Table of contents for Interior Mar/May 2018 in Interior

The long, narrow footprint of the house, which dates back to 1910, necessitated an understated palette of colours and materials from architect Mary Daish, who designed the fit-out of this new restaurant. A key move was to remove the wall between the kitchen and dining spaces, so that diners could have a connection to the vibrancy of the kitchen and also see who cooked their meals, says Daish. “We wanted the spaces to contribute to each other and be integrated, but still have a sense of serenity for the diners. We thought about how the kitchen implements, such as the beautiful terracotta plates from San Francisco, could become like the wallpaper, providing texture and colour for the restaurant.” Built-in bench seating gives flexibility in terms of numbers at the tables,…

Rufus Knight: You’ve said that “nothing ages faster than the new” and that your designs “build off old metaphors”; this increases their longevity because they already feel somewhat familiar. Is this becoming easier or harder as we live more design-conscious lives? Marcel Wanders (MW): In general, creating designs that feel familiar is getting harder as there are so many new mediums for us to design within. To me, something can be considered design if it creates meaningful connections with people. It must resonate with humanity and introduce people to something unique and surprising. We are living in a faster world where instant gratification has made people seek the next new thing sooner. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly difficult to have longevity with older metaphors as things age even more quickly.…

PROJECTS: QT Queenstown PROJECT: QT Queenstown Hotel LOCATION: Queenstown DESIGN: Nic Graham + Associates PROJECT TYPE: Hospitality QT QUEENSTOWN’S main entrance is on a narrow, hill-perched street that runs parallel to the western end of Queenstown’s famous Lake Esplanade. As a site, it makes complete sense: direct, unobstructed views of Lake Wakatipu, The Remarkables and the town centre at the far end. The reception area is a small space composed of a comfortable agglomeration of velvety seats beside a suspended, black chimney. There is a graphic treatment on the main wall: colourful and slightly boastful of the region’s adrenaline-filled reputation. It is cosy, with a dash of ‘jet-setting cool’, and this panache is further driven home by sharp, black hotel staff uniforms and a palette of black and concrete on the reception…

Adaptive reuse projects seek to achieve a balance between preserving the original building for its architectural and cultural heritage and creating a functional living or working space to contribute to the vitality and viability of a place. At Kapel De Waterhond (The Waterdog Chapel) in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, Klaarchitectuur has transformed a 16th-century building into a work and event space by creating a sculptural composition in sharp contrast to the original structure. The response was driven by the desire to preserve and showcase the historical building and to reopen the space to the public. Klaarchitectuur founder, architect Gregory Nijs, was drawn to the character and high ceilings of the heritage-listed building, its structure and decorative vestiges providing evidence of its former uses. “The original oak-wood roof construction and archway with cornerstones…

What system do you use? We’re using Oculus Rift for the VR with Revit and the thing that connects them is Enscape, which is a prescription plug-in. With Enscape, you press the button and it takes the Revit model and all the materials and it’s live from the Revit model. If you change something in Revit, it will change it in Enscape, within the speed of the processing power. When do you use it? We keep it live to develop design. We thought it might cost the client more but we’ve had three or four experiences where it has proven to be the opposite. The client has come in with a list of changes and we’ve attempted to tell them why certain changes won’t benefit them – such as, “you…

What are you reminiscing about from 2017? The inaugural Festival of Architecture for which I was Events Coordinator. It was incredibly rewarding to see discussions about architecture and design appealing to the wider public – something I’ve long been an advocate for. What are you reading? I’m working my way through Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities – still such a relevant text today. It’s a dense read so I’m breaking it up with Tim Winton’s delicate memoir of his relationship with the landscape of Australia, Island Home. What overseas travel are you looking forward to? I recently designed a compact series of fales (Te Arerenga) for some artist friends in Rarotonga. The fales are used for artists’ residencies and accommodation. I haven’t been back since…

FREDERIQUE GULCHER Writer A former architecture editor and travel journalist, Queenstown-based Frederique now focuses on sustainable industries, writing about green fashion and design. WHAT MOST IMPRESSED YOU ABOUT CAMP GLENORCHY? Camp Glenorchy had to meet some serious criteria under the Living Building Challenge. All of that, in combination with the professional interior design, may have overshadowed what lies at the heart of the project – community. After all the construction, consultation and revisiting of the design and specs, what stands out is not the green architecture or warm interiors, but the sense of inclusiveness and connectedness. That, to me, is just as clever as are the Net Zero Certification and re-purposed fittings. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON SUSTAINABILITY? I am a huge believer in, and advocate of all of us…

PROJECTS: Online Republic PROJECT: Online Republic CLIENT: Online Republic LOCATION: Auckland DESIGN: Stack Business Interiors PROJECT TYPE: Workplace FLOOR AREA: 1550m2 PROJECTS: TVNZ WEARING your best suit, your gloves and your hat, you stepped onto a Pan Am flight in the 1950s and were greeted by a level of opulence and luxury unseen today. You were dressed in your best and you had somewhere important to go; it was this sense of occasion, characterising the heyday of travel, that Stack Business Interiors aimed to capture for Online Republic’s new-build fit-out in Wynyard Quarter. But, unlike a mid-century flight, the opulent space was never meant for the passengers, says Stack’s designer Jacquette Barrington. “This wasn’t about visitors or people coming in – it was always a place for staff.” The new workspace for this…

Oculus The Oculus Rift is a VR headset developed and manufactured by a division of Facebook and first released in March 2016. It requires a stand-alone computer. Oculus is expected to release Oculus Go soon: an inexpensive, stand-alone version of the Rift. RRP $629 (Rift), approx. $150 (Go) Samsung Gear For a VR newcomer who owns the latest Samsung phone, or one released two years ago, the updated Gear headset (powered by Oculus) is now paired with a wireless motion controller and is one of the most affordable options on the market. RRP $149 Microsoft HoloLens The Microsoft HoloLens is widely considered to be a mixed-reality headset. The technology giant describes it as the first fully self-contained holographic computer that enables viewers to interact with high-definition holograms in the real…

Entries for the 2018 Interior Awards are now open and will close on 2 May. Presented by Interior magazine, the awards programme celebrates – through nine competition categories – the best commercial interior design projects and practitioners in New Zealand. The categories are: Retail, Hospitality, Workplace (up to 1,000m2) and Workplace (over 1,000m2), Civic, Installation, Emerging Design Professional, Craftsmanship and Student. Each project must have been completed and delivered to the client between September 2016 and March 2018. Finalists present live to a jury on 23 and 24 May. This year’s judges are Jack McKinney of McKinney+Windeatt Architects (last year’s winner of the Supreme Award), Maggie Carroll of Bureaux, Blair Farquhar of Studio Farquhar, Kim Paton of Auckland’s public gallery Objectspace and Federico Monsalve, editor of Interior magazine. This year’s…

The 2018 buildnz | designex exhibition, coming up in Auckland on 4 and 5 July, will have ‘Delivering on KiwiBuild’ as its lead theme. Government ministers, the Hon Phil Twyford and the Hon Jenny Salesa, will be part of an industry panel discussing the challenges of delivering 100,000 highquality, affordable new homes over 10 years, with 50 per cent of them in Auckland. Another panellist will be PrefabNZ CEO Pamela Bell, who is intending to showcase the important role of prefabrication. Event Director Tony Waite says the KiwiBuild strategy deserves the full attention of the industry to engage, collaborate and buy into the plan. “This forum gives the current Government the opportunity to communicate and deliver on new solutions with industry players.” On show at buildnz | designex will be…

PROJECTS: Goodman PROJECT: Goodman Property Trust CLIENT: Goodman Property Trust LOCATION: Auckland Central DESIGN: GHDWoodhead creativespaces (formerly Creative Spaces) PROJECT TYPE: Workplace FLOOR AREA: 906m2 YOU MIGHT safely assume that a company that deals in large-scale commercial property development and management has ample capability to deliver a top-notch, Grade A office space for its own staff. But Goodman Property Trust has a strong commitment to sustainability and environmentally friendly practices, and it wanted to take it a step further by pursuing a Green Star rating in the fit-out of its new office space in the KPMG building in Auckland’s Viaduct precinct. Directly overlooking the Waitemat? Harbour, it’s a dazzling space, with plenty of natural light. Staff members are treated to a sublime sea view and the virtually paperless office provides a crisp and…

PROJECTS: GridAKL PROJECT: GridAKL CLIENT: ATEED LOCATION: Auckland Central DESIGN: Jasmax PROJECT TYPE: Workplace FLOOR AREA: Innovation 5A 4500m2 and Mason Bros. 1500m2 CO-WORKING spaces are not new – most modern cities worth their salt contain a number of lively spaces for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurs and freelancers, with meeting rooms, shared facilities and scatterings of beanbags – but developing such a building from scratch with multiple floors and to a corporate standard is new to our shores. Owned by Precinct Properties and operated by Generator, GridAKL is contained in two neighbouring buildings at Wynyard Quarter: 12 Madden Street and the award-winning Mason Bros. building, which also contains the offices of the architects responsible for the Madden Street building’s base build, Warren and Mahoney (WaM). GridAKL forms the hub of Auckland Tourism,…

Virtual Reality (VR): VR is an artificial, computer-generated simulation or recreation of a real-life environment or situation. The viewer wears a headset that holds a screen in front of their eyes. It blocks out the world around them, immersing the viewer into a computer-generated, stereoscopic, 3D environment, which they can interact with or explore. Augmented Reality (AR): AR overlays computer-generated enhancements and 3D visual information on top of a person’s view of the real world. A viewer can still see the real environment around them at the same time so it is an open experience. AR technology can be delivered via mobile devices and head-mounted displays. Mixed Reality (MR): MR allows digital and physical worlds to combine, creating a new environment, which is anchored to real time. Currently, the viewer…

“VR is embedded into our workflow. It’s just another design tool, albeit a very powerful, paradigm-changing tool!”Stephen Voyle, Context Architects Can you tell us about your VR set-up? We have purpose-built virtual reality labs in Context’s Auckland and Christchurch studios. Architects, interior designers and clients (and the odd child in school holidays!) can be found in them at most times of the day. Our virtual buildings team includes gamers, parametric and interior designers, architects, and BIM and CAD specialists. They look after the VR lab as part of enabling virtual building technology across the business. VR is embedded into our workflow. It’s just another design tool, albeit a very powerful, paradigm-changing tool! How long has your firm been using this technology? We’ve been working in VR for about two years…