Interior Interior Mar/May 2018

New technologies can often polarise public opinion with some clamouring for a reshuffle of critical processes while on the other hand, a more sceptical crowd shouts “mere fad!” into the web-o-sphere. The 3D printer, the MP3 and, harking back, even the fax machine were, at some point or another, viewed as both the Antichrist or as a dust-gathering afterthought in the wunderkammer of human invention. So, what is one to make of the virtual reality gear that, for the last few years, has been making pixelated inroads into design and architecture studios? Some think that the future will see designers creating fully from within a virtual environment, moving ‘walls’ and adding ‘floors’ through hand gestures like some Leonard Bernstein or Tom Cruise in Minority Report. At the moment, and as…

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…

Although in the midst of a slow gentrification, the intersection of Symonds Street and Khyber Pass Road, along with the surrounding Newton Gully, still has a feeling of authentic urban culture. This has made it an apt location for Lillius, a restaurant which the founders, well-versed chefs Fraser McCarthy and Shannon Vandy, define as one of casual fine dining. The interiors, designed by Justin Roderique of Pennant & Triumph, reflect this balance between comfort and finery, with velvet seating in regal tones juxtaposed with the plastered walls and concrete floors. “We wanted it to look original. The existing space was quite rundown and tired but it had the arch doorway and a pitch through the back so it was already a cool space. We used natural stone with a gritty…

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,…

Camp Glenorchy, at the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park, must be New Zealand’s most sustainably designed and operated visitor accommodation project. It is the first in the world built to meet Living Building Challenge (LBC) criteria: arguably the most rigorous standards in global sustainable design. However, the innovation and engineering behind the seven cabins, two bunk-houses and communal spaces are not the focal points when it comes to design. The tendency with green architecture might be to minimalise aesthetics and hero the technology – particularly when it leads the world. In this case, Debbi Brainerd, co-founder of The Headwaters, which created and built Camp Glenorchy and also oversees Mrs Woolly’s General Store, has worked with Dunedin architects Mason & Wales and interior designer Jewell Cassells to capture the alpine…

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…