Table of contents for March / May 2019 in Interior

Little could have been as surprising as the opening of Miss Fortune’s coffee shop and tea room in Lower Hutt at the beginning of the year. Set against a semi-industrial backdrop, its brazen colour blocks, unblushing amongst their surrounds, sit worlds apart. Co-owned by Matthew Wilson and Freya Atkinson, who also founded Petone’s fairground-esque café Seashore Cabaret, it’s a design that reflects the owners’ penchant for playful eclecticism. Posters from Wilson’s travels around Vietnam, “a personal collection”, he explains, are hung along the walls, while larger-than-life elements, such as the counters and outdoor signage, were made under the direction of Oregon-based graphic design cognoscente and friend, Sam O’Leary of Conduction. As it is with Wilson and Atkinson’s Petone-based venture, at the heart of this eatery is a sense of whimsy…

Sabine Marcelis has difficulty defining what she does. Yes, she’s a designer but what exactly does she make? Her signature is stamped on products, installations and interior objects but the final result of each output generally becomes clear only along the way. “I don’t start something by sitting down in a chair with a sketchbook,” she says. “More often than not, each new piece builds on something that happened in a previous project. Maybe I’ll create a cool effect and want to explore it further at a later date. Will it become a sundial or a light? I wait and see.” Exploring materiality is Marcelis’ modus operandi. She collaborates with industry specialists to bring matter – predominantly glass and resin – to life. Her relationship with a glass manufacturer, for…

Interior: How does a company like yours prepare for big changes in retail? The digital world, for example, is changing it entirely. How do you prepare for what that means for bricks and mortar? Scott Pritchard: If you look closely at some of the metrics, particularly in gateway cities, which is definitely what Auckland has become, city centre retail is continuing to perform strongly and you see that at a really fundamental level. The pedestrian counts that are taken are continuing to grow week on week. That drives better outcomes for retailers. We’re seeing good demand for city centre retail, from both retailers and shoppers. Another industry that’s changing in Auckland is the construction industry – there’s been pressure put onto it. What do you think are some of the…

ANDY SPAIN Photographer Andy studied an MA in Photography in London and moved to New Zealand in 2015. He has spent 15 years as a freelance photographer, specialising in architecture. YOU PHOTOGRAPHED DELOITTE’S OFFICE IN THIS ISSUE. WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS THE MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT THIS WORKPLACE? It’s all about the arrival with the sculptural island. It contains small offices in which to meet clients alongside glimpses out to Wellington Harbour. It’s a stunning space. WHAT IS YOUR OWN WORKPLACE LIKE? I moved into a new office a while back. I’m lucky enough to be in the old Melling Morse space on Egmont Street in Wellington, alongside Melling Architects and Tse Architects and underneath the iconic skybox. I couldn’t be happier here and love being central. When I…

PROJECT: SO/ Auckland Hotel CLIENT: Accor Hotels LOCATION: Auckland DESIGN: Moooi, Accor Design (Marilyn Chang) team, CP Group, Space Studio, Benny Castles PROJECT TYPE: Hospitality MULTINATIONAL hotelier Accor Hotels deemed the timing to be right for Auckland to join the small and sophisticated group of SO/, a chain of just seven 5-star boutique hotels, which have had creative input from some of the world’s most creative fashion visionaries. Christian Lacroix, the late Karl Lagerfeld, Viktor&Rolf and Kenzō Takada have all lent their unique styles to SO/ hotels in Bangkok, Singapore, Berlin and Mauritius. Now, in collaboration with Benny Castles of fashion house World, they have brought Auckland in to join their company. “SO/ hotels and resorts are a playful mix of sophistication and the dynamic style of each locale,” explains Marilyn Chang, General Manager of…

We’ve reached a social stalemate. Thanks to those little devices we hold in the palms of our hands – or those like the one I’m typing on right now – we’re more connected than ever before. We rely on the likes of Facebook to help us keep up to date with our ‘friends’, while apps such as Happn hook us up with strangers who’ve crossed our paths – people we may never have otherwise met. But, paradoxically, we’re apparently lonelier than we ever were – and the platforms we use to associate with one another may be part of the problem. ‘Is Social Media Making You Lonely?’, a 2018 article published by Psychology Today, references a survey by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine exploring social-media patterns. The study found…

How did the idea for the show originate? Kim Paton (KP): It was absolutely born from that deep love of mine for the diorama or staged scene. [In dioramas], there is often a lovely fusion between fact and fiction – this idea of trying to replicate something that existed in the world. I love that kind of strange, faux interior you might see at a trade fair or design show. It was also wanting to develop a design and exhibition strategy where we were able to work in a group context and have four different voices feeding into something. Quickly, we realised that a domestic scene or interior was a good anchor point for scale. At the same time, there could be this great conversation between design, architecture and the…

NORTHERN COMFORT: THE NORDIC ART OF CREATIVE LIVING edited by Gestalten and Austin Sailsbury, Gestalten, $74 The environs of some of the world’s northernmost countries – Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Åland and the Faroe Islands – are marked by a remoteness and, often, a hostility that seems stifling. Yet, in it, the Nords have found something altogether different: a near-Xanadu to feed and fuel their personal and creative energies. How and why are the driving questions behind Northern Comfort, which taps into the ideas and values of this reputed ‘Nordic dream’. The effect is twofold. The tome is moreish, not only for the delectable pieces of insight into the better-known hygge, the Danish practice of cosiness, and the lesser-known lagom, the Swedish pursuit of balance. Also included are…

While the budding signs of winter indicate that cold’s to come, they also hint at something else that’s fast approaching: the CoreNet Global New Zealand Symposium, the season’s premier event for property professionals. This year, the symposium has been organised to take place on 30 May in Shed 10 on Auckland’s Queens Wharf and boasts a pertinent theme: The Intuitive Place – Technology making better places for people. Recognising that intuitive design – places that are reactive to their users – is a burgeoning market, the symposium will look at the ways in which companies can harness technology and data to foster greater productivity in the workplace. “The symposium this year is highly relevant to interiors professionals,” says CoreNet executive director for New Zealand, Nigel Rye. “All across the world,…

PROJECT: Deloitte Fit-out, Wellington CLIENT: Deloitte LOCATION: Wellington PROJECT TYPE: Workplace FLOOR AREA: 3,640m2 OFFICES within the new Deloitte building on Wellington’s waterfront enjoy front-row views across the harbour as well as some eclectic vistas of the city and the western hills beyond. For Deloitte’s offices, which take up the 11th, half of the 12th, and the 13th floors, it was important not to compete with these views but to create a workplace with a sense of professionalism and equity, as well as some colourful references to the city below. The building was designed by Studio Pacific Architecture (winners of the 2018 Supreme Award at the Interior Awards for the He Tohu Document Room), with the interior fit-out led by project architect Marcellus Lilley and director Stephen McDougall. With a deep floor plate, part of…

PROJECT: B:Hive CLIENT: Paul Gunn LOCATION: The North Shore, Auckland DESIGN: BVN Australia/Jasmax PROJECT TYPE: Workplace FLOOR AREA: 11,000m2 TOUTED as the biggest purpose-built coworking facility in the Southern Hemisphere, the B:Hive covers 11,000m2 over five floors and can cater to businesses ranging in size from a single person to those with up to 250 employees. Designed by BVN Australia and Jasmax, the offices are striking and playful in appearance, centring around an expansive atrium topped by a huge skylight, known as the shroud. The star of the show is an orange staircase that feels as though it belongs in a playground or water park; it spirals through the atrium, linking the different levels and providing a centrepiece for the open space. “The stair has a lot of charisma. It’s not shy,” says Jasmax lead architect…

For full versions of these interviews, visit architecturenow.co.nz Betsy Williamson Canadian architect Betsy Williamson, co-founder of Williamson Williamson (WWInc), is an enthusiastic proponent of high-quality design that is rooted in detail, clarity and creative solutions, and balanced by focused project management. Welcome to Auckland. What has kept you busy so far? I arrived yesterday and was directed to Queen Street, first of all. I was immediately drawn off to the side into the laneways, the smaller shops and arcades, and then into the parks and the connective tissue in between some of these places. Secondly, the waterfront and the red fence. I sit on the Waterfront Toronto Design Review Panel where we look at aspects of design excellence and quality of public spaces and the community ownership of the waterfront.…

What did you get up to over the summer break? I spent a bit of time with family and hung out with my two lovely little nephews. I also went strawberry and blueberry-picking, brought out the charcoal BBQ (always quite fun trying to start it), had some beach days and, mainly, just tried to have a break. What’s inspiring you at the moment? My recent work and personal trips late last year. The former led me to Basel, where I visited Vitra Campus with other creatives in our industry. This was followed by Cologne for Orgatec, a gigantic commercial trade fair held every two years. Then, on my personal trip, it was the familiar places: Sydney, Hong Kong and Fukuoka in Japan. The simplicity and nature of the creativity I…