Hot Spot: Melbourne

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Studio

Today we are proud, nay, thrilled to welcome Simon Scott as a Guest Blogger.

At only 28, Simon Scott has designed numerous coveted residential and commercial projects across Australia. Based in Melbourne and Sydney, his work has drawn the interest of creative catalysts and internationally-known Designers, with his work featuring in magazines and newspapers in Australia, the UK and America. Join Simon as he takes us on a tour of the hottest and most stylish places to eat, drink, shop and be seen in Melbourne:

Melbourne is a fashionable and vibrant international city, and is the hub of the arts, gourmet food, culture and design in Australia. Melbourne has been built on cultural diversity and immigration from all over the world, where an open approach has allowed the culture and talents of these people to be shared with others. This is a city where you see and feel a distinct European influence, with international flavour and charm, and is also the destination you will find the best coffee outside of Italy.

Space Furniture 629 Church St, Richmond

This 4-level superstore is Melbourne’s home to many of the world’s leading furniture designers, including B&B Italia, Moooi, Maxalto, Zanotta, Kartell, Vitra, Foscarini. With a prime street position and towering 4 storey high windows displaying designer furniture, it draws attention from every angle. Step inside, and you are surrounded by great design, and design consultants with broad experience in furniture and interior design.

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BABY 631-633 Church St, Richmond

Next door to Space, is the new Melbourne hot spot for trendy Italian with great coffee – BABY. Designed by the Melbourne design studio Projects of Imagination, the atmosphere in the evening is electric and alive, with Melbourne style in every corner. BABY is a great place to meet with friends, or for dinner on the go, as it also has a bustling New York-style diner bar. The designers of the restaurant have influenced all levels, creating the interior design, the iconic logo in red neon and the restaurant’s insignia, as well as streaming Italian language lessons over the speakers in the bathrooms.

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Tarlo & Graham 60 Chapel Street, Windsor

Tarlo & Graham is an eclectic design experience featuring vintage furniture mixed with vibrant artwork, and one off pieces chosen by owners William Tarlo and Phillip Graham. With exotic elements, the shop will captivate and stimulate your imagination. Closer to the city of Melbourne, is the new Tarlo & Graham store in the up-and-coming Gertrude St, Fitzroy, where you are surrounded by great cafes and the art culture of nearby Brunswick Street and the transforming Smith Street, with interesting new concept stores are opening every month.

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David’s 4 Cecil Place, Prahran

David’s has been a much loved Melbourne restaurant specialising in the cuisine of rural Shanghai. Recently redesigned by leading Melbourne design studio Hecker Guthrie, the directors Paul Hecker and Hamish Guthrie have beautifully created the atmosphere and passion of old Shanghai in its design. The relaxed and open, yet intimate setting features old timbers, tropical plants, and chairs made from recycled boat timbers. It is a beautiful space to meet for lunch or dinner, and the Asian cuisine is some of the best you’ll find in Australia.

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Rooftop Bar Level 7/103 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

On Level 7 of ‘The Aylesbury’ awaits a cosy New York-style rooftop bar with beautiful views of Melbourne. Step out of the lift and towards the cocktail bar, with a spirit and wine list as well as food selections from the acclaimed restaurant downstairs, available to order at the bar. This is a great place to visit for those after-dinner late night drinks.

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Eau De Vie 1 Malthouse Lane, Melbourne

This is one of Melbourne’s ‘hidden’ bars with no signage. To discover Eau De Vie, walk over to Malthouse Lane, just off Little Collins Street and walk down the discreet lane. On your right you’ll discover people walking in and out of a single door. Walk inside, and you’ll find a bustling underground style bar, with dark walls, Chesterfield style lounges, and attentive drinks service. There is also a kitchen attached to the bar, with food available.

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Avenue Bookstore 127 Dundas Place, Albert Park

This is my favourite bookstore in Melbourne, in one of my favourite streets. The front window open bookshelf display will draw you into a peaceful oasis of literature. Upstairs is a dedicated architecture, art and photography section with the finest selection of design books in Melbourne. Step onto a timber ladder to reach books that are stacked to roof height, and enjoy turning pages on the Eames chair, located in front of a large window overlooking Albert Park.

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Crown Metropol Melbourne 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank

Crown Metropol Melbourne is a trendy hotel, located in the heart of the Crown Casino and entertainment complex in Southbank. Featuring modern rooms and suites with spectacular views of Melbourne’s skyline, you are footsteps from some of Melbourne’s best restaurants and shopping boutiques. After relaxing in the rooftop indoor pool, you may choose to dine at one of Melbourne’s finest restaurants located in the Crown complex, such as Nobu Matsuhisa’s ‘Nobu’, Neil Perry’s ‘Rockpool’ or the French restaurant ‘Bistro Guillaume’.

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Our thanks to Simon Scott for writing such a great post and giving us a wonderful insight into Melbourne’s hot spots.

You can learn more about Simon and his stunning design work on his website here.

Deb Bowness – Local:Heroine by Becs Gardner

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Studio

I’m not a cool cat. Never have been. If I like something (or someone for that matter) I find it really hard to not be a total geek about it and wear my heart on my sleeve. This trait showed itself in all its glory when I made a certain discovery only last week.

No doubt you will be familiar with Deborah Bowness’ “Genuine fake bookshelf” wall coverings (if not, you can see the full range of products on her website here). It’s been in myriad interiors magazines, graced the walls of high-profile Designer Abigail Ahern’s London home, and has been imitated numerous times over. It (amongst the rest of Deb’s collection) is one of my most favourite and aspirational interior products. So, I hear you ask, what was my discovery? Just this: all Deb’s wallpapers are handmade in a small factory workshop just 8 miles from my home. My design heroine, Deb, is now officially a Local Treasure too. Gasp.

Original Genuine Fake Bookshelf

Naturally, being a blogger and design enthusiast I couldn’t just leave it there. I had to see if they were open to visitors. You can imagine my excitement when I got the all clear to pay a visit and write it up. Deep breaths. Here it is:

Bowness & Bowness’ workshop is tucked away down a quiet country lane just outside of York. Housed in an unassuming tin warehouse, the only thing letting me know I was heading in the right direction was a bunch of silk screens propped against the outside wall, and one of Deb’s “Utility Lamps” hung just inside the door. No sign, no fanfare. This is business.

Utility Lamp | Kim’s Lamp

I was greeted by Leigh. Leigh is the “other” Bowness; Deb’s sister. With a background in PR & Marketing, Leigh is just the balance the business needs to get the product “out there” and put meals on the table: “Deb would happily create all day long, but she knows we all need to earn a living” says Leigh. For seven years Deb ran the show on her own; designing, producing, marketing (exhibiting, travelling, accounting… sounds exhausting to me). Five years ago Leigh came on board and moved the production back to Yorkshire where the sisters grew up. “We’ve grown the business totally organically, never taking more people on board than we could afford, and never borrowing any money.” As I toured the workshop (read: snooped about) it became clear that this model has worked for them – evidenced by the number of samples and rolls about to head out the door to eager clients.

But more than that; this place is littered with personal touches. Second hand furniture picked up along the years, a series of canvasses produced for a friend’s wedding adorns the walls; the obligatory staff shed (every creative studio needs a shed). This place could only ever have grown organically, out of a passion and love for design. It’s about as far from corporate as you could get; it’s a real cottage industry, a craft.

As I got the low down on the production process, I realised these papers are more like mini works of art than your standard wall covering. It all became very clear why they don’t come at your standard high street price; each trompe l’oeil design is personally photographed by Deborah, then digitally printed in monochrome tones. After that, blocks of colour are added through screen printing, and the final touches are painstakingly added by hand with watercolours.

Wallpaper collections

Even the equipment used throughout the process right down to the lightbox used to expose the silk screens has been purpose-built in situ. “We used to have certain parts of the process done externally”, says Leigh “then realised that we could get a better result bringing it in-house. We get to experiment more without worrying too much about the cost, and of course, we get to control the whole process more closely. Deb is a stickler for quality and detail!” I’m becoming more and more of a fan with every step.

With all the personal touches along the way, this is not something that is easily copied. Put it this way; you can spot an imitation a mile off. But what does it feel like to have your work ripped-off? “It is frustrating, but it’s not something that we can control. On the other hand, if nobody was copying it, that kinda sends a few signals. At least we know we’re doing something right!” Touché.

Shop the Deborah Bowness collection here

Even with Leigh’s input in the business, it can’t be easy balancing the creative side with selling the stuff. I wondered, had they ever been tempted to go down the high street route and get their products sold by a big brand? “Well”, says Leigh “I can’t say too much right now. We know that we have a vast following of people who really love the product, but who aren’t buying it because of the price.” [*ahem, that’s me she’s talking about.] “Let’s just say that we’re keen to make something more accessible and affordable. There are a few irons in the fire.” This is music to my ears. All I can say now is “watch this space”.

♥

Huge thanks to Becs for today’s inspiring posting. Do check out her fabulous interiors blog for real women, An English Girl’s Home, and follow her on Twiiter @becsgardner

French Design Forum 2013

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Studio

Last month I attended the French Design Forum at Chandos House, which was a lovely building to hold the event, with a decorative interior quite unlike any exhibition space I have attended before.

The exhibitors were split into 2 rooms in the building with each company/designer having their own small stand displaying a few material samples, along with ipad’s displaying slide shows of their work and products. It was a good way to hold a small exhibition with minimum expense and logistical fuss. The event was fairly busy during the period I was there and there was a buzz around the stands.

There were a variety of bespoke interior products exhibited - from linens, embroidery, wooden furniture, concrete, brass, leather and metal lighting. However the key stands that stood out for me, and which I thought were most relevant to you as readers of this blog, were:

Concrete by LCDA – Manufacturers of concrete furniture, wall panels and bespoke projects for the commercial environment. They have some interesting examples on their website of past projects. And Scarlet Opus included their wonderful Lamp (inspired by listening devices in Folkestone) on the ‘Peace Corps’ trend board as part of the Spring/Summer 2014 forecast for Interiors. Concrete by LCDA also showed some exciting samples experimenting with colour and textured concrete surfaces:

Tassin – Specialists in bespoke leathers, they were established in 1905 and have been producing hand painted, embossed and gilded leathers for walls, furniture and upholstery ever since. They displayed several very tactile samples of their leather ornamentation-based designs:

La Forge De Style – Specialists in fine metal work and high-end furniture projects using bronze, brass, copper, titanium and aluminum. They displayed a range of metal samples which can be used for bespoke project work:

Ebenisterie Generale – Creators of high end bespoke wooden furniture with a striking modern styling. In addtion to tailor-made furniture they also create stylised wood panelling and interior fittings. Their website shows lots of nice examples of their wonderful work – like the ‘The Inspiration’ desk pictured below (But Miss V particularly likes The Elevation wall writing desk)

Also exhibiting at the French Design Forum and worthy of note were:

Couleurs Privees – Who had created a collection of new minimalistic decorative wall covering surfaces, combining traditional and modern techniques - including a new range of Japanese washi paper to enhance wall surfaces.

Ateliers EMG - Producers of fine wood interiors and furniture for interior designers and architects. They displayed experimental samples made from Palm wood using a variety of techniques (including engraving and marquetry) to push the boundaries of the coconut timber.

You can download the official French Design Forum catalogue HERE and below you can watch a short video of the event: