Last year's Grand Prix winner: Lexus Pavilion by Mim Design. Photo by Sean Fennessy.
Entries are now open for the 2016 Dulux Colour Awards, which marks the renowned program’s 30th year of fostering and showcasing the use of colour in built environments.
An esteemed judging panel has once again been handpicked to deliberate on the winning projects, combining leading names from Australia and New Zealand’s design and creative industries. Chosen for their differing areas of expertise, the panel consists of: Meryl Hare, principal at Hare + Klein Interior Design; Clare Cousins, director at Clare Cousins Architects; James Harper, principal at BrookingHarper and director at Design Institute of Australia; Matt Gibson, director at Matt Gibson Architecture + Design; and Alex Fulton, director at Alex Fulton Design (NZ).
Last year’s Grand Prix winner: Lexus Pavilion by Mim Design. Photo by Sean Fennessy.
The 2016 Dulux Colour Awards is accepting entries across nine categories between now and February, giving architects, designers and interior designers the opportunity to submit work across residential and commercial environments.
Last year’s Single Residential Interior winner: The Courtyard House by Aileen Sage Architects. Photo by Tom Ferguson.
Each category winner will receive prize money and a certificate. All entries, except for the student category, will also stand the chance of taking out the Grand Prix title. The Grand Prix winner will receive $5000 cash prize and certificate. Entries for all nine categories are open until Monday 8 February 2016, with winners announced and celebrated at a gala function in Melbourne on 10 March 2016.
With so many homewares stores out there, getting some expert recommendations can save you time, money and most importantly, tears. Surely I’m not the only one who’s got overemotional in the local bedding store… no? Just me! Moving on.
So, we spoke to 10 of Melbourne’s top interior designers to get their recommendations on their favourite Melbourne homewares stores (and don’t worry Sydney, you’ll get yours in the coming weeks).
Miriam Fanning of Mim Design: I look no further than Mud Australia, especially for platters, vessels, vases and cookware. Their timeless handmade porcelain range combines clean lines, functionality and a beautiful colour palette, and has a minimalist aesthetic that I love.
Miriam
Sonia Simpfendorfer of Nexus Designs: Cult have so many simple, beautiful accessories, particularly from the Danish brand Hay; their Kaleido trays range in great, slightly off colours are a favourite. The Scholten & Baijings designed bed linens are minimalist loveliness and they have understated desk accessories, notebooks and even coat hangers.
Cult
Lauren Macer of Sisalla Interior Design:Safari Living is easily my favourite store for unique homewares. They consistently have a fantastic selection of up and coming Australian designers mixed with some of my favourite European brands. I love stepping into the little corner shop and being surrounded with luxurious Missoni cushions, gorgeous tableware by Danish brand Menu and a great range of Tom Dixon homewares. There are the lesser known brands too, I love the delicate woven bamboo lights by Ay Illuminate made using traditional methods by artisans in Asia and Africa.
Lauren
Wilson Tang of Sonelo Design Studio: CIBI is our much-loved go-to Japanese cafe and Japanese designer product store. The subtlety and simplicity of their objects boldly embrace their functionality whilst carefully disguising themselves into an appealing object. Their cookware, dining sets, and glassware are up-there on our wish list.
CIBI
Diane Bergeron of Mercer School of Interior Design:One of my favourite homewares shops in Melbourne is Modern Times on Smith Street. Their pieces are always original and beautifully crafted. I know when I go in there I can find something that will be timeless and mix well with other styles of furniture. Our reception desk at the Mercer School of Interior Design was purchased from there and makes such a statement when you arrive.
Diane
Matt Gibson of Matt Gibson Architecture + Design:We love Great Dane Furniture in Fitzroy, around the corner from our office. They have a great diverse range of furniture,homewares, lighting and accessories, focusing on natural materials like solid timber that ensure products have a long lifespan. Their timeless mid-century pieces can be styled up or down to either accentuate or pare-back their modernist flavour.
Matt
Chris Rak of Robson Rak Architects: The one store that blows me away every time I go in is Nicholas & Alistair in Abbotsford. They’ve always got the most exquisite and original 20th century furniture and objects from Europe. I literally lose my breath every time I go in there. The boys who run it are just so passionate and highly knowledgable that they hit the nail on the head with everything they bring in.
Nicholas & Alistair
Caecilia Potter of Atticus & Milo: Space Furniture is a favourite because they’re a lovely, friendly team to work with and they have such an eclectic collection of my favourite designers and design studios such as Patrizia Urquiola, Antonio Citterio, Marcel Wanders, Ingo Maurer, Bruno Rainaldi, Edra, Moroso, Maxalto, Foscarini, Opinion Ciatti – I could keep going!
Caecilia
Anna Dutton of Bower Architecture:One of my favourites is Luke Furniture, just around the corner from us on High Street in Prahran. Their range is carefully curated and features timeless pieces with texture and warmth: qualities which align with our own approach to design. They have a great range of ceramics, warm timber accessories, lighting and of course, furniture. We just bought a Modernica Case Study Planter from them in black ceramic and timber for the Bower Architecture studio. It is perfect.
Anna (right) and co-directors Chema Bould and Jade Vidal.
Carole Whiting of Whiting Architects:My favourite Melbourne homewares store is Red Hill House as it always has a great collection of kitchen goods, decorative and practical products and they are always well stocked. They have a keen eye for products with a bit of soul and they support the local community by stocking products produced by local craft makers. With so many mass-produced goods on offer, it’s nourishing to buy one-offs or handmade goods that someone has physically touched and made with love.
Red Hill House
We hope you found this list useful. Please let us know what you’d add!
Belle Coco Republic Interior Design Awards 2015, 12th May 2015. Event held at Coco Republic Alexandria. Photo: Caroline McCredie
Belle Coco Republic Interior Design Awards is quite the impressive event. Styled to perfection and with the who’s who of the design world in attendance, it is one not to be missed. Which is why it was so disappointing neither Jen or I could make Tuesday’s gala event! Well, at least we have the photos to ogle at!
Now in its fifth year, the awards – which acknowledge excellence in Australian interior design and decoration – set the benchmark for expertise, creativity and vision in what is a highly competitive, highly progressive industry.
Matt Gibson
Matt Gibson of Matt Gibson Architecture + Design took out the major award of the night, Belle Coco Republic Interior Designer of the Year — as well as the Residential Design category. Matt wins return flights to Paris and five nights accommodation to attend the Maison et Objet exhibition in September 2015, a $25,000 package from Multyflex, Parisi bathroom products to the value of $5000, a $2000 Cadrys voucher and a $1000 Coco Republic voucher.
Other winners were: Justine Hugh-Jones Design for Best Kitchen Design, Smart Design Studio for Best Bathroom Design, Genesin Studio for Best Commercial Interior and Hecker Guthrie for Best Hospitality Design.
The winners in this year’s awards represent an Australian design landscape that is fast becoming known for its unique, fresh and challenging aesthetic. The rigorous selection process was undertaken by this year’s judging panel of Coco Republic executive director Anthony Spon-Smith, Belle editor Tanya Buchanan and renowned publisher and author, Karen McCartney.
The award winners are profiled in Belle’s June/July 2015 issue, on sale Monday 18 May.
