kangaroo point refurbishment continued...

There is a lot happening at our Kangaroo Point project with completion day really starting to sneak up on us...

shelton mindel & associates...AGAIN!

Today we revisited one of our favorite architects, Shelton Mindel & Asscoiates to find these stunning images by Lee F Mindel.

The lighting selection, the exposed concrete, the clever reference to the 1950's with retro pastel colours in the feature joinery...

Shelton Mindel appear frequently on our blog, basically because their work is GENIUS!

Lots of oohhing and ahhing in our office today!

refurb starts to take shape...

One of our projects, a refurbishment of a river front apartment, is really starting to take shape.
Looking forward to updating images as the project comes together!

toy stories...

Came across a fun article, Toy Stories in I.D., which asks great designers to offer a design critique of an iconic toy.

'Icons' range from Play-Doh to Matchbox Cars and even Dirt (Amy Franceschini, Founder of Future Farmers).

Lighting designer, David Weeks 'G.I Joe' is hilarious and Karim Rashid is obviously still influenced by his Spirograph.

Great illustrations (above) are by Maayan Pearl.

'the firm'...

We are all very excited with this new pattern 'The Firm' by Sarah Morris for Maharam!

Sarah Morris is a painter and filmmaker who lives and works in New York. Her amazing large-scale paintings abstract the complex patterns of the urban architectural environment.

Based on the paintings of the same name, 'The Firm' is reproduced as woven jacquards at an oversize scale.

We have just specified this pattern for a project and look forward to sharing it with you down the track!

vote for us...

Voting is now open for the Peoples' Choice Award.

Vote for your favourite finalist (US, of course...) HERE by nominating your star rating at the bottom left of the image.

qdos finalist...

Our New Farm Penthouse project is a finalist in the qdos Awards 2009.

All finalists will be on show in the Tom Heath Gallery, QUT Art Museum, Gardens Point Campus, 2 George Street Brisbane, from 16'th September until October 2009.

Winners will be announced on Friday 2'nd October.

brother and sister design harmony

featured in the latest vogue living .au, susi and michael leeton have created a wonderful (almost sculptural) family home in melbourne. i am in love with their choice of materials and finishes that help create a home that is unique, peaceful, with a wonderfully modern slant on one of my favourite architecture/design styles - adobe.

phorm interiors latest project...isle of capri kitchen

genuine fakes...

I must admit that I am often quite surprised by the 'Genuine Fakes' that are available in the market.

My understanding (correct or incorrect?) was that a design patent prevented others from importing, manufacturing, using or selling the patented design for the period of the patent. For me this gave explanation to the Barcelona and Le Corbusier designs on the market (usually sold under a different name to the original design).

Lately, however, I have noticed copies of designs such as Marcel Wanders' 2007 'Skygarden' Pendant for Flos Lighting and Tom Dixon's 2006 Beat lighting range. I have even seen a copy of Front's 2006 'Horse Lamp' for Moooi.

In Australia, a new industry collective, Authentic Design Alliance, have formed to support the integrity of original and authentic design.

What is your opinion of original design over copies?

brisbane ekka...

A great image by Nicholas O'Donnell that captures all the colour and vibrancy of the Brisbane 'Ekka'.

hand renders...

During the design stage we all like to sketch and then render our ideas.

This is how the banquette seating at the Port Office Hotel came to realisation.

shelton mindel & associates...

We have been fascinated by this amazing kitchen by Shelton Mindel & Associates for weeks...

It's galley style creates a stunning hallway to the right, an open-style to the dining area on the left and can be entirely closed off when entertaining in the formal lounge.

A clever joinery detail that makes perfect use of what would otherwise be a difficult open plan.

total venue...

Port Office Hotel featured on Total Venue.