MINI BAR - FOOLSCAP STUDIO

The Loft Wall Light is a versatile lamp, not only in that it can swing and pivot, but also in that its aesthetic can fit effortlessly into a range of interior styles from classic and traditional to contemporary and cutting edge. And it has recently been used in the Mini Bar, located at the base of the Punthill Northbank hotel in Melbourne.

Hotel bars and venues have had somewhat of a renaissance in recent years, reclaiming their glamour and appeal. Mini Bar, designed by Foolscap Studio, is certainly one such bar, with its design inspired by the glamour, luxury and adventure of travel from the 1920s to 1950s, as well as its location. The multipurpose hotel reception, café and bar is adjacent to the railway and docks of the Yarra River and on a site that once housed an iron foundry producing boilers for Australia’s first railway locomotive.

Mini Bar is a compact space at less than 60 square meterss, so the designers at Foolscap looked to objects such as a hotel mini bar, steamer trunk and drinks cabinet for inspiration. The natural and recycled material palette references the rich and luxurious surfaces of 1920s and 30s cruise liners, while the encaustic cement floor tiles that, like Art Deco motifs, are decorative and abstracted, as if frozen in place. The long banquette and high bench made from reclaimed railway timber are a nod to the railway history of the site, and of course railway travel had its golden age in the early twentieth century before the emergence of mass automobile and air travel.

Our Loft Wall Light is also a nod to the railways as it evokes vintage lighting in stations and on platforms (amongst many other things, thus its versatility). Its steel and spun metal frame extends from the wall in a long elegant line and its smooth geometric curve leads to a brushed-gold anodised cylinder with exposed-filament bulb.

Mini Bar offers one the experience of the great hotel bars around the world, somewhere to sip a classic cocktail or snack on a club sandwich. Which is exactly what was intended.

You can stay at the Punthill and stop by Mini Bar to see the Loft Wall Lighting action...

Or view it here

STORY COFFEE & FOODSTORE - CHRIS CONNELL

The warm timber interior of Story Coffee & Foodstore provides a welcoming retreat from the concrete corporate towers of Melbourne’s Docklands. The interior is by the wonderful  Chris Connell Design and our custom lighting plays a key role in creating its intimate atmosphere.

Chris Connell Design is responsible for the elegant interior of some of Melbourne’s hospitality institutions, such as Café e Cucina, Mr Wolf and Il Bacaro, which was inducted into the Design Hall of Fame at last year’s East Drink Design Awards.

In addition to hospitality designs, this Melbourne-based architecture and interior design studio has been creating beautiful retail and residential spaces for almost 30 years. Design director Chris Connell is also co-founder of MAP international furniture and designs timeless, simple pieces with a strong attention to detail and a clear respect for materials.

The Story Coffee & Foodstore exhibits the same qualities. Located on the ground level of the NAB building development in the Docklands, it is part of the Dukes Coffee family of cafes, which Chris Connell also designed.

The latest Dukes addition to the Docklands features smooth wooden panels and soft lighting via custom brass feature pendants that we had the pleasure of creating for Chris Connell Design.

Made from spun brass with a contrasting black paint feature, the pendants complement the warm timber interior and add to the café’s elegant atmosphere.

O'CONNELL CENTENARY HOTEL - TECHNE ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN

Techne Architecture and Interior Design is responsible for the transformation of some of Melbourne’s best-loved watering holes, such as the Prahran Hotel, the Terminus in Abbotsford and the Bridge Hotel in Richmond. When they turned their award-winning design minds to another Melbourne institution, O’Connell Centenary Hotel in South Melbourne, they selected our Boss Pendants and Shady Table & Wall Lamps, which we modified to fit perfectly with Techne’s vision for the interior.

Techne is highly regarded for their hospitality designs. In addition to hotels, they have designed the interior of restaurants such as Lee Ho Fook, Jimmy Grants and Movida, and the studio is also highly regarded for their commercial and residential work.

The iconic O’Connells was one of Melbourne’s first ‘gastro’ pubs and Techne’s refurbishment shows great sensitivity to both the history of the venue and its current patrons. Its character has been enhanced through modern additions and refreshed traditional elements.

Lighting from ISM Objects has helped create the warm and welcoming atmosphere. Our Boss Pendants feature a circular pendant lamp and were made for this project in a custom bronze finish. Our Shady Lamps, designed by Daniel Barbera, were also modified to suit the O’Connells interior design. The wall lamps were customised as double fixtures while the lamps were fixed directly into the joinery.

The refurbishment of this Melbourne institution shows great respect for the venue’s history.  Techne describes the interior design as ‘evolutionary’ rather than ‘revolutionary’.  We’ll drink to that.

KATHLEEN SYME LIBRARY & COMMUNITY CENTRE - KERRY SMITH

A 139-year-old building in Melbourne’s inner-city suburb of Carlton has a new purpose in life. The historic Kathleen Syme building has been transformed into a creative, learning and community space – the first of its kind of the area – and its $15.5 million refurbishment helps send the message that everyone is welcome.

The Kathleen Syme building was previously used as a school and its transformation into a learning and communication hub is largely a response to the inner city's growing and diversifying population.

The City of Melbourne engaged Kerry Smith Interior Design for the building’s refurbishment and we supplied custom feature lighting for the interior, including surface-mounted can lights with a perforated finish and large feature pendants with perforated copper finish.

The Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre’s new interior creates a modern and accessible environment where all members of the community can read, connect, learn and create. It features a social enterprise cafe, technology and conference rooms and a new library with more than 40,000 items. Around 10% of the books and materials are in Chinese, Japanese or Korean.

The refurbishment of the Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre creates a contemporary environment for the whole community and ensures this historic building is seen in a whole new light.

STIPPLED PORCELAIN BY STEVEN MCCLURE

We Always seek to stay at the forefront, our beautiful Stippled Porcelain collection – a collaboration local ceramicist Steven McClure, has been created to complement the trend toward handcrafted, natural finishes in interior spaces. 

McClure’s porcelain candleholder enchanted us, so we invited the craftsman to develop a lighting range that would showcase the natural beauty of the material. This was our first venture with an Australian craftsperson.

The Stippled Porcelain lighting range is available in four styles - Cone, Slim, Squat and Crumpled.

Melbourne-made Southern Ice Porcelain was selected for these pendants - it cries out to be illuminated, and the final result is raw and refined, allowing the material speak loudest. When lit there is a beautiful warmth that emanates.

When it comes to the Stippled Porcelain Range, Steven notes that he deliberately set out to allow these characteristics to stay in the work rather than submitting to more industrial processes and forms of the material, which would have created a more more uniform and controlled outcome, rather than the Stippled Porcelain range has a more fluid finish.

All these qualities of the material can be seen in the final finishes of each style in the range, which all vary slightly. When the porcelain is fired to its top temperature of almost 1300 degrees celsius, the material begins to soften slightly, and the juxtaposition of the matte finish of the unglazed outer surface with the glossiness of the glazed internal surface.

The final detail of this striking range is the hand finished embossing applied with a loose hand to again, avoid an overly manufactured uniformity, each of these make the illuminated object more visually compelling and allows the natural beauty of the porcelain to shine through.

ARROW ENERGY BRISBANE - GEYER

The interior fitout of Arrow Energy’s Brisbane office goes straight to the heart of what good workplace design is all about. It’s just what we’ve come to expect from leading interior design practice Geyer – and we’re pleased to say our Cognac Pendants from our Glass Collection add the perfect degree of light.

Geyer specialises in workplace, retail, education and hospitality interior environments and is highly regarded – and awarded - for intelligent strategies and design solutions that support their client’s objectives and aspirations.

The Arrow Energy office is a great example. It promotes employee wellbeing while remaining flexible and green – and it clearly reflects the ‘one team’ culture of this fast-growing energy company.

Once located across multiple sites in Brisbane’s CBD, Arrow Energy now occupies several floors of Brisbane’s Cox Rayner designed One One One Eagle Street building. Geyer’s design promotes collaboration through an open, flexible design with specialist work areas that are truly fit for purpose. An interconnecting staircase is a key feature of the design and it supports Arrow’s goal of connecting all people within the organisation

Our Cognac Pendants from the Glass Collection are an ideal fit for the Arrow Energy workplace. Designed by Keith Melbourne, the collection includes three designs - Latte, Cognac and Crystal – and each one is manufactured from durable, UV stable and fully recyclable Polyethylene.

The Cognac design is a beautiful expression of Keith Melbourne’s newfound love of glassware and pays tribute to an iconic glass form. They are a fitting addition to the Arrow Energy office from this award-winning interior design practice.