Interior Architecture

Yakimono & Society • Russell & George • Photographer: Tim O’Connor

The Interior Architecture category recognises achievement in the design of an interior spatial environment and may include projects completed within a new building or the interior refurbishment of an existing building.

Jesse Judd RAIA Jury chair

Jury chair report

The 2022 Interiors award presented a large field that was particularly notable for its neutral and subdued characters, narratives, and presentation. We wondered if this self-imposed austerity was a response to the pandemic. Was this zeitgeist of restraint driven by the perception of economy, a representation of sustainability? Has ornament returned to crime? The 2022 interiors category certainly seemed more Loos than loose! The jury dived into the entries that offered insight into this human condition. We searched for expression, character, and joy. Our pursuit reflected on light and delight, on austerity

Ilana Kister RAIA Juror

Sophie Nash RAIA Juror

and joyfulness, on rawness and refinement, and on trend and transcendence. We wondered where the line between architecture and interiors should be drawn. Is there one without the other? Is just a fit-out actually architecture? Seven of the 37 entries were deemed to be meritorious, spanning a wide spectrum of project types, scales, and design ambitions. The winner was unpredicted, but ultimately unanimous – the project that contributed the most to the client, the visitor, and the city that we all share.

Category sponsor

The Marion Mahony Award for Interior Architecture Yakimono & Society by Russell & George

Wurundjeri Country

Where Society is careful and refined, Yakimono is energetic and youthful. Channelling the futuristic feel of Japanese anime and films Blade Runner 2049 and Ghost in the Shell, Yakimono welcomes diners with oversized graphic signage and gigantic orbs. The glass throughout the restaurant is coated with a dichroic film. Similar to a polarised lens, the film shifts in colour depending on where you stand and where the light hits, mimicking a wet city street. The interior of this Melbourne restaurant, much like its menu, reflects the light, colour, movement, and activity of Tokyo. Elsewhere, European oak benchtops and upholstered booths are more traditional and functional pieces – a neutral background to the super-dynamic play of light and colour. In contrast, Society, its Siamese twin, is the new establishment – all grown up. A series of interconnected chambers, the transitions between the rooms are as important as the rooms themselves, allowing patrons to be drawn into the next space and explore the next experience. Every furniture item, fixture and finish has been deeply considered with many reflecting the bespoke craft of Russell & George.

Yakimono and Society are deeply contemplated insertions into the cultural milieu of a food-obsessed Melbourne. They are awarded as new go-to Melbourne interiors for their genre-defining iconoclasm.

Practice team: Ryan Russell (Design Architect), Byron George (Project Architect), Caitlin Ripper (Project Coordinator) Consultant / Construction team: Armitage Jones (Project Manager), JJA Consulting Group (Services Consultant), Aecom (Structural Engineer), Eatscape (Kitchen Consultant), KBR (Kitchen Contractor), Sphera (Lighting Consultant), Michael Schivello (Joinery Contractor), James Richardson Furniture (Bespoke Item Contractor - Furniture), Philip Chun (Building Surveyor), Luke Curtis (Engineer - Fire Safety) Builder: MPA

Photographer: Tim O’Connor, Sean Fennessy and Tom Blachford

Yakimono & Society • Russell & George • Photographer: Sean Fennessy

Accentuated by its use of materiality, tone, and colour, Always is a home that is inherently dealing with the notion of time. Currently a summer holiday destination, the house has been designed to become a permanent residence in the future and exists at once as forward-looking and contemporary while also heavily referencing the nostalgia of the 70s beach shack. The house confronts the concept of age with a material palette designed to change and patina over time. The timber of the interior walls and ceiling will mature toward a golden hue and accompany the sandy tones of the stone walls outside and foreshore beyond. Meanwhile, the timber of the exterior will weather into a silvery-grey and connect with the internal application of slate floors and off-form concrete ceilings.

The deliberate omission of black and white brings texture and temperature to the foreground, resulting in an interior space that is rich in tactility and sentiment. A sense of enclosure dances with you, taking away views as frequently as they are offered up. A considered play between light and shadow, Always moves with you throughout the day, throughout the seasons and throughout a lifetime.

Award for Interior Architecture Always by Kennedy Nolan

Bunurong Country

Practice team: Patrick Kennedy (Design Architect), Rachel Nolan (Design Architect), Catherine Blamey (Project Architect), Adriana Hanna (Design Architect), Susannah Lempriere (Project Architect), Peter Cole (Graduate of Architecture) Consultant / Construction team: Amanda Oliver (Landscape Consultant), Macleod Consulting (Structural Engineer), Webb consult (Structural Engineer), AS James (Geotechnical Engineer), Urbis (Town Planner), Metro Building Surveyors (Building Surveyor), Jake Nash (Artist) Builder: Gaffcon Photographer: Derek Swalwell

Award for Interior Architecture Gatwick Private Hotel by Kosloff Architecture

Bunurong Country

The Gatwick Hotel is a unique conversion that acknowledges the history of the site through personal interpretation. The transformation’s strength is the detailed response to peeling back layers exposing the original complex context and fabric. Each space expresses remnants of the past.

Kosloff Architecture has gracefully maintained clear distinctions between old and new, the fit-out feels flexible and sympathetically touches the building lightly. Retention and reuse of original elements strengthens the original feel and pays respect to the architecture. The expression of remnants of the existing interior materiality draws on the building’s previous multiple uses. Attention to detail creates a stimulating living environment. The main suite with its furniture-like joinery and integrated ensuite is perfectly suited, responding to the origins of the building as a luxury hotel. This considered architectural approach is an excellent example of adaptive re-use of built form.

Consultant / Construction team: Electrolight (Lighting Consultant), WRAP Engineering (Services Consultant), TD&C (Structural Engineer), Bryce Raworth (Heritage Consultant), SWA (Building Surveyor), Mock Turtle (Specialist Painters) Builder: Neometro Projects Australia Pty Ltd Photographer: Derek Swalwell

Award for Interior Architecture Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School Gymnasium by McBride Charles Ryan

Wurundjeri Country

More than just a gymnasium, McBride Charles Ryan’s latest addition to the suite of Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School buildings has become the beating heart of the Keilor East campus. Laudable both internally and externally, the interior quality connects with the commanding presence upon arrival from Centreway to the charged activity of the campus interior. For a building with a multitude of functions, from training courts to sporting arena, staff summits to whole-of-school assemblies, the outcome is cohesive, considered, and tenacious. The colonnade – a recurring theme in each of PEGS’ buildings – is continued from the outside through to the inside, offering a perpendicular internal street with a generosity of secondary spaces to peel away or retreat into. The barrel-vaulted ceiling is not only a design device to control ventilation and acoustics but transposes the civic nature of the exterior to the internal space. The material palette is joyous and cheerful, reserving some extravagance for areas that do not usually receive attention, such as the catering kitchen. PEGS’ gymnasium space is loaded with surprises, from subtly hidden PEGS motifs, to secret vistas and concealed wall hatches; the resulting architecture inspires students to think beyond the base requirements and aim a little higher.

Practice team: Rob McBride (Director), Debbie Lyn Ryan (Owner), Phuong Nguyen (Project Architect) Consultant / Construction team: Webber Design (Structural Engineer), Stantec (Services Engineer), Pink Noise Audio (AV Consultant), Floreancig Smith (Building Surveyor), Rider Levett Bucknall (Quantity Surveyor) Builder: McCorkell Constructions Photographer: John Gollings

Award for Interior Architecture Queen & Collins by KTA + BVN

Wurundjeri Country

Queen & Collins is a successful reconnection of eclectic heritage architectural landmarks of bygone eras. The primary urban design strategy focuses on social connection to effectively re-link this development to the city through new laneways. These interstitial spaces allow public access and enjoyment through previously hidden heritage gems, linking retail and workplaces. The new oversized gates connect the city to this pedestrian network. The reimagined ground level incorporates an exterior palette of materials evoking a moodiness reminiscent of an Italian square. This experience successfully responds to the Venetian gothic heritage of the bank and stock exchange. With the removal of the traditional podium, new laneways blur the distinction between exterior and interior using oversized lanterns, cobblestones, marble, and robust exterior finishes. Bridges and tucked away hidden stairs link the commercial development, office spaces, and passers-by, cleverly blending workplace with social connection. This intervention speaks to the future postCOVID experience, reinvigorating connection with each other and the environment.

Practice team: Kerstin Thompson (Design Architect), Kelley Mackay (Director of Projects), Michael Blancato (Associate, Project Lead), Claire Humphreys (Associate, Design Lead), Lloyd McCathie (Associate, Project Architect), Martin Allen (Associate, Senior Architect), Grant Dixon (Senior Architect), Patrick Phelan (Architect), Henry Russell (Architect), Caroline Chong (Graduate of Architecture), Darcy Dunn (Graduate of Architecture), Marwin Sim (Graduate of Architecture), Tamsin O’Reilly (Visualisation Specialist), Ninotschka Titchkosky (BVN, Co-CEO), Rob Vider (BVN, Senior Practice Director), Sean Regan (BVN, Architect), Alan Monckton-Milnes (BVN, Architect), Sally Campbell (BVN, Senior Practice Director), Marc Hine (BVN, Associate), Renae Tapley (BVN, Interior Architecture Project Leader) Consultant / Construction team: Armitage Jones (Project Manager), Tract (Town Planner), Aurecon (Structural / Civil Engineers), Aurecon (Facade Engineer), Arup (Mechanical / Electrical Engineers), Arup (Hydraulics / Fire Services), Arup ( ESD Consultant), Arup (Fire Engineering), Acoustic Logic (AV Consultant), Irwin Consult (WSP) (Traffic Engineer), Slattery (Quantity Surveyor), Millar Merrigan (Landscape Architect), Bryce Raworth (Heritage Advisors), Lovell Chen (Heritage and Preservation Architects), DJ Coalition (Lighting Consultant), McKenzie Group (Building Surveyor), Studio Semaphore (Wayfinding + Signage), Morris Goding Access Consultants (Accessibility) Builder: Probuild Constructions Photographer: Derek Swalwell

Deeds Brewery and Taproom by Splinter Society Architecture

Country: Wurundjeri

Deeds Brewery is a glammed-up taproom that will take you on an immersive sensory journey and exceed your expectations. The design of the bar is distinctly practical, the use of materiality is highly resourceful, and the intervention is considerate of the environment and existing built conditions. Splinter Society have successfully met the challenge of combining a rough and raw functional requirement with an elevated and palatable local venue without filtering the experience. Builder: Buildtech Projects Pty Ltd

Photographer: Sharyn Cairns

Sculptform Design Studio by Woods Bagot

Country: Wurundjeri

Scultpform Design Studio is an elegant gesture that blurs the lines between workplace and workshop. The back-of-house as the centrepiece of the experience is an excellent strategy to connect the design community through the process of co-creation. Woods Bagot celebrates Sculptform’s bespoke feature battening, craftsmanship and custom detailing. The experience is a space that is immersive and sculptural, with a physical connection to the product and process. The curvaceous timber infinity gesture is an absolute manifestation of the brand as an interior, effortlessly connects the two levels.

Builder: Sculptform

Photographer: Peter Bennetts

Shortlisted • Bassano • Tom Robertson Architects • Scott Bemelen of Bieemele • Bunurong Country • Photographer Derek Swalwell

Albert Park Lantern House • Topology Studio • Cassina Homes • Bunurong Country • Photographer Paul Hermes

Dexus Place, 80 Collins Street • Warren and Mahoney • Shape Australia • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Nicole England

Isabella Grove House • Robert Simeoni Architects • Visioneer Pty Ltd Builders • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Derek Swalwell

Melbourne Entrepreneurial Centre • Architectus • Lendlease • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Shannon McGrath Shortlisted • Erskine River House • Kerstin Thompson Architects • Spence Construction • Eastern Maar Country • Photographer Sharyn Cairns

Arcadia • Architecture architecture • Moon Building Group • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Tom Ross

Emplacement • NTF Architecture • Sinjen Group • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Tom Blachford

LanesEnd • UrbanID • Jonas Construction • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Dean Bradley

Mrs Betty & Mr John Laidlaw AO Innovation & Education Hub at the Alfred • Hayball • Formula Interiors • Bunurong Country • Photographer Emily Bartlett Shortlisted • Stable & Cart House • Clare Cousins Architects • ProvanBuilt • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Sharyn Cairns

Bourke Place • 3XN Architects with NH Architecture • ProBuild • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Dianna Snape

Froebel Carlton • Silvester Fuller • MPA • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Shannon McGrath

Malvern House • Lande Architects • Standout Projects • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Derek Swalwell

Next Hotel, Melbourne • Woods Bagot in collaboration with UN Studio • Multiplex • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Sharyn Cairns Shortlisted • Victorian Pride Centre • BAU GAA Brearley Architects & Urbanists and Grant Amon Architects • Hansen Yuncken • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer John Gollings

CENTREPIECE at Melbourne Park • NH Architecture • Lendlease • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer NH Architecture

Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street • Bates Smart • Multiplex • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Paul Gosney

Melbourne Airport T2 Arrivals Hall • Grimshaw • Lendlease • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Michael Kai

Paragon • Fender Katsalidis • Multiplex • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Willem-Dirk du Toit

Puffing Billy Lakeside Visitor Centre • TERROIR • Kane Constructions Pty Ltd • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Peter Bennetts

SEEK HQ • Hassell • Buildcorp • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Peter Bennetts

Xavier College Manresa • MGS Architects • Ireland Brown Construction • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Jeremy Wright Ruskin Street • B.E Architecture • Josh Fotopoulos - JGF Creative • Bunurong Country • Photographer Victor Vieaux

Shepparton Art Museum • Denton Corker Marshall • Kane Constructions Pty Ltd • Yorta Yorta Country • Photographer Tim Griffith San Lorenzo Restaurant • Peter Ryan Architects • Caribbean Park • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Alex Reinders

The Clendon Centre • Architectus • Vaughan Constructions • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Trevor Mein Seawind Road • B.E Architecture • Glenn Mealey - Willowglenn Homes • Bunurong Country • Photographer Victor Vieaux

THE LUME Melbourne • Decibel Architecture • Lexon Group • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer LUME

Yakimono & Society • Russell & George • Photographer: Sean Fennessy