DQ Issue 49 Preview Magazine

inside word | ISSUE 49 autumn 2013

dq explores the operations side of australian design enterprises.

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hese days many design enterprises are opting for leaner, more malleable business models. This allows them to adapt quickly to uncertain market conditions and respond rapidly to shifts in consumer demand. It often involves a small team, low overheads, an excellent network of contacts and resources, and an ability to respond quickly.

Andrew Waller, founder of design studio Mr Waller, provides an excellent case in point. As sole trader designers and boutique design studios, they outsource components of their projects in a collaborative, mutually beneficial fashion. “This means I can still secure larger jobs and experiment with a variety of project types by working with a range of designers,” Waller says. So, by simplifying your business model, you can diversify your services. It’s a smart solution, and just a little bit ‘grass roots’. But we’re finding most business within the design sector is conducted in this informal, conversational manner, with a view to like-minded outcomes, pg 62.

Designers are also diversifying into areas of product import, distribution and supply. A good example are the Perthbased architects, Marco Vittino and Katherine Ashe who are now the Australian agents for European tapware brand, A2F. It’s a good business opportunity for the duo, who also have their own firm, vittinoAshe. They’re bringing new product into the local market, and moving beyond the realm of project work. From this relationship they will also branch into product design, potentially with A2F itself. If you ask me, it’s a savvy move on their part. But to ask them, it all comes back to that like-mindedness and focus on shared outcomes, pg 24.

Through our DQ DESIGNPRENEUR series we also consider the dynamics of family-owned business with Leonard Georgopoulos of Arthur G, and Joe Merlino of Table & Chair Company. Both Georgopoulos and Merlino are secondgeneration owners of their respective companies. Drawing on their understanding of the Australian market, they’ve brought new vision and direction to their businesses and, as a result, diversified their respective services, pg 42 & 86.

On the topic of new generations, in this issue we present DQ’s Top Ten Forces+Faces 2013, paying homage to inspired, savvy and future-focused individuals leading the industry in areas of product, lighting, sustainability, experiential engagement, digital design and more. In this issue we also present a mixture of established and emerging forces and faces – they are the movers and shakers of Australian design and will lead industry development with their initiatives, pg 65.

My quarterly editorial has always afforded me the first word. But this issue it’s my last as Editor of DQ and I’d like to thank you all for a fantastic ride – I’ve had a blast! Being part of the design community has given me the greatest pleasure over the past four-and-a-half years, and I look forward to engaging with you all in new contexts.

alice blackwood, editor

DQ Editor Charlotte Fish, dq@indesign.com.au outgoing Editor Alice Blackwood Art Direction Senior Designer Emma Warfield, emma@indesign.com.au Designer Frances Yeoland, frances@indesign.com.au Junior Designer Alex Buccheri, alex@indesign.com.au Design intern Rollo Hardy, design@indesign.com.au Contributing designer Michelle Byrnes Production Manager Sophie Mead, sophie@indesign.com.au

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Advertising Enquiries / Online Advertising Enquiries Laura Garro – Southern States (61) 423 774 126 | laurag@indesign.com.au Contributing Writers Alice Blackwood, Aniqa Mannan, Anna Flanders, Annie Reid, Ben Morgan, Byron George, David Harrison, Elana Castle, Jen Bishop, Joanna Kawecki, Leanne Amodeo, Mandi Keighran, Nicky Lobo, Ola Bednarczuk, Owen Lynch, Peter Sackett, Stephanie Madison, Stephen Crafti sub-editor Graham Lauren CEO / Publisher Raj Nandan, raj@indesign.com.au PA to Publisher/Advertising Traffic Elizabeth Davy-Hou, liz@indesign.com.au

Editorial Director Paul McGillick, editor@indesign.com.au Operations Manager Adele Troeger, adele@indesign.com.au Financial Director Kavita Lala, kavita@indesign.com.au Business Manager Darya Churilina, darya@indesign.com.au Accounts Gabrielle Regan, gabrielle@indesign.com.au Online Editor Owen Lynch, owen@indesign.com.au Online Radu Enache, radu@indesign.com.au Ramith Verdheneni, ramith@indesign.com.au Ryan Sumners, ryan@indesign.com.au Jesse Cai, jesse@indesign.com.au

Events and Marketing Tegan Richardson, tegan@indesign.com.au Hannah Kurzke, hannah@indesign.com.au COVER IMAGE All product from Cosentino.

Benchtop: Silestone Carbono with Integrity Due Carbono Sink; Coloured Silestone: Green ‘Verdi Fun’, Pink ‘Magenta Energy’, Red ‘Rosso Monza’ Fabricator: Royal Stone Photography: Tim Robinson, timrobinsonphotography.com image credits Page 6: Alice Blackwood, Photo: Michael Gazzola, Studio 11 Page 8: Lower left-hand, Darling Street, Melbourne, project by Kerry Phelan Design Office, Photo: Derek Swalwell

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contents | ISSUE 49 autumn 2013

opinion

profile

brand

connect

Byron George

Mika Ihamuotila

Innofa

Coco Republic

21

28

60

_ 94

handing over the controls _

taking marimekko to the asia-pacific _

leading a textile revolution _

presenting Timothy Oulton

Clinton Cole

Andrew Waller

Light Culture

BoConcept

the create-and-build model

running a lean operation

why lighting is so important

their long-awaited launch in australia

_ 84

_ 62

_ 82

“ Australia is a lucrative and mature market in the surfacing category”

Joe Merlino Table & Chair Company

_ 42

Kerry Phelan Kerry Phelan Design Office

cover story cosentino | 68

_ 54

Leonard Georgopoulos Arthur G

_ 86

_ 96

the English Tapware company The value of reflection

_ 58

Living Edge perth views new products and a refitted showroom

_ 98

design feature

| 65

Design Quarterly (DQ) is a wholly owned Australian publication, which is designed and published quarterly in Australia. DQ is available through subscription, at major newsagencies and bookshops nationally. Subscriptions – never miss an issue by subscribing online at indesignlive.com, faxing us at (61 2) 9368 0289, or emailing subscriptions@indesign.com.au. Design Quarterly is a quarterly publication fed by who is doing what in the design industry, championing the personality behind design. It aims to promote and create the next generation of design as well as supporting those designers who are more established. The editor accepts submissions from writers/photographers/illustrators for editorial consideration. We encourage those working in the design industry to submit news and announcements, so we can keep readers abreast of your new developments. Editorial submissions should be made out to the editor dq@indesign.com.au. Any digital images should be supplied by email, downloadable link, or on CD at 300dpi, minimum 20cm wide. Please also supply full contact details and captions with images. Contributions are submitted at the sender’s risk, and DQ cannot accept any loss or damage. Please retain duplicates of text and images. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any other means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise. The publishers assume no responsibility for errors or omissions or any consequences of reliance on this publication. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, the publisher or the publication. Magazine Stock Our printer is Environmental Management System ISO14001:2004 accredited. Printing inks are vegetable based.

Paper is environmentally friendly ECF (elemental chlorine free) and recyclable. Printed in Singapore.

Published under licence by Indesign Publishing Pty Ltd ABN 96 101 789 262 Head Office L1, 50 Marshall Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 | (61 2) 9368 0150, (61 2) 9368 0289 (fax) | info@indesign.com.au | indesignlive.com MELBOURNE Suite 11, Level 1, 95 Victoria Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065 SINGAPORE 115A Commonwealth Drive 05–18/19, SINGAPORE 149596 | (+65) 6475 5228, (+65) 6475 5238 (fax)

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profile | mika ihamuotila

Clockwise from top left » Marimekko store Melbourne » Mika Ihamuotila » Marimekko store Melbourne

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have the guts to be who you are, and success will follow: CEO Mika Ihamuotila takes marimekko to asia.

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ailing from one of Europe’s coldest and darkest countries, the bright, uplifting patterns of Marimekko belie the brand’s chilly Finnish origins. Emerging in 1951 from the ruins of postwar Finland (following the Winter War between Finland and Russia during World War II), Marimekko represented a small green shoot of hope in a period of cultural deprivation.

These paradoxical beginnings lend strength and longevity to the brand, and as president and CEO Mika Ihamuotila says, “That’s the heritage of the company – to inspire people [beyond design and products] to adopt it as an attitude to life.”

The company’s real boom period was from the 1950s to the 1970s, when it took the fashion world by storm with its bold colours and patterns. In contrast,

“ Australia is, in many ways, an interesting market; there’s a lot of growth here and openness for new thinking” the 1980s and 1990s saw the company recede to the safety of its domestic markets, guided by a financially focused management team intent on bottom lines and shareholder interests.

When Ihamuotila came to the company some five years ago, he was looking to buy Marimekko, take it back to its roots – “in terms of colours and identity” – and take it back to the world.

With a background in corporate banking, Ihamuotila was not a indesignlive.com/dq

leader in high design and fashion circles. However, his closest friends were not surprised by his lateral career move. “My mother is a textile designer, which may be the reason I have always been into painting and drawing, and following not so much fashion but design and architecture,” he says.

“Previously, I was in corporate leadership roles with two banks, but I always felt unfulfilled… I’ve always had this little artist inside.”

So, what was an economics and banking professional going to bring to a vivacious design brand?

Ihamuotila was quite clear in his vision, and rather than leading with numbers, he recognised the need to give Marimekko’s talented artists freer rein.

“It’s easy to run a pure art institution or gallery, and it’s easy to run a purely rational business,” he explains. “What’s difficult is to run a company that has both the business element and a strong artistic culture.”

When push came to shove, Ihamuotila overcame his biggest challenge yet: to trust the artists and designers.

“When I came to the company, I felt the retail and business sides were playing too big a role. When our 40 designers came out with their [offbeat] ideas and designs, their proposals were too often left out, because the business side thought them not trendy enough, or that they wouldn’t sell.”

But Ihamuotila quickly caught on. “When I went back to some of the greatest iconic pieces and products that Marimekko had created, it was always the same process. The business and retail sides were very resistant, and thought [the designs were] awkward. But when they survived, those pieces were the ones that were [enduringly] successful.”

Placing great emphasis on “sticking to your guns” and “having the guts” to be yourself, Ihamuotila has led the company back into the international limelight. Observing the shift in consumer focus from

Europe and the Atlantic to Asia and the Pacific, he has directed the opening of 25 stores across Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and now Australia. Yet he remains mindful of maintaining a strong identity and sense of heritage on foreign shores. “If we change ourselves, then nobody is really interested in us. And when we came to Australia, I wanted us to be extremely strong.”

When the opening of flagship stores in Sydney and Melbourne heralded the arrival of Marimekko in late 2012, the response was all Ihamuotila could have wished for.

“Australia is, in many ways, an interesting market; there’s a lot of growth here and openness for new thinking,” he says.

Having spent almost a week in the two cities, Ihamuotila could already see the brand resonating with the local design community and with Australian culture at large. “Marimekko is about being positive and relaxed, and having no stiff upper lip or pretensions.

It’s about having the guts to be who you are,” he says.

Text by Alice Blackwood

Marimekko marimekko.com (61 2) 9299 0372

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source | digital business

expert guide to social media

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nic’s rules of thumb 1. The main rule around social media is don’t sell, instead focus on building trust and community support around ideas.

2. Start now. Why? Because there is a shift in attention from old media to new media. Those who establish themselves early will be propelled by this wave of change.

3. Choose a niche. Social media works very well when you focus on a specific topic. Share comments, articles and videos around that topic. You don’t need to create it, you just need to share it.

4. Make your niche specific to reduce competition. For example, if you focus on CBD apartments in Sydney, instead of just architecture, then your chance of becoming the default expert in that topic is greatly increased.

5. Use your face instead of a brand. Almost everyone is scared of exposing themselves at first, but real people with faces outperform brands. You need to be real and have a point of view.

6. Be patient. Social media is a long-term strategy. Don’t expect clients to walk through the door tomorrow. It may take at least six months and is really about creating career value, rather than quick wins.

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rchitectural photographer Nic Granleese has built his business around the power of online and social media. “I work with architects to photograph their projects and then create media kits that can be shared online,” he expands.

Social media is integral to Granleese’s business model, and while his images are regularly published in newspapers and magazines, it’s the predistribution of these online that often prompts coverage in print.

Granleese believes that social media holds great power for professional creatives – photographers and architects in particular. “An exciting thing I see is ‘business personalities’ emerging. People who love what they do exposing themselves to the world and finding clients who ‘get them’,” he says.

“Social media gives them a platform to share their ideas and reach an unprecedented audience around niche topics.”

The connection is one of relevance rather than proximity, says Granleese. “And that’s why social media is powerful, it helps you find ideal clients and that’s a big part of completing great projects.”

For small businesses with niche audiences, social media can reap great rewards. And in Granleese’s experience, there are certain rules of thumb which will better the chances of a measurable outcome.

Text by Alice Blackwood

Nic Granleese nicgranleese.com facebook.com/pages/Nic-Granleese twitter @NicGranleese (61) 438 737 770

Clockwise from top left » Instarobo, Pinterclone 2000, Tweetbot, Like-a-tron, Illustrations by Alex Buccheri

why is social media relevant to designers?

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he importance of social media for business is no longer a new thing. But as the popularity of the more visual tools like Instagram and Pinterest increases, so too does its relevance to those in the architecture and design industry.

Creative types who previously struggled with articulating their ideas in 140 characters on Twitter, can now simply snap their latest vignette or interiors project, add a flattering filter and hit publish on Instagram in a matter of seconds.

Facebook remains the most popular business social media tool and many reports suggest that it is the place where your brand is likely to achieve real engagement with followers.

It’s also the tool most of us are already familiar with for personal use so a great starting point if you’re new to it.

Interior designer and TV personality, Darren Palmer, views social media as an extension of his personal brand and a part of public relations (PR). He says Facebook is a dynamic and ever-changing version of your company website; a place to share news, as well as give fans a peek behind the scenes of his day to day work.

“These days, you really can’t ignore the impact social media

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has on your business. Most designers are running their own small businesses and often the line between their brand and themselves is blurred, so how they portray themselves on social media is extremely important.

People expect you to be on social media. If you’re not, you risk looking out of touch.

“It’s also a great way for fans of your work to connect with you and ask questions; it can help you appear more accessible and approachable. It’s a really quick and cheap way to stay visible.”

Darren also blogs at Rescu.com.au and uses Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.

High-profile Sydney interior designer Greg Natale has a popular Facebook page with

thousands of fans. Sharing sneak peeks of his latest projects before they’re published in magazines, as well as his product ranges for the likes of Designer Rugs and Porter’s Paints, has proved successful for him.

While some would argue Natale’s profile doesn’t need raising, he sees social media as a great way to connect with the people who admire and support his work. Despite his busy schedule, he updates his page himself, and regularly.

“I’ve always believed the business side of being an interior designer is really important and often neglected. In this day and age, the digital side is paramount,” says Natale, who recently gave his company website an overhaul. “And you shouldn’t forget that wherever your brand has a presence online, be it your website, Facebook page or Twitter profile, it’s one more opportunity for people to find you when they do a Google search.”

Text by Jen Bishop

#TWEETBOT

Jen Bishop theinteriorsaddict.com Facebook.com/interiorsaddict pinterest.com/interiorsaddict Twitter @interiorsaddict

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designpreneur | joe merlino

perth businessman joe merlino plots the next move for Table & Chair Company.

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hen Joe Merlino took over Table & Chair Company, he bought into a high-end residential and low-end commercial company with a wide assortment of brands.

Today, he has streamlined the business to focus on architectural and interior design contract projects, building a strong local and international portfolio of Australian and West Australian agencies including Jardan, Vitra, Unifor, Magis, Mattiazzi, Fast, Inno and Plus T. His father Ross Merlino (a local and international furniture wholesaler) had launched the company some 17 years ago with long-time family friend and industry identity, Yvonne Espinoza. In 2008, Espinoza wanted out and Joe wanted in. He had spent eight years running his father’s wholesaling business in Sydney and was looking to return home for a new challenge.

“From day one, I knew what I wanted to do,” Merlino says.

“Perth’s bar scene had just started taking off, so I could see where the contract market was heading, and that excited me.”

He built a strong team, streamlined the brand portfolio in line with his direction and secured West Australian and Australian agencies with strong commercial brands.

“In the first 12 months, it was all about understanding the market and putting contracts in place with our suppliers,” Merlino says. “I believe in being unique.

Especially in Perth, you have to have something that is exclusive.”

Magis and Papatya, which were already on the floor, became

page | 42

West Australian and Australian agencies, respectively. Casamania followed, then Vitra (commercial) and Unifor, Jardan, Mattiazzi, Plus T, Fast and Inno.

“Bringing Vitra on board was a proud moment for us. We worked for several months building a relationship and securing an agreement for Western Australia.

Vitra has worked with and continues to work with some of the world’s most renowned furniture designers, and it’s exciting to bring this level of design into the West Australian market. Adding this brand and introducing workstations into our product catalogue was a key step to taking Table & Chair to the next level.”

Another more recent highlight has been gaining the Australian agency for Mattiazzi. With designs by world leaders, such as Konstantin Grcic and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, adding the Australian Mattiazzi agency to the Table & Chair family cements the company as a serious national design hub.

“It’s in my five-year plan to continue to build our Australian agencies. We already have four on board. However, I don’t want to become a business that collects brands. That is not what we are about,” Merlino says.

What Merlino is about is a passion for design. Starting out in hospitality projects, he has injected himself into the design industry, networked with architects and interior designers, and moved with the evolution of Perth into new commercial areas.

Not content with just filling orders, he also has a strong passion for the Perth design

scene and understands that it’s important to give as much as receive. They recently hosted an intimate Skype session between Perth architects and interior designers and the infamous Konstantin Grcic. Here, guests had the opportunity to speak directly to the designer of the products they were sitting on and considering specifying.

“What drives me more than anything is good design. I love bringing the world’s leading designs to Perth and seeing it put into local projects. It’s not always about the size of the order but it’s the excitement of seeing the Stool_One in the Perth Arena and the Magis Paso Doble stool in the NIB Stadium,” Merlino says.

“Perth has developed and is opening up to different design.

With the launch of Brookfield Place last year and work started on the Perth waterfront, it’s an exciting time. What does that mean for Table & Chair? We are streamlining further and concentrating on building an even stronger portfolio of furniture agencies to meet that demand.”

Asked if he could see an expansion of Table & Chair into the capitals throughout the country, he smiles and says, “We want to grow across Australia, eventually.”

One suspects that could be sooner rather than later.

Text by Anna Flanders

Table & Chair Company tableandchaircompany.com.au (61 8) 9388 1855

Clockwise from top left Âť Joe Merlino Âť Medici chair by Konstantin Grcic for Mattiazzi

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PROFILE | THOMAS HEATHERWICK

commercial success is powered by a cohesive team culture. we go behind the scenes of heatherwick studio.

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Clockwise from top left » Thomas Heatherwick » Olympic Cauldron, Photo: Heatherwick Studio » Nanyang Hub, visualisation Photo: Heatherwick Studio » Routemaster bus, Photo: Iwan Baan page | 46

n a career spanning almost 20 years, Thomas Heatherwick’s work has included everything from the small to the large, temporary to permanent, understated to iconic. Yet, although his Olympic Cauldron provided one of the most memorable design moments of the London 2012 Olympics and his UK pavilion for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo was visited by 8 million people in just six months, the designer’s biggest project to date has been his most personal – the development of his studio.

“It’s been this funny project that’s in a way been more important than any one project we’ve worked on; the thing that fills every gap in your brain and around the projects themselves,” he explains.

Fresh from graduation at the age of 24, and with no existing practice on which to model his own, Heatherwick set about surrounding himself with collaborators – who now number 85 – and focused on developing an open, honest, synergetic style of working that operates at the crossroads of architecture, design and sculpture. “I don’t feel we’re multidisciplinary,” he says.

“There’s one discipline gluing us together as a team of people with different backgrounds on different projects.”

The studio’s collected passion lies in what Heatherwick calls “neglected public infrastructure”

– railway lines, trains, undergrounds, power stations, road systems and all the other things that get ignored because, “when people think of cities, they think of buildings.”

In 2010, Heatherwick Studio became the first design team in over 50 years to redesign the iconic red Routemaster bus – a quintessential part of London’s infrastructure that, he says, “was not being cared for.”

Although projects like the Routemaster and the Olympic Cauldron have built Heatherwick’s reputation, much of the studio’s work is taking place abroad, with large-scale projects in development across Asia and the Middle East. Where other designers might resort to cultural clichés, Heatherwick aims to cultivate a sense of local distinctiveness in each of his designs. “I want to help places be more themselves, rather than international versions of each other,” he says. “You can travel to the other half of the planet and find very little that is distinctive and feels true.”

He puts the firm’s success in winning commissions down to its focus, its dedication to its work – and an unflappably positive approach to the development process and the client relationship.

In a world in which designers and city planners are constantly at loggerheads, Heatherwick remains optimistic, having

formed relationships both locally and abroad with developers who share his vision and passion for creating something meaningful in the built environment.

“I’ve found that a lot of people have given up on the process, given up on the planning system and become quite cynical. [They] believe that city planners are there to stop things and ruin things, and that hasn’t been my experience. We’ve found some city planners disappointed at [designers’] lack of ambition and determination to help make cities unique and work better.”

Heatherwick’s success all comes down to the studio’s culture, carefully honed over 18 years of practise. “We’ve done everything we could to design ourselves and the way we work to make the [design] voyage the greatest of pleasures, and to retain optimism,” he says.

“I know my words sound naïve, but we’ve found that being quite open-hearted about something can mean more to the people you work with.”

Thomas Heatherwick presented in Hong Kong at the 2012 Business of Design Week.

Text by Ola Bednarczuk

Heatherwick Studio heatherwick.com 44 (0)20 7833 8800

“ We’ve done everything we could to design ourselves and the way we work to make the voyage the greatest of pleasures”

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page | 47

folio | residential Clockwise from top left » Push Pull house » Into The Woods » Model House, Photos: Courtesy of Breathe Architecture

DOG-WHISTLE marketing?

Breathe sorts the CREATIVES FROM THE CONSERVATIVES.

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ith Breathe Architecture, you either get it, or you don’t. Members of the lean five-person studio headed by architect Jeremy McLeod share a strong ethos for conceptual ideation as a means to inspired outcomes – and you really get a sense of this when you look through the studio’s colourful portfolio of project imagery.

You’re either excited or sceptical.

While the studio is commonly recognised for being a sustainable architecture agency, McLeod feels this reputation doesn’t quite match the studio’s own sense of self-image.

He started the practice in 2001, christening it Breathe in the belief that buildings should be permeable and well ventilated.

“We were really making a firm that went back to design basics and put passive environmental-design strategies in place,” he says.

“But we don’t see ourselves as sustainable architects; we’re not governed by that. We see ourselves as 21st century urban architects doing what we should do. We like to think sustainability is a matter of course.”

Ask McLeod how he markets the firm, attracts clients and builds profile, and he says there’s no particular strategy involved.

They just do what they do, with a view to having fun. “We work too hard and too long not to enjoy ourselves,” he says. This is evident in the ever-present playfulness in the practice’s projects.

Often, the conceptual generator at the front end of a project points quite clearly to the end product, particularly to its visual documentation. page | 56

To flick through Breathe’s many residential projects is akin to entering a storybook. In one house, garishly garbed wrestlers jump over kitchen benches and attempt gravity-defying wrestling moves; in another, a marionettelike model poses delicately within a lounge room space.

“With our photography, we try to take that conceptual idea from the outset. And the photography is really an extension or representation of that original conceptual approach.”

The final shoot is treated as a reflective exercise – a tying off of loose ends – rather than as a direct appeal to prospective clients and media. McLeod says, “It’s interesting to me that so much architectural photography is about buildings as forms, rather than as places for people.”

As far as attracting new business goes, McLeod says humorously, “It does an initial sorting of our clients. Some clients look at the photography and it freaks them out.”

Far from being freaked, the client behind Push Pull House (a graphic designer) was in complete harmony with Breathe’s conceptual thrust. “When we talked to him about having a series of spaces that could be pushed into this volume and pulled out the other side, he was totally into it.” Thankfully, the resulting photo shoot, complete with colourful wrestlers, appealed to him, too.

“The approach itself is quite simple,” McLeod says. “It’s a nice renovation, and the materials are simple. What’s great about the project is that the photography

draws together the conceptual backstory” – that is, the push-pull.

McLeod continues reflectively: “When you’ve got a couple of wrestlers pulling a tug rope across a kitchen bench, sometimes it scares people off, and sometimes it inspires them.”

Suffice to say, their approach inspires enough clients to have enabled Breathe to build a substantial portfolio of projects.

Indeed, McLeod spent the better part of last Christmas culling many from his website. That he could afford to do so signals quite a body of achievement for a team of five.

Text by Alice Blackwood

Breathe Architecture breathe.com.au (61 3) 9381 2007

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page | 57

dq top ten | forces+faces2013

cosentino’s investment in australia is not a quick fix, says gary isherwood.

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he past 18 months has heralded an Australian revival for Cosentino, a world-leading producer of quartz surfaces. Founded in Spain in 1940, the company spread across Europe during the 1980s, and today distributes to over 100 countries, with 96 distribution centres, and close to 70 per cent of sales generated in international markets.

The group entered the Australian market early – in fact, Silestone by Cosentino, the company’s main product range, was one of the first quartz brands in Australia. Due to various issues, however, the brand lost its way in Australia and other solid surfaces took over market share. With a new entry into the Australian market, headed by Gary Isherwood, area manager of Cosentino Australia, that dynamic is rapidly changing.

The re-entry into Australia was, says Isherwood, a matter of timing. “The Cosentino Group decided to enter the Australian market in 2011 as part of the Group’s international expansion and diversification strategy,” he says. “Australia is a lucrative and mature market in the surfacing category, providing an important step in our overall global growth plan. We have a great belief in this market and an amazing desire and thirst for success here.”

Reactions to the group in Australia have been keenly appreciative. With their extensive product offering and innovative page | 68

approach, Cosentino is meeting the market demand for ‘something different’. Silestone is the main product range, offering over 60 distinctive colours and a range of thicknesses, including a unique 1.2cm product. Alongside this, Australian architects and designers have been quick to pick up on Eco, a recycled, Cradleto-Cradle certified surface product. Add to this the use of bacteriostatic technology, which provides hygiene protection, to all Silestone products and Cosentino offers designers a plethora of convincing solid surface solutions.

Beyond their product range, the group are engaging with the Australian design community at all levels. There exists a 4000m2 distribution facility in Sydney, and the group aims to add one in Victoria and one in Queensland over the coming years. A new showroom concept – the Cosentino City Centre – is also underway in Sydney. It represents a world first for Cosentino, and offers designers a space to experience its products, as well as a space to utilise for their own purposes, such as client presentations.

“Our investment within Australia is not a quick fix,” says Isherwood.

“We are here to stay and develop this market.”

To this end, the group is focusing not only on practising architects and designers, but those who represent the future of the industry. A partnership with the University of Technology

Sydney for the 7th International Cosentino Design Challenge, for example, has just been announced. The initiative invites Australian students to research conceptual approaches using Cosentino materials, and will introduce the company to a whole new generation of designers.

Cosentino is also keen to partner with Australian designers.

The vision is an approach similar to their successful collaborations with Form Us With Love and the Campana brothers, showcasing the properties of the products through design.

“To thrive within Australia with our brands will take time and patience,” says Isherwood, “Hopefully though we will show the design community why we have such a strong reputation globally for quality, innovation, and trend-setting design.”

With a host of new products to be launched over the coming year – including a game-changing new surface – Cosentino are well on their way to becoming an integral player within Australia’s design community.

Text by Mandi Keighran

Cosentino silestone.com/oceania (61 2) 8707 2500

Clockwise from top left » Gary Isherwood » Benchtop Altair with Altair Integrity Due Sink, Blanco Zeus Furniture » Lagoon, Nebula Series » Silestone blue, ‘Enjoy’

solidsurfaces

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“ Australia is a lucrative and mature market... providing an important step in our overall global growth plan”

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dq scene | INDESIGN, habitus, dq

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indesign, habitus, dq What End-of-year drinks Where Sydney and Melbourne When December 2012 Guests VIP clients, architects, designers and friends Âť indesignlive.com (61 2) 9368 0150

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01 Naomi Abood, Jean-Paul Patane 02 Joining for drinks in Melbourne 03 Toby Read, Fiona Susanto 04 Carl Coyle, Vicente Berbegal 05 Sonya Pale, guest Richard Karsay 06 Hannah Kurzke, Zoe Johnson 07 Gavin Harris, Jason Parry, Stephen Minnett 08 Colleen Black, Stewart Brown 09 Jacqui Wagar, guest,

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Alena Smith with guests 10 Mason Browne, Brendan Guy 11 Georgina Jeffries, Pip McCully 12 Nathan Karpenko, Dana Ciaccia 13 Kevin Adno with guests 14 Jack Malka, Adele Bates 15 Mark Ciavarella, Ermin Smrekar, Patrick Cetoupe 16 Tyann Scott, Eliza Williams 17 Guests join for the Sydney event 18Samantha Harberger, Karen

Griffin 19 Nathan Karpenko with guests 20 Alice Blackwood, Ross Gardam, Ben Morgan, Matt Hicks 21 Erick Jordao, Ciaran Steele 22 Annabel Hammond, Hon Diec 23 Keith Melbourne, Chelsea Chapman, Tony Russell 24 Nina Lacy, Aja Sutton, Tim Dodd Photos: Fiona Susanto & Gus Kollar

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THERE’S mORE TO US

see busIness furnIture In a dIfferent lIght...

Sydney: WWW.KROST.COM.AU | (02) 9557 3055

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MelbOURne: WWW.KleIn.COM.AU | (03) 9682 8280

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DESIGN DIARY april

may

june

Light+Building Frankfurt, Germany Until 4 April 2013

ICFF New York, USA 18 – 21 May 2013

» light-building.messefrankfurt.com

» icff.com

Australian International Design Festival A Vivid Sydney event, Sydney 30 May – 10 June 2013

Milan Furniture Fair Milan, Italy 9 – 14 April 2013

Clerkenwell Design Week London, UK 21 – 23 May 2013

» cosmit.it

» clerkenwelldesignweek.com

Adelaide Home Living Expo Adelaide 19 – 21 April 2013

Vivid Sydney Sydney 24 May – 10 June 2013

» kjex.com.au

» vividsydney.com

agIdeas Melbourne 29 April – 3 May 2013

World Interiors Day 25 May 2013

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EVENTS

dq scene | upcoming events

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» neocon.com

Techtextil Frankfurt, Germany 11 – 13 June 2013 » techtextil.messefrankfurt.com

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designEX Sydney 30 May – 1 June 2013

the hugo boss prize

Milan Furniture Fair

» designex.info

Living Traditions: The Art of Belief Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat 27 April – 30 June 2013

Monet’s Garden National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 10 May – 8 September 2013

CLAIRE HEALY & SEAN CORDEIRO University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane Until 28 July 2013

» balgal.com

» ngv.vic.gov.au

» artmuseum.uq.edu.au

The Hugo Boss Prize Guggenheim, New York Until 27 May 2013

CAPITheticAL: a capital city for tomorrow Gallery of Australian Design, Canberra Until 11 May 2013

Quilts 1700-1945 Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane 15 June – 22 September 2013

» gad.org.au

James Turrell Guggenheim, New York 21 June – 25 September 2013

_ EXHIBITIONS

Neocon Chicago, USA 10 – 12 June 2013

» ifiworld.org

» agideas.net

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» guggenheim.org

Creativity Of Meenas artisan idea:product:skill, Brisbane Until 15 June 2013 » artisan.org.au

James Turrell

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Good Design Showcase Westfield Sydney, Bondi Junction and Parramatta, Sydney 31 May – 10 June 2013

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» qagoma.qld.gov.au

» guggenheim.org

» gooddesignaustralia.com

Restaurant and Bar Design Awards Entries close 14 April 2013

7 th Cosentino Design Challenge Entries close 1 June 2013

» restaurantandbardesignawards.com

» cosentinodesignchallenge.com

STARON DESIGN AWARDS 1ST EDITION, 2013 Entries open until 31 July 2013

QANTAS SOYA VISUAL DESIGN & COMMUNICATIONS AWARD Entries close 4 June 2013

» austaron.com.au

» soya.com.au

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COMPETITIONS

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» gooddesignaustralia.com

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Red Dot Award: Design Concept Late submissions due 19 June 2013 » red-dot.sg

CLAIRE HEALY & SEAN CORDEIRO

page | 104

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