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Kendra Pinkus, Design Maverick

When is the best time to go it alone and establish your own practice? Well it’s always a huge professional and personal step but even more challenging at this particular time – that is unless you are Kendra Pinkus.

Kendra Pinkus, Design Maverick

Project: Crown Metropol Photographer: Shannon McGrath

As an interior designer of note, Pinkus has a multitude of completed projects within a bulging portfolio that is testament to her talent. In fact, having designed the interiors of many landmark projects, it would be true to say that her work has helped shape the design landscape of Australia today.

Pinkus was just eight years old when she decided that design would be her life and pursing her passion, she commenced studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) receiving a Bachelor of Arts, Interior Design.

Project: Crown Towers, Perth; Photographer: Sean Fennessy

Following graduation Pinkus joined Synman Justin Bialek (now SJB) for several months and then travelled to London where she worked with the inimitable John Pawson. Finally returning to Melbourne, she began work with Bates Smart, and here she found her ‘design home’, remaining with the practice as a designer for 25 years, the last 14 as Associate Director in Interiors.

Project: Chadstone Office Tower; Photographer: Sean Fennessy

While at Bates Smart, Pinkus was a lead designer on myriad projects that included Crown Metropole Southbank, Crown Perth and the Mayfair Hotel Adelaide, the Classic East Melbourne public spaces and display suite, Vicinity Centre Tower One Chadstone public lobby and workplace and the public spaces of 35 Spring Street Melbourne, to name just a few hospitality, commercial and retail commissions. She also has a wealth of residential experience, and all those years ago when she first began work at Bates Smart, her very first commission was to design the interior of the home of Ron and Barbara Walker in Toorak, which subsequently led to many other high-end private residential projects.

Project: Crown Towers, Perth; Photographer: Sean Fennessy

Pinkus belongs to that elite club of exceptional Australian interior designers who have the experience and knowledge to interpret and resolve a brief and so achieve outstanding results for clients. Her understanding of how a place should look and feel coupled with spatial flow, facility, comfort and product knowledge ensures design that is correct whether eclectic, contemporary, traditional or simply intuitive.

It might not be the best time to commence a business but already Pinkus is working on two projects and her practice began just three weeks ago!

Project: Classic. East Melbourne; Photographer: Sean Fennessy

Certainly, starting at this time will be challenging however all praise to this designer for taking a giant step and spreading her wings to create kendra pinkus design.

With an innate understanding of interior design, Pinkus has a wonderful sense of just how a room, a house, a hotel, a workplace, in fact any interior, should look, feel and function. Watch this space great projects will be coming!

 

Photography provided by Bates Smart

If you liked this article, we think you’d enjoy an article The Cloud: Foolscap’s new base reveals a distinctly collaborative spirit in the heart of Melbourne’s design community.

 

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