There were some serious party venues in Richmond/Cremorne this year, but also a great mix of quiet zones – all featuring the latest in commercial and residential design.

If you were lucky enough to be out on +Friday night, you would have seen the emanating green glow of Maxton Fox’s new showroom on Balmain St. where the company launched the new Beta system of workstations.

Just around the corner at Chairbiz, the party was in full swing in the inflatable Campari bar, the music spilling into the chill of Melbourne’s night air.

However, it was down to the serious side of things on Saturday – well, not too serious – when How We Create launched their new website with speakers including Nick Rennie, Launch Pad Finalists Karen Cunningham and Mandi King, our own Alice Blackwood of DQ and Professor Margaret Burchett of UTS. Oh, and of course Helen Kontouris and Norman Johnson MCs.

Bene / Envoy got sociable with the new Parcs range of office breakout furniture, sharing with Leffler’s multimedia display of their latest leather products.

Three streets down, Roger Lawton Rugs of Distinction had their beautiful ranges on display, shifting a lot of their stock out to give the full effect of their ‘rugs of distinction’.

Down the street Mance design opened the doors to their lighting workshop. After stepping through their showroom space, visitors were invited to browse the products in their raw forms and watch pieces being made live (and grab a sausage from the awesome sausage sizzle)!

There was an amazing buzz at Jardan’s temporary space, with Richmond Lighting complementing their modern Australian furniture perfectly. The relaxed party atmosphere was helped along with cups of fresh soup and mulled wine. They launched the beautiful Eli lounge, which was put to good use throughout the day. Kvadrat Maharam also made an appearance on some of Jardan’s upholstered pieces.

Church Street offered a great selection of suppliers, from Signorino Tile’s international guests (including a real charmer from Italy) to the latest ranges of hand-carved rugs from Rugs Carpet & Design. Newcomers to the event, Bayliss showed us the beautiful new Calvin Klein collection.

If you were lucky enough to head off the street and upstairs to Eurowalls you’d have seen the amazing wallpaper faces of some famous designers and you may even have made your own on the touchscreen stations! Around the corner there was some home-cooking with Made. where family cooks whipped up some great food for visitors (did you spot the girl with the SiD balloon?).

Arthur G went green for SiD this year, complete with miniature moss gardens and flowers on their furniture and green-themed edibles, while Image Interiors had their latest products on show, including Hulsta and Rolf Benz.

Poliform joined forces with Zip Hydrotap to deliver a knockout showroom this year, including a fine spread of food which satisfied the crowds.

Across the road at Space, the Foscarini light installations on the ground floor were a standout, with multiple levels of new products and the Edra Home setup (including that fluffy pink lounge) a hit with visitors.

If you still had the use of your feet at the end of Richmond/Cremorne you probably headed over to Richmond/Burnley for the rest of the Richmond action…

Photos by John Doughty, Spy Photography and Morgan Coyle, Indesign and others