hospitality design
Events
A rollicking good story with Richards Stanisich and Royal Oak Floors
Jonathan Richards and Kirsten Stanisich discussed practice, design process and the business of running a studio at a live audience event hosted by Royal Oak Floors in Sydney.
Events
Indesign x Wilkhahn: Melbourne, where are you working?
Our latest collaboration saw a range of designers come together at Wilkhahn’s Melbourne showroom for a discussion on the workplace dynamics specific to the Victorian capital.
Events
Saturday Indesign after dark at The Woollahra Hotel
The Official Saturday Indesign Afterparty heads to one of Woollahra’s best-known corner pubs, where a Richards Stanisich refurbishment brings new life to an Art Deco landmark.
Workplace
Per atria ad astra
In the very heart of Sydney’s CBD, 1 Elizabeth is a vast civic-scale project that integrates workplace design, transport infrastructure, event spaces, and hospitality around some dramatic void spaces.
Magazine
The Regions: Indesign 96 is here!
The latest print magazine is about to arrive! In this issue, Guest Editor Andrew Tu’inukuafe & Barrington Gohns of Warren and Mahoney push us to think, consider and collaborate.
Project
An Italian sea urchin finds Gold Coast hospitality
Bar Ricci by Studio Kennon brings a touch of Milanese restaurant style to the Gold Coast, inspired by the meaning of ‘ricci’ in Italian.
Events
INDE.Awards Gala marks ten years with truly regional scope
At a packed awards night in Melbourne, the design community from all corners of the Asia-Pacific region came together to celebrate an incredible range of winners.
Events
Tappeti marks 20 years of bespoke rug design
At Paddington Town Hall, the Australian rug studio reflected on two decades of bespoke design with an event that brought its archives, collaborations and making processes into motion.
Project
Reconnecting retail with the city
Suzhou MixC World draws on the city’s historic streets and gardens to create a retail precinct that feels less like a shopping centre and more like an extension of the public realm.
Workplace
Workplace designed as an urban sanctuary
Bean Buro discusses the design of Palatino Hospitality’s Hong Kong workplace, where biophilic design, warm materiality and hospitality principles combine to create a calm retreat within the city.
Project
O’Connell’s Hotel reborn
Fiona Drago Architect refreshes one of Melbourne’s best-known hotels, balancing heritage character with a more open and contemporary hospitality experience.
Events
The next phase of Passivhaus in Australia
Returning to Melbourne this month, Australia’s official Passivhaus conference THRIVE turns its attention to the commercial case for high-performance building.
Project
A new front door for paediatric care at Westmead
Designed by Billard Leece Partnership, the Wattle Building brings expanded clinical services together with a more legible, family-centred experience of hospital care.
Project
A perfumery with somewhere to sit
For Libertine Parfumerie’s new Armadale boutique, Tamsin Johnson looked to the warmth of the home and the rhythm of old-world shopfronts to make fragrance retail feel slower, richer and more personal.
Events
Powerhouse Parramatta announces a smorgasbord of Australian design
Powerhouse Parramatta has commissioned more than 50 leading designers from across Australia to shape the spaces and experiences of the new museum, including public, exhibition, restaurant and retail spaces.
Project
Golden Avenue, brutal Brisbane
J.AR OFFICE’s hospitality venue in Brisbane strives to create a small oasis of shade and greenery amidst the concrete jungle of the city. Jared Webb tells us more.
Project
A place of water in the Park Lands
Designed by JPE Design Studio with Warren and Mahoney and cultural creative designer Karl Winda Telfer, Adelaide Aquatic Centre — Kauwingka — recasts civic leisure as landscape, gathering place and cultural story.
Project
Student housing with room to settle in
AJC Architects’ EPIISOD Macquarie Park brings a more residential approach to student accommodation, pairing warm interiors with shared amenity and a strong connection to campus life.
Events
Around the wine world with Unita
Held at Vini Divini Wine Lab in Sydney, the event brought together designers, operators and project leaders for an evening of lesser-known wines and conversation.
Project
Newcastle Quay rethinks the harbour edge
Led by SJB, Newcastle Quay is imagined as a mixed-use waterfront precinct where housing, hospitality, public space and heritage work together to reconnect Newcastle with its harbour.
Events
Q&A: When Mim met Tim at Royal Oak Floors
A recent Design Talk Series event presented by Royal Oak Floors saw Melbourne-based interior designer, and founder and principal of Mim Design, Miriam Fanning in live conversation with our editor.
Project
Brewing a new rooftop typology in Vijayawada
Brunit by 23 Degrees Design Shift brings together expressive structure, industrial materiality and climate-conscious hospitality on a rooftop site in Vijayawada.
Project
La Marzocco finds its Sydney rhythm
Inside La Marzocco Sydney, Open Creative Studio has turned a Botany warehouse into a flexible showroom, training space and events venue — one that understands coffee culture as both technical craft and social ritual.
News
Architecture as a cultural negotiator
As Snøhetta marks ten years of permanent presence in Australia, co-founder Kjetil Trædal Thorsen reflects on Country, civic generosity, regenerative design and why architecture must keep imagining “memories of the future.”
Project
The domestic grind: How Foolscap turned a neighbourly bond into Allpress’ latest outpost
In Brisbane, Foolscap Studio continues a longstanding relationship with the coffeemakers at a new cafe-store featuring calm tones and coffee waste materials.
Events
Some special commercial pieces from Salone del Mobile
Milan Design Week means more than lounging in luxury and the latest in bathroom beauty. We pull out a handful of exciting commercial furniture highlights.
Products
Designing colour with intent: Inside the Breathe palette
Tamara Veltre, director at Breathe, reflects on the studio’s collaboration with Haymes Paint — a deliberately reduced, architect-designed palette that reframes colour as part of architecture, not an afterthought.
Project
Surround sound of colour and movement
Discover Doreme’s Kolkata workplace and showroom — a neon wonderland celebrating children’s joy with bespoke design.
Project
Genso turns the racecourse into a cinematic city
Joyce Wang Studio transforms Sha Tin Racecourse into Genso, a retrofuturist dining and entertainment world with a cinematic atmosphere.
Articles
Putting fusion on the architectural menu
Just as Australian cuisine serves up a rich infusion of global flavours, architectural design for contemporary kitchens can dip into a myriad of aesthetics and influences.
News
BLUORNG Gurgaon carves out a new retail landscape
When is a cave not exactly a cave? Metanoia Designs LLP transforms BLUORNG’s Gurgaon flagship into a cave-like retail environment, turning streetwear display into an immersive architectural experience.
People
25 years of Greg Natale: Beyond the decorative
This November marks 25 years since Greg Natale opened his Sydney studio. In the decades since, he has built one of Australia’s most recognisable design practices, defined by pattern and decorative conviction.
Project
200 years down, 200 to go
Historic Littlebourne Guest House was one of the first settler houses built west of the mountains two centuries ago. Now, a renovation and extension are designed to secure the next 200 years.
Workplace
Designing the daily rituals of work, hospitality and health
The Commons has recently opened two new sites in Melbourne designed by DesignOffice — and this time, they include comprehensive health amenities.
Project
Inside Brisbane Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery’s new flagship clinic
Casey Talbot of Studio Collective discusses the design of a new Brisbane clinic that balances healthcare requirements with a more considered, patient-focused interior.
Ideas
Bathurst is fast becoming a hub for regional design and hospitality
With its historic buildings, natural scenery and a growing hospitality scene, the Bathurst region of New South Wales is a strong destination for design lovers.
Project
Kōri Windsor remixes the ice cream parlour
Blurring the line between dessert bar and listening lounge, AIR Design Studio delivers a modular, low-waste fit-out where sound, sustainability and social ritual take centre stage.
Project
A new hotel opens on Melbourne’s Western edge — with a bar to match
With design by SORA and LiFE, the opening of Mercure Melbourne La Trobe Street introduces a 195-room hotel to the CBD, alongside Foundry Bar and Kitchen — a rooftop-adjacent venue designed to draw both guests and locals.
Project
Wellbeing at its best
Éthos by Biasol in Brighton reimagines the wellness clinic with sculptural interiors, rich materials and a calm, immersive experience.
Project
Preserving heritage with Yatofu Creatives
Cycling culture and heritage seldom converge, yet the AITASHOP flagship in Beijing is a space where both coexist.
Project
One Two Five by Hub expands flexible work in Perth
A 10,000-square-metre flagship by Hub Australia and Hassell at Brookfield Place reframes the co-working office as a hybrid of workplace, events venue and lifestyle destination.
Project
Shophouse-inspired Soori Penang is a personal tribute to home and place
Architect Soo K. Chan restores the shophouse typology, informed by the memory of growing up in one within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of George Town in Penang.
Articles
The secret weapon of hospitality design
In cafés, bars and restaurants, stools do more than fill gaps at counters and bars. They support density, encourage movement across scales – making them a strategically important seating typology to get right in hospitality design.
Articles
A Mediterranean vision, realised
Hamsi Taverna brings Aegean warmth to Sydney – delivered through a tightly aligned collaboration between Alkot Studio and Unita.
Project
Flipping the mirror ball
The absolutely hottest spot in Kuala Lumpur, Lane 23 by K2LD is all about having fun.
Project
A living laboratory at school
At Kilvington Grammar, ClarkeHopkinsClarke Architects (CHC) has converted an old single-storey library into three levels of flexible, collaborative learning spaces.
Project
Steelcase opens hybrid showroom and workplace in Hangzhou
Steelcase has unveiled one of its largest Asia Pacific showrooms in Hangzhou, merging workplace, brand experience and client engagement in a single flexible environment designed by M Moser.
Project
The Catcher: a rural guesthouse framed by rice fields
Set among the rice fields near Shanghai’s Xinchang Ancient Town, The Catcher by TEAM_BLDG reworks two rural houses into a guesthouse that mediates quietly between architecture, landscape and time.
Project
The detail of design
After eight years at Cera Stribley, Jessica Ellis launches her own studio, bringing a refined, hands-on approach to residential, hospitality and lifestyle interiors, beginning with the quietly confident Brotherwolf flagship in South Melbourne.
Project
A village in the sky: rethinking retirement living in Sydney
Architectus reimagines ageing in place with Australia’s tallest retirement community, combining housing, care and community in Sydney.
Project
Pod hopping
Nestled in the heart of Chandigarh, TuBu is a burger joint that understands its clientele and the city it lives in.
Project
Anything but standard
Ministry of Design crafts playful interiors for The Standard, Singapore, blending mid-century style with lush tropical luxury.
Project
Mondrian Gold Coast: barefoot luxury comes ashore
At Burleigh Heads, Mondrian Gold Coast translates Ian Schrager’s hospitality philosophy into a distinctly coastal architectural experience.
Project
R.Evolution: Plus Studio completes nine-year vision for South Melbourne
The final tower in R.Corporation’s R.Iconic precinct demonstrates how density can create connection — through a 20-metre void, one-acre rooftop and nine years of learning what makes vertical neighbourhoods work.
Project
Inside the global ethos of NICE PROJECTS
Founded by Simone McEwan and Sacha Leong, NICE PROJECTS is a globally connected studio built on collaboration, restraint and an ego-free approach to architecture and design.
Project
The Great Room expands Sydney footprint with design-led flagship
The Great Room by Industrious opens a design-led flagship coworking space at One O’Connell Street, blending hospitality and flexible work.
Project
Café by day, bar by night
Spacemen Studio transforms a rare Kuala Lumpur bungalow into Sun & Moon, an all-day dining venue shaped by ambient light and curated material.
Ideas
Behind the Brand with Jasper Sundh
Jasper Sundh of Hästens shares insights on global growth, wellness-led design and expanding the premium sleep brand in Australia.
Project
Keiji Ashizawa Design transforms historic Singapore restaurant
The Japanese firm brings elements of calm into Loca Niru, a fine-dining restaurant housed in a 146-year-old mansion in Singapore.
Ideas
Five years on: What The Pacifica taught us about vertical living
Designed by Plus Studio for Hengyi, The Pacifica reveals how climate-aware design, shared amenity and ground-plane thinking can reshape vertical living in Auckland.
Project
Rodd & Gunn reimagined
With a superb design for the new Rodd & Gunn flagship in Melbourne’s CBD, Studio Y has created something very special that takes the idea of retail to another level.
Project
Wellness, reimagined at One Playground Victoria Cross
It’s glamourous, luxurious and experiential – the new flagship destination for One Playground by Mitchell & Eades has it all.
Project
Garde Hotel opens a new hospitality chapter in Fremantle
Matthew Crawford Architects and Foolscap rework Garde Hotel’s heritage buildings into a place-aware, craft-rich addition to Western Australia’s hospitality landscape.
Workplace
A lick of blue to welcome you – 440 Collins St designed by Studio Tate
A lobby upgrade of 440 Collins St demonstrates how a building’s street-level spaces can be activated to serve many purposes.
Project
The Commons opens hospitality-led workspaces in Sydney and Melbourne
The Commons opens new Sydney and Melbourne locations by DesignOffice, blending hospitality, design and community.
Project
The new Sydney Fish Market opens as a landmark destination
Signalling a transformative moment for Blackwattle Bay and the redevelopment of Sydney’s harbour foreshore, the newly open Sydney Fish Market demonstrates how thoughtfully designed public realm and contemporary market space can unite to create a landmark urban destination.
Project
Blurring the line between konbini and café
Suupaa in Cremorne reimagines the Japanese konbini as a fast-casual café, blending retail, dining and precise design by IF Architecture.
Project
Inside the quiet beauty of Setouchi Retreat Aonagi on Shikoku
Tadao Ando’s Setouchi Retreat Aonagi conjures luxury through concrete, light, silence and a deeply immersive relationship with nature.
Project
Norte rejects coastal cliché to win Best Restaurant Design
J.AR OFFICE’s Norté in Mermaid Beach wins Best Restaurant Design 2025 for its moody, modernist take on coastal dining.
Project
RADS mediates street and lobby at Reno’s Bistro
Designed by RADS, the space redefines the lobby not as a point of passage, but as a destination in itself: a lobby bar, a café, and a small urban hinge-point that shapes and enhances the daily rituals of those who move through it.
News
Five projects embracing the next wave of circular design
From radical material reuse to office-to-school transformations, these five projects show how circular thinking is reshaping architecture, interiors and community spaces.
Project
Light and shadow (baking)
Working within a narrow, linear tenancy, Sans Arc has reconfigured the traditional circulation pathway, giving customers a front row seat to the theatre of Shadow Baking.
People
AIR emerges: Eid Goh launches a new chapter in practice
After more than two decades at Architects EAT, Eid Goh launches AIR, a new Melbourne-based studio focused on adaptive reuse, hospitality and human-centred design across commercial and civic projects.
Project
Disuko channels 1980s Tokyo nostalgia atop a Melbourne rooftop
Located in the former Madam Brussels rooftop, Disuko reimagines 1980s Tokyo nightlife through layered interiors, bespoke detailing and a flexible dining and bar experience designed by MAMAS Dining Group.
Project
Ra:tio blends interior and landscape design in a Jubilee Hills café
Ra:tio café blends calm interiors and lush outdoor spaces through VAL Atelier and The Pinewood Studio’s refined, contemporary design.
News
The Mill: Where architecture meets athletic performance
Warren and Mahoney’s The Mill in Queenstown blends architecture, wellbeing and landscape, creating a transparent training facility.
Project
Green Cup opens at Chadstone with a fresh, pared-back design by Hecker Guthrie
Hecker Guthrie brings a natural, material-led design to Green Cup’s new Chadstone store, pairing pine, steel and glass with a grab-and-go layout inspired by the brand’s fresh, organic ethos.
Project
Japanese delight in Melbourne’s CBD
Making a splash on the hair spa scene, the latest project from X + O makes a little slice of Japan right at home in suburban Melbourne.
News
Fernando Menis wins World Building of the Year 2025 for The Holy Redeemer Church
The World Architecture Festival has named The Holy Redeemer Church and Community Centre of Las Chumberas in La Laguna, Spain as World Building of the Year 2025, alongside major winners in interiors, future projects and landscape.
Ideas
NSW Government releases nine new architect-designed mid-rise housing patterns
The Minns Labor Government has unveiled nine new architect-designed mid-rise apartment patterns, expanding the NSW Housing Pattern Book and accelerating the delivery of accessible, high-quality housing across the state.
Project
The Parlour Room Redfern offers luxury through curves and craft
Tom Mark Henry refines a layered design legacy into a softly sculpted retreat in Redfern, where light, tactility and crafted detail define a new expression of restrained luxury.
Project
Inside Surry Hills Village
Seven years in the making, the new Surry Hills Village is here with doors open and crowds gathering.
Project
AIM Architecture elevates HARMAY’s signature style at Hongqiao Airport
With its latest outpost inside Shanghai’s bustling Hongqiao International Airport, HARMAY once again partners with AIM Architecture to reimagine retail through colour, movement and cultural expression.
Project
Parramatta Light Rail Stage 1 wins Australian Good Design Award Gold
Australia’s first planted light rail corridor sets new benchmark for transport-led urban transformation.
Project
Inside Precinct 75’s build-to-rent transformation
COX Architecture uses saturated colour and hotel-style amenity across the historic St Peters location, designed for Coronation Property.
News
Australian Institute of Architects 2025 National Architecture Awards
The Australian Institute of Architects has unveiled 43 projects representing the pinnacle of contemporary design, with winners addressing housing, climate and affordability crises through innovative solutions.
Project
Epula by Luchetti Krelle: A feast for the senses in Sydney’s GPO building
Luchetti Krelle’s timeless design at Epula marries heritage grandeur with classic sophistication, celebrating the spirit of a European piazza whilst remaining unmistakably of its place.
News
Australia’s 2025 national landscape winners
Community, Country and climate were centred at the 2025 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) Awards in Lutruwita/Tasmania on 21st October.
Project
Melbourne Walk opens as Bourke Street Mall’s first new development in 50 years
Buchan weaves heritage and contemporary retail across a 3,600sqm site featuring dual-branded hotels, arcades and revitalised laneways.
Ideas
In Addition on designing with intention and heart
Founded by Ana Ćalić McLean and Josh McLean, In Addition is a design studio creating thoughtful, client-focused architecture and interiors.
News
Lexus unveils reimagined Birdcage pavilion for Melbourne Cup Carnival
Melbourne interior designer Brahman Perera creates three-level trackside space exploring synthesis of craft and technology.
News
Australian Furniture Design Award 2026 registrations open
Stylecraft and NGV call for furniture and lighting designs addressing small-space living, with $20,000 prize and commercial development opportunity.
Project
Baker Bleu’s refined industrial space by IF Architecture
IF Architecture crafts Baker Bleu Cremorne into a refined, sustainable bakery and café where industrial design meets artisanal warmth.
News
Cosentino hosts VIP tour of The Block homes
Guests joined Cosentino for a behind-the-scenes look at The Block homes, discovering new materials and creative partnerships.
News
Sydney Open returns for 21st Year
Sydney Open invites the public to explore over 55 buildings, spaces and new additions to the skyline, with a newly released Talks & Tours program offering direct access to the architects behind Bundarra and Pier Pavilion.
Project
Across waters: Anglo-Eastern Singapore by Bean Buro
Bean Buro’s Singapore office for Anglo-Eastern is a poetic continuation of their Hong Kong headquarters — a workplace that balances identity and calm.
Project
Marella by Mosaic elevates coastal living on the Gold Coast
Completed in 2025, Marella by Mosaic is a 30-storey residential tower in Broadbeach designed by Plus Studio. The project brings sculptural form, ocean views and hotel-style amenities together in a refined expression of coastal living.
Ideas
Uncovering Melbourne’s interior heritage
A new book documents the city’s historic building interiors, from 1800s coffee palaces to post-war modernist spaces.
News
Call for entries: Melbourne Design Week 2026 marks a decade of design excellence
Celebrating ten years of creative impact, Melbourne Design Week 2026 invites designers, studios, and collectives to submit expressions of interest for its statewide program and the Melbourne Art Book Fair.
People
Studio Nicholas: Redefining Australia’s Interior Design Identity
With experience across fashion, styling and interiors, Nicholas Gilbert launches Studio Nicholas with a mission to elevate Australian design on the world stage — and to champion a more rigorous, professional future for the industry.