melbourne
Project
A civic gateway for Pakenham
Genton’s Pakenham Station transforms a utilitarian transport interchange into an open civic landmark, reconnecting the town through landscape, public space and infrastructure designed around Country.
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
“A journey into a whole new material world”: Plant Life at the NGV
Curator Ewan McEoin tells us about the NGV’s new exhibition on plant-based materials as alternatives to plastics, synthetic materials and other non-renewable resources.
Workplace
Softness balanced with boldness in Technē’s lobby fitness fit-out
The very first SFIDI fitness and wellness centre is a cutting-edge interior architecture fit-out designed to add impactful new life to the lobby of Melbourne’s Rialto Towers.
Events
Indesign Social Club kicks on in Melbourne with Reece
Born out of Saturday Indesign research, our new Social Club is a space for younger, junior designers to meet and discuss the issues of the day — and it just hit Melbourne for the first time.
Events
We talk to Anupama Kundoo ahead of Living Cities Forum 2026
As the Living Cities Forum returns to Sydney and Melbourne this August, Kundoo — appearing alongside international speakers such as Finn Williams and Ludwig Engel — tells us about time, abundance and care in her work.
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.
Project
A workplace that doubles as a design showroom
Designed with Made For, Wildflower’s Melbourne office uses a restrained material palette, bold colour and curated furniture to create a workplace that reflects the company’s approach to interiors.
Events
Finding quotidian design joy at Melbourne Design Week
Designed to be touched, picked up and played with, ‘New/Relic’ was a Melbourne Design Week exhibition of every fixture you’ve never thought about twice.
Project
Indi Footscray reimagines build-to-rent as urban repair
SJB transforms former railway land into a 702-home build-to-rent community, using housing, public space and shared amenities to reconnect one of Melbourne’s busiest transport precincts.
Ideas
“Pure, unadulterated visions”: A book on the unbuilt
Phaidon’s ‘Atlas of Never Built Architecture’ is a thought-provoking romp through the counter-factual architectural imaginary on a global scale.
Events
“Cities Made With Care’: Living Cities Forum returns with international speakers
Anupama Kundoo, Finn Williams and Ludwig Engel will be keynote speakers as Living Cities Forum comes to Melbourne and Sydney in August 2026.
Project
“It’s a privilege to be able to support”: OFFICE works with Victorian Aboriginal Health Service
The Melbourne-based, not-for-profit practice has designed a new fit-out and outdoor gathering space for the Victorian Aboriginal Healthcare Service.
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.
Events
“Renewable real estate”: Wrapping up Melbourne Design Week with FK
FK hosted a standout Melbourne Design Week event with a panel on adaptive reuse and renewable real estate at 500 Bourke, featuring previous contributor Nicky Drobis and our editor as moderator.
Events
Melbourne Design Week 2026: The Review
With a plethora of talks, installations, exhibitions and happenings responding to this year’s theme (Design The World You Want), the eleven-day festival was the largest to date and arguably the most accomplished since inception.
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.
Events
Led by designers: Casting a curatorial eye across Melbourne Design Week
Curator, writer and educator Kate Goodwin was in town for Melbourne Design Week. Here, she reflects on how light-touch organising and designer-led spaces created some of the most impactful, distinctive exhibitions.
Events
An intimate conversation with Mim Fanning of Mim Design
Join Royal Oak Floors and Timothy Alouani-Roby for an intimate discussion with Mim Fanning, founder and principal of renowned Melbourne multi-disciplinary interior design practice Mim Design.
Articles
The Riverside indulgence of Amora Herencia
Embodying quality at its core, Amora Herencia Riverwalk Melbourne is a contemporary 4.5-star hotel on the banks of the Yarra River, where heritage and modern luxury unfold in equal measure.
Project
A new chapter for Melbourne’s North Wharf
Designed by FK alongside One Design Office, 1 Hotel & Homes Melbourne at Seafarers is part of Riverlee’s long-game regeneration of North Wharf and finds its footing in reuse, restraint and a refusal to start from scratch.
Events
Listen now: SJB hits the half-century
Five SJB directors join STORIESINDESIGN podcast the morning after celebrations at the NGV marking 50 years of practice for the Australian design firm.
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.
People
Who is Up To Something?
Spreading its young but mighty wings across Victoria and Tasmania, emerging practice Up To Something blends landscape, art and craft into thoughtful design.
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
Recasting density in the suburban garden
In Melbourne, Justin Mallia Architecture reshapes a compromised heritage site into a flexible, multi-residential home — balancing density, landscape and long-term adaptability through a careful reworking of form, light and ground.
Workplace
Appointments across five studios in the Plus pipeline
Plus Studio has made four internal promotions and one strategic appointment across its Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne studios.
Events
Designing density with character in our inner suburbs
Kerstin Thompson of KTA and Neometro Director Lochlan Sinclair discuss density, character and the inner city during a recent gathering in St Kilda East.
Ideas
Phillip Mathieson discusses his career, influences and design approach on the podcast
In this STORIESINDESIGN conversation, architect Phillip Mathieson discusses his formative personal experiences and his residentially focused work out of Sydney.
Ideas
A book on constructing your own home with Melbourne architect, Alexander Hill
‘Find Your Way Home’ is a comprehensive guide to designing, renovating and building your own home in Australia based on the ‘Three Hat Approach.’
Project
Mim Design’s modernist interiors echo the coast
At Loller Street Apartments on Bunurong country, Mim Design’s interiors fuse with Telha Clarke’s modernist architecture, all while taking coastal cues from the bayside setting.
Project
Flipping the mirror ball
The absolutely hottest spot in Kuala Lumpur, Lane 23 by K2LD is all about having fun.
Workplace
New FK-led research bolsters the importance of adaptive reuse in workplace design
FK’s Nicky Drobis takes us through a recent poll of 1,000 office workers across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane that suggests a preference for reuse – despite an ‘awareness gap’.
Project
Light, space and amenity at the ‘People’s Hospital’
The new Footscray Hospital by COX Architecture and BLP has set the bar high for best practice health design.
Events
“Doing things differently demands an incredible sense of responsibility”
Chus Martínez and Nguyen Le reflect on the importance of exhibition design as their own show – ‘A velvet ant, a flower and a bird’ – runs at the Potter Museum of Art.
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.
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
Melbourne Metro and the design heft of transport infrastructure
Ingrid Bakker, Principal and Joint Project Director at Hassell, discusses the wider importance of the “city-shaping” Metro Tunnel completed alongside WW+P Architects and RSHP.
Project
Rag trade warehouse meets mid-century at AP Design House’s Henne store
Recalling the warehouses of yesteryear and reflecting the label’s own sense of restraint, Henne’s new retail outlet is turning heads in Melbourne.
People
Inside the workshop of Simeon Dux
Designer-maker Simeon Dux creates finely crafted timber furniture with longevity, precision and heritage at its core.
Ideas
The evolution of Queensland’s interior design
As Plus Studio’s newly appointed Principal, Kate Ockwell discusses how the 2032 Olympics, climate-responsive design and a maturing design culture are reshaping Queensland’s interior 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.
Ideas
Architecture, democracy and feeling at home in our cities
The built environment is all around us; would the average citizen feel less alienated if the education system engaged more explicitly with it?
Events
GUBI CEO joins the podcast during a visit from Europe
Arranged with the assistance of Cult, Marie Kristine Schmidt joins Timothy Alouani-Roby at The Commons in Sydney.
Project
Australia Post’s circular workplace rethinks what a national institution can be
Australia Post’s new Melbourne Support Centre by Hassell showcases circular design, adaptive reuse and a community-focused approach to work.
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
Song for the Mute’s Melbourne boutique brings atmosphere over spectacle
Designed by Foolscap, the debut Melbourne store for Song for the Mute translates sound and rhythm into an immersive retail experience that feels closer to a listening room than a shopfront.
Ideas
The making of Melbourne’s apartment culture
From six-pack flats to design-led city living, Neometro’s four-decade trajectory offers a lens on how Melbourne learned to see apartment living as a cultural and architectural aspiration rather than a temporary compromise.
Project
Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel marks major transport expansion
A collaboration between Hassell, Weston Williamson + Partners (WW+P Architects) and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) sees the opening of five new underground stations.
Project
“A framework for continual transformation”: Studio Edwards creates retail apparatus with LOWF
Melbourne-based Studio Edwards has designed Shift+Space, a modular system under the banner of ‘adaptive retail architecture’. Ben Edwards tells us more.
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
Omnicom’s Melbourne headquarters revitalises a heritage icon on Bourke Street
The new headquarters for Omnicom in Melbourne’s CBD sees heritage re-invigorated with style and finesse.
News
Connecting people and place
A research exhibition reimagines St Kilda’s civic spaces through soft infrastructures that enhance wellbeing and urban experience.
News
Stylecraft opens new Collins Street showroom in Melbourne
Stylecraft opens its new Collins Street showroom, unveiling curated design spaces and Ross Gardam’s Dwell collection.
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.
Ideas
The future of urban liveability
At Melbourne Design Week, Plus Studio brought together planners, designers and local government voices to unpack the realities of urban densification.
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.
Ideas
New book explores the architecture of multigenerational living
‘Come Together’ takes a global view of multigenerational design, an increasingly popular phenomenon with some especially notable examples in Australia.
Project
The calm space
Through expert architecture, EBD Architects has provided a human face to great design and created a project that enhances the lives of people and community.
Events
Eames Demetrios on continuity and innovation as he visits Australia
He’s the Director of Eames Office and an all-round creative polymath – and Eames Demetrios has just been in our region with Living Edge.
Project
Gray Puksand transforms workplaces into learning spaces
Gray Puksand’s adaptive reuse of former Melbourne office into Hester Hornbrook Academy’s new City Campus shows how architecture can support wellbeing, connection and community.
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.
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.
Articles
Dishing up ambience at Wooss Café
Serving up the perfect dessert is about more than what’s in the crockery, it is also about cultivating an ambient, immersive setting that enhances the treats.
Events
The future, today
NGV exhibition ‘Making Good: Redesigning the Everyday’ is open – and be prepared to be amazed and delighted by great creative design.
Events
Saturday Indesign 2025 Afterparty: A rooftop celebration to remember
On 6th September 2025, Saturday Indesign went out with a bang at The Albion Rooftop in Melbourne. Sponsored by ABI Interiors, Woodcut and Signorino, the Afterparty was the perfect finale to a day of design, connection and creativity.
News
Saturday Indesign 2025: Melbourne buzzes with design life
On 6th September, Saturday Indesign lit up Melbourne with a day of immersive installations, design talks and showroom activations across three thrilling precincts.
Events
Saturday Indesign comes to Collingwood
Collingwood is one of three precincts at Saturday Indesign 2025 on 6th September – find out what’s on there!
Events
Saturday Indesign set to hit CBD/South Melbourne Precinct
The CBD and South Melbourne Precinct promises a day of design experiences that balance movement, wellbeing, innovation and hospitality.
Events
Get ready for Richmond Precinct: What’s on at Saturday Indesign 2025
The Richmond precinct will be one of the busiest hubs of Saturday Indesign 2025, with a full program of talks, product launches, installations, hospitality and entertainment running throughout the day.
Workplace
A workspace with many views: Mim Design’s in King’s Counsel
Mim Design and Konstance Zaharias collaborate to design an interior for a unique context: the chambers of a King’s Counsel in Melbourne.
Events
All plus and no minus: Ian Briggs on the newly rebranded Plus Studio
Director Ian Briggs is one of the longest serving members of the Plus team and – with a milestone rebrand complete and a Sydney event just yesterday – he walks us through the state of play at the practice in 2025.
Events
Saturday Indesign 2025: Your guide to what’s on!
Melbourne is the destination and Saturday 6th September is the date – get ready for this year’s one-day design extravaganza with a full guide to what’s on.
Project
Too cool for school
Joan Montgomery Centre PLC by Warren and Mahoney is a tour de force of education design, with high-end facilities including a swimming pool and general athletic amenities.
Events
A second look: More exhibitors set to shape Saturday Indesign 2025
Following the first release of exhibitors, this second instalment brings together another set of brands spanning furniture, finishes, lighting and flooring, confirmed to take part in Melbourne this September.
Project
Abdullah and Artedomus combine to create Arden Station façade
Designed by artist Abdul Abdullah, the porcelain façade for this Melbourne train station has been executed with custom-printed Fiandre DYS panels.
Ideas
The unexpected in the everyday: Drez on agency, architecture and art
The Melbourne-based artist works at the intersection of art and architecture. In a new exhibition at MAGMA Galleries, he turns his focus on urban space and agency to a smaller scale.
Project
This interiors pair are at the cutting edge of Melbourne hospitality
Hayley Mitchell and Samantha Eades are creating some of today’s best restaurants, most exciting cafés and bars, and extraordinary hotels and resorts.
Events
Tadao Ando’s MPavilion to remain open until 2030
The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has announced that the MPavilion, designed by Tadao Ando, will stay in Queen Victoria Gardens for five more years.
Events
Open House Melbourne 2025: The packed program is upon us!
This year’s Open House Melbourne Weekend program has been unveiled, with almost 200 buildings, places and experiences set to open to the public in July.
Ideas
‘City Living: Neometro residents and works’
This new book tells resident stories about how good design creates liveable, high-density homes with socially led developer Neometro.
Ideas
“My model is to make what I like and hopefully other people will too”: Meet Zachary Frankel
Pairing his honed expertise with a unique design language, Zachary Frankel is shaping his own world his way.
Workplace
“Design for the range, not the average”: Workplace design with Dr Nigel Oseland
The workplace strategist and environmental psychologist was in Sydney earlier this year to give a talk at Haworth on the fallacies of the ‘average’ in workplace design.
Ideas
Ross Harding: What about the work-life balance of our cities?
The Finding Infinity Principal comments here on the question of balance in city life, with architecture and design highlighted as the key levers for making change.
Events
Prestigious design awards name Victoria’s best landscapes
A regional mall, residential garden, school yard and train station were all among the projects honoured at this year’s Australian Institute of Landscape Architects’ (AILA) Victorian Awards.
News
Future force on show at Bates Smart exhibition
An exhibition titled ‘Synthetic Spaces’ by Maycon Sedrez and Gregory Pitts from Deakin University is taking place at the Bates Smart Gallery in Melbourne.
Events
Diplomacy, diversity and design with Hicham Lahlou
We spoke to the internationally renowned Moroccan designer on the eve of his visit to Australia as guest of honour for Design & Build Week 2025.
Workplace
Foolscap Studio’s (Roman) Forum
In Cremorne, Foolscap Studio has completed Forum – a co-working space that finds inspiration in some Classical archetypes.
People
DIY with a difference!
Designer and maker, Josh Carmody, is creating heritage through craft with the Lost Profit Workshop.
Events
Your highlights from Melbourne Design Week 2025
Well, it’s done and dusted for another year but what a major success and influential event it was! Here are some standout exhibitions and installations for 2025.
Project
Woods Bagot finds European inspiration for new market hall
Melbourne’s Chadstone shopping precinct has expanded with the opening of the Market Pavilion, a large-scale fresh food and dining destination designed by Woods Bagot.
Events
A history of Saturday Indesign: More than two decades of bringing designers and showrooms together
Saturday Indesign is one of the standout fixtures on the Asia-Pacific design calendar – but how exactly did it start, and when did it become so big?