Clare Cousins discusses the design thinking behind the award-winning Fisher & Paykel Melbourne Experience Centre, exploring how thoughtful retail environments can create meaningful connections between brand, space and visitor.

The SpeakingOut! interview series offers a platform for leading architects and designers from across the Indo-Pacific to share insights into their work and creative thinking. As part of the 2026 INDE.Awards program, the series highlights past winners, jurors and industry luminaries shaping the built environment.

In this episode, host Jan Henderson sits down with Clare Cousins, director of Clare Cousins Architects. The conversation explores Cousins’ thoughtful design philosophy and the ideas behind the Fisher & Paykel Melbourne Experience Centre, winner of The Retail Space category at the 2025 INDE.Awards. This episode is proudly supported by Polyflor, category partner of The Retail Space at the 2026 INDE.Awards.

For Clare Cousins, architecture sits at the intersection of logic and creativity. Although she initially set out to study engineering, a last-minute change led her into architecture, a shift she describes as serendipitous but ultimately a perfect fit.

“I love that architecture combines pragmatic thinking with creative expression,” she explains. “It allows you to solve complex problems while also creating something that people can emotionally connect with.”

Since founding Clare Cousins Architects in 2005, Cousins has built a reputation for projects that are elegant, refined and deeply responsive to their context. Her work consistently prioritises people and place, an approach clearly demonstrated in the Fisher & Paykel Melbourne Experience Centre.

The project reimagines retail as an immersive and experiential environment. Rather than a traditional appliance showroom, the space was designed to feel domestic, tactile and welcoming, encouraging visitors to engage with the products in an inspiring and comfortable setting.

While design wasn’t initially her planned career path, Cousins’ early exposure to the design world likely played a role in shaping her direction. Her uncle, renowned landscape architect Rick Eckersley, and her mother’s work within his businesses meant Cousins grew up around conversations about design and landscape.

Looking back, she recognises how those influences helped shape her perspective, particularly her appreciation for how architecture sits within broader environmental and cultural contexts.

Located within a heritage building on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy, the Fisher & Paykel Melbourne Experience Centre offers a striking reinterpretation of the retail environment.

Rather than functioning as a typical shopfront, the space was conceived as a destination, a place where designers, architects and clients could explore Fisher & Paykel’s appliances within carefully curated kitchen environments.

Three distinct kitchen settings – the social kitchen, minimal kitchen and professional kitchen – allow visitors to experience different moods and styles. The challenge, Cousins explains, was ensuring these spaces felt cohesive rather than fragmented.

“We wanted to avoid that jarring experience that you often get in large retail environments,” she says. “The aim was to create something immersive and inspiring while still showcasing the range of products.”

A distinctive Palladiana-style floor made from red brick fragments helps unify the space. Inspired by Melbourne’s architectural character, the material choice provides both visual continuity and a strong sense of place.

The project also involved restoring and celebrating the original building’s heritage elements, including exposed brick walls and large trusses. Rather than competing with the existing architecture, the design approach focused on revealing and enhancing it.

Cousins’ work on the project reflects broader shifts in retail design, particularly the growing emphasis on experiential environments.

Today’s retail spaces, she notes, are no longer simply places to purchase products; they are environments designed to foster engagement, learning and connection.

In the Experience Centre, hospitality plays a key role. Visitors are welcomed with tea served on a basalt stone heated by Fisher & Paykel appliances, while curated culinary demonstrations allow guests to experience the brand’s technology first-hand.

“It’s about creating moments that people remember,” Cousins says. “Those experiences naturally build connection and loyalty to a brand.”

The project also highlights a strong commitment to local collaboration and sustainability. Furniture, lighting and artistic installations throughout the space were created by Melbourne-based makers, reinforcing the project’s connection to its local context.

Clare Cousins’ work demonstrates how thoughtful architecture can transform retail spaces into meaningful experiences,  places where design, brand and community intersect.

Thank you to Clare for sharing her insights and to Polyflor, category partner of The Retail Space at the 2026 INDE.Awards, for supporting this episode of the SpeakingOut! series.

To hear the full conversation, listen to the complete interview here. Entries are currently open for the 2026 INDE.Awards, start your submission today.