Was there a key project challenge?
We were really responding to a couple of elements.
One was Monolab’s products and how we displayed
them in the very best way. This project is really a journey
about working with the clients and how we could help
their products achieve a great response. A lot of the
products have history and a story with interesting
techniques of manufacturing and it was really about
describing those manufacturing techniques that we
thought would be most interesting to the clients in South
Yarra.
How did the Japanese design influence your approach?
We wanted to incorporate typical Japanese design
principles of simplicity and minimal use of materials.
The striking etched glass idea instantly grabbed our
imagination as representing the natural element of water
which is so important in Japanese landscape design.
How important is it to understand the design need
and to ask the right questions?
Yes, absolutely. When we were working in the project it
was really about looking at typical Japanese elements in
design and then looking back to our own philosophy and
how those two were really quite a lot more aligned than
I probably thought when we started. We kept to a
restrained material and colour palettes of glass, timber,
white and black.
Glass bench-tops and walls provide a
polished, water and granite-like finish
of special delicacy and design strength.