2013 Melbourne Design Awards - Key Dates

Interior Design - Public or Institutional

Why Enter

Whether you are a design creator or a design commissioner you can make your mark on the Melbourne design scene by entering the Melbourne Design Awards.

Design Creator
• Gain recognition for your design achievement
• Increase awareness of your work and gain design public and peer comment
• Increased exposure to your potential customers and clients
• Bench mark your work with your peers
• Opportunity to gain national publicity and exposure

Design Commissioner
• Provides a mark of distinction for your product
• Further evidence of excellence in product development
• Bench mark your product with those of your peers
• Increased exposure of your brand / product
• Opportunity to gain national publicity and exposure

Description

This award recognises building interiors, with consideration given to space creation and planning, furnishings, finishes and aesthetic presentation. Consideration given to space allocation, traffic flow, building services, lighting, fixtures, flooring, colours, furnishings and surface finishes.

Current entries

Parents Retreat @ Melbourne Central

Interior Design - Public or Institutional

Designed as a retreat for parents and a stimulating, playful environ for their little ones, this space offers respite from the buzz of the inner-city shopping precinct. Key to the concept was the aim to preference local suppliers, and to use low-tech and sustainable materials, with bespoke play equipment unique to the project.

Medley Hall

Interior Design - Public or Institutional

fjmt were appointed by the University of Melbourne to refurbish a series of State Heritage listed buildings in inner Melbourne. The complex project required a sensitive and rigorous approach to working with some of Victoria’s most important Heritage Buildings including the iconic “Boom Style” Benvenuta mansion. Medley Hall is a student residential college currently spread across four disparate buildings. The fjmt proposal links the four buildings by inserting a new glass atrium structure, sensitively set back from the highly significant Drummond Street facades. The glass and louvered structure sits atop of a labyrinth that naturally cools the space and helps meet the College’s high sustainable objectives. The carefully crafted glass box responds to its external environmental conditions with a series of mechanically operated louvres that open and shut according to heat loads. Night purging and cross ventilation ensure that comfort conditions are maintained throughout the year. The creation of student lounges on each floor and the reorganization of circulation patterns through the new atrium space have greatly enhanced the sense of belonging for both residents and staff. The College now has a new central heart that connects previously disparate parts through a cohesive functional and dramatic space.

Good Shepherd Chapel - Abbotsford

Interior Design - Public or Institutional

Constructed initially in 1871 the Chapel was and is the cultural and spiritual centre for the Sisters of the Good Shepherd at the Abbotsford Convent. Robert Simeoni Architects was engaged to restore the building and explore the possibility of creating new uses and spaces for redundant areas. In addition to traditional worship facilities, flexible spaces are provided for use by lay people and the general public. An interpretive centre, a variety of meeting spaces and amenities, including an intimate space in the crypt have been incorporated into this restoration project. Our approach to the project was respectful of the architectural and cultural history of the Chapel and in accordance with the Burra Charter. Restoration of the existing building was undertaken with care to retain as much of the existing fabric as possible. This restoration of the existing Chapel and the new interventions honour the history of the Good Shepherd Sisters and provide a multifunctional facility for their continued work and presence within the community.

RMIT School of Media & Communication Project - Building 9, Levels B-3

Interior Design - Public or Institutional

This project was about establishing a new home and identity for RMIT’s School of Media and Communication, previously dispersed amongst 10 different locations within RMIT City Campus, within a once beautiful 1930’s heritage listed building that had unfortunately endured a legacy of piece-meal fitouts and neglect. The interior architectural project clearly acknowledges and respects the existing fabric, whilst strategically inserting new elements as conscious and obvious architectural installations which support the school’s identity and purpose. Educational innovation was driven by the creation of new and progressive learning spaces embedded within the heritage context. A clear demonstration of this is the typical “classroom” module – guised as the “cross discipline learning space” – which is multiplied nine times throughout the project. Spowers created this collaborative learning space solution (through prototyping and significant stakeholder engagement) to be used for a multitude of programmes which previously all had their own “specialist” dedicated spaces. These 30 capacity cross discipline learning spaces perform as a media classroom, design studio, standard “didactic” classroom and support a collaborative environment that is highly buttressed by technology. This teaching space has now become an exemplar for RMIT University.