WA interiors awarded

The striking office fit-out of property group Hawaiian’s Perth head office has been singled out for a prestigious interior design award, with the Perth arm of Interiors Australia taking top honours for the project in the 2007 WA Design Awards.

The top professional award in the Interior Spaces category was judged by the Design Institute of Australia WA last month, and acknowledged the value of integration, restraint and well-resolved detailing in creating an engaging spatial experience.

Operating nationally, Interiors Australia specialise in providing strategic accommodation advice, fit-out planning and management, design solutions and refurbishments.

In completing the Hawaiian fit-out at London House last year, the practice was given a brief to create an atmosphere of ‘prestidigitation’ from the reception space through to the boardroom and lounge.

Project manager and interior designer Alan Pettigrew said it was taken by surprise with the award.

“The level and categories of the awards were refined and simplified reflecting the notion of ‘less is more’, which in a sense makes the awards even more worthy,” Mr Pettigrew said in a statement.

Achieving a commendation in the same category was Fremantle-based Brooking Design, with its bohemian-like fit-out of the Planet Books store in Mount Lawley.

Brooking Design is headed up by prominent designer Tom Brooking, known for his work with Live Clothing, Metropolis Concert Club and the Australian-themed Bondi Bar in California, among others.

Seeking inspiration from ‘tea chest’ packaging for client Planet Books, Brooking Design achieved a simple and cost-effective form of book racking and developed a box display system which can be manipulated, stacked, pulled down and re-arranged with endless configurations.

In addition to the interior spaces category, the institute also handed out several awards and commendations to professionals and students in the product design and visual communication categories.

Standouts were Dixon Design & Development, which took top product design honours for its FAZE lighting project, and architectural and design consultancy Woodhead, receiving the only commendation in the visual communication category for its graphic panel work on the City of Perth’s car park.

Design Institute of Australia WA president Jan Wright said the award program strengthened WA’s reputation as an international centre for design excellence, indirectly improving commercial performance both in Australia and overseas.