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  • Burnt-red tiles and hessian feature inside Dough Pizza restaurant in Perth

    Interior design firm Ohlo Studio used materials that evoke the “rustic sophistication” of Italy to create the interiors of Dough Pizza restaurant in Perth.Dough Pizza takes over a unit of Westfield Whitford City shopping centre which lies just north of central Perth.

    Locally based Ohlo Studio was tasked with designing the interiors and set out to create an aesthetic that, like the restaurant’s name, is “timeless and no-fuss”.

    The studio also wanted the space to texturally reflect Italy and the country’s “rustic sophistication”.
    “It needed to evoke a distinct atmosphere and personality reinforcing the cultural heritage behind the food,” explained the studio.

    On one side of the restaurant, burnt-red tiles have been used to line the lower half of the wall.
    Just in front lies a seating banquette upholstered in taupe-coloured fabric, accompanied by wooden tables and white wicker dining chairs. Slim disc-like pendant lights have been suspended from the ceiling directly overhead.
    The same red tiles clad the central bar counter. It’s surrounded by wooden fold-out high chairs, where customers can sit and eat within view of the open kitchen or grab a quick drink.

    A wall on the opposite side of the restaurant has been completely lined in hessian, which extends down to cover a chunky plinth that runs in front.
    The plinth serves as a base for a series of tobacco-hued cushioned seats that can be easily pushed together or apart to suit different-sized groups of diners.

    Homely decor elements such as ceramic vases, potted plants and tiny lamps have been dotted throughout to evoke the same feel as a “neighbourhood Italian espresso bar”.
    Large photographic prints that capture scenes from sun-drenched Italian beaches have also been mounted on the walls.

    Pink marble and patchy concrete emulate ancient Rome in Melbourne’s Pentolina pasta bar

    In a bid to contrast the commercial setting of the shopping centre, the studio has applied the same selection of warm materials used inside the restaurant to its exterior.
    “The tiled bar puncturing the facade also activates the boundary and creates a playful entry,” added the studio.

    Ohlo Studio was founded by interior architect Jen Lowe and is based in Perth’s South Fremantle suburb.
    The studio’s Dough Pizza project is one of several trendy Italian eateries across Australia. Others include Glorietta by Alexander & Co, which features wooden furnishings and a caged rattan ceiling.
    There’s also Pentolina by Biasol, which has worn concrete walls and pink-marble fixtures to emulate the materiality of Ancient Rome.

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  • Biasol channels 1980s nostalgia inside Melbourne restaurant Billie Buoy

    Design studio Biasol clashed hot pink and midnight blue to form the bold interiors of this 1980s-inspired restaurant in Melbourne, Australia.Billie Buoy occupies a corner plot in Melbourne’s Essendon neighbourhood and has been designed by local studio Biasol as a “1980s character who was radical, hip and a little offbeat”.
    To capture the mood of the 1980s, the studio closely studied the era and its quirky pop culture.

    “We looked back to the days before the internet and cell phones – we dusted off our Atari and Walkman, put a John Hughes movie in the VHS, and jammed to New Order and Madonna,” said the studio.

    “The interiors and branding were developed in unison to create high impact and strengthen Billie Buoy’s appeal.”

    When it came to creating a colour palette for the 60-square-metre restaurant, the studio selected two shades that it felt were synonymous with the 1980s – blue and hot pink.
    Where possible, different textures and materials have been introduced to foster a greater sense of “depth, richness and variation”.

    Midnight-blue paint covers the walls and ceiling. The same hue of felt has been used to upholster the seating banquette that curves around the wall of the entryway and the accompanying stools.
    A mixture of navy and speckled black bricks have then been laid across the floor, while white-terrazzo dining tables inlaid with blue flecks of aggregate have been dotted throughout the dining rooms.
    A glossy, powder-blue service counter that features a bold scallop pattern has also been erected in front of the drinks bar.

    Vibrant hot-pink details come in the form of the coffee grinders and a neon text sign on the wall. A series of vaulted steel storage shelves also appear throughout the restaurant, two behind the bar and three in the entrance dining area which are used to openly display crockery.
    Doorways that lead through to the customer bathrooms and back-of-house facilities for staff are also arched in form.

    Biasol uses green tones for update of Melbourne’s Main Street cafe

    The project also saw Biasol apply midnight-blue paint across the restaurant’s exterior.
    One street-facing wall is emblazoned with the words “wake me up when I’m famous”, which the studio hopes will become a prime spot to snap photos for Instagram.

    Biasol was founded in 2012 by Jean-Pierre Biasol and works out of offices in Melbourne’s Cremorne suburb.
    Billie Buoy is one of several eateries that the studio has designed around the city of Melbourne. Others include Main Street cafe, which is decked out with monochrome tiles and deep-green furnishings, and Pentolina, a pasta bar with worn concrete walls which are meant to emulate the streets of Ancient Rome.
    Photography is by Timothy Kaye.

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  • Wood and white brick feature in Perth extension by David Barr Architects

    David Barr Architects has added a bright and roomy two-floor extension to a cottage near Perth, Australia so that its owners can have their grown-up children come to stay. The cottage is situated in the port city of Fremantle along Marine Terrace road, from where the project takes its name. Marine belongs to a couple
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  • Ruxton Rise Residence in Melbourne is arranged around a planted courtyard

    A courtyard dotted with olive trees sits at the heart of this grey-brick home in Melbourne that Studio Four has created for its own co-director.Ruxton Rise Residence has been built for Studio Four’s co-director, Sarah Henry, and sits on a greenfield site in Beaumaris – an affluent suburb of Melbourne that’s host to a number of mid-century properties.
    While keeping in mind the mid-century typology, Henry was keen to create a tranquil home where she could spend quality time with her two daughters.

    “Designing for my own family was an opportunity to pare back a home to the bare essentials, and explore what is required for a young family to live minimally and mindfully,” Henry told Dezeen.

    “The house exemplifies the absence of what is not necessary, in both building form and detail,” she continued.
    “If I could summarise the objective for our new house in one sentence, it would be to create a little bit of something precious rather than a lot of something mediocre.”

    All the communal spaces of Ruxton Rise Residence face onto a central open-air courtyard planted with olive trees.
    It’s designed to act as an additional room in the house where inhabitants can gather together to enjoy the sun, or relax alone with a book.

    “Physically the house envelopes the central garden,” explained the studio’s other co-director, Annabelle Berryman.
    “It connects all internal living spaces and the design enables everyone to enjoy the house together, while providing subtle layers of separation and privacy,” she continued.
    “The landscape, and its movement and shadows, provide a calming effect that permeates the whole house.”

    The courtyard is bordered by a series of expansive glazed panels. These can be slid back to access the home’s interior, where the studio has forgone “trends and illusions” and instead applied a palette of simple and natural materials.
    “Our challenge was to design an interior that reflects the integrity of the built fabric and possesses a high level of humility,” said Henry.
    “All materials and building techniques were selected for their honesty, as well as their ability to patina over time, as it is important a house gets more beautiful as it ages.”

    A chunky grey-brick column loosely divides the living area – on one side lies a formal sitting room dressed with a woven rug and a couple of sloping wooden armchairs.
    On the other side is a cosier snug that has a plump navy sofa and a coffee table carved from a solid block of Oregon wood.

    The warmth and tactility of this table encouraged the studio to introduce a wooden dining set in the kitchen – the chairs are by Danish designer Hans J Wegner. Surrounding walls are clad in concrete-bricks, while the cabinetry is pale grey.

    All-white house by Studio Four blends indoor and outdoor spaces

    This austere palette continues through into the sleeping quarters, which are also painted grey. The same concrete bricks have also been used to form the headboard in the master bedroom.

    In the bathrooms, surfaces have been covered with tadelakt – a type of lime-based waterproof plaster often used in Moroccan architecture to make sinks and baths.
    Even the facade of the home, which is slightly set back from the street, has been washed with grey plaster.

    Ruxton Rise Residence is one of several homes that Studio Four has completed in Melbourne.
    Others include Central Park Road Residence, which has cosy interiors inspired by the Danish concept of hygge, and Bourne Road Residence, which has a stark all-white facade.
    Photography is by Shannon Mcgrath.

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  • Winter Architecture contrasts black facade of Melbourne townhouse with minimal white interiors

    Beyond the black facade of this 1990s townhouse in Melbourne’s South Yarra neighbourhood are a series of simple, white-painted living spaces designed by Winter Architecture. The owners of the South Yarra Townhouse had come to dislike its visually busy interiors and instead wanted a minimalist home “where they wouldn’t see the operations of domestic family
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  • Studio Edwards arranges yellow steel beams to form modular work pods

    Studio Edwards has created a series of modular yellow-framed work pods to turn a vacant warehouse space in Melbourne into an office. The pods by Studio Edwards are designed to accommodate groups of up to four members of staff and are constructed from bright-yellow steel beams. These beams can be bolted together and taken apart […] More

  • Studio Bright extends Ruckers Hill House to make room for rest and play

    The two-floor extension that Studio Bright has added to this Edwardian family home in Melbourne includes fun features like a theatre-style sitting room and a pool that resembles a Roman bath. The Edwardian-era home is perched on the peak of Ruckers Hill in Melbourne’s Northcote suburb, looking out over the city. Inside it had a […] More

  • Esoteriko picks bold colour for only one room of Balmoral Blue House

    Interiors studio Esoteriko has selected light colours and natural materials for every room in this house in Sydney, apart from one bright blue bedroom. Esoteriko designed an entirely new layout for this property overlooking Balmoral Beach, making it as open-plan as possible. A consistent palette of materials and finishes was chosen to help tie spaces together, […] More