Overview
Australia is teeming with ace things to do every single week, which won't be news to Concrete Playground readers. It's also filled with stellar and stunning places to head, which won't be a revelation either. Still, every year, the Australian Interior Design Awards names and celebrates the best of the best when it comes to indoor spaces to hang out, live and work in. And, 2022's dazzling crop of winners have just been announced.
Back in April, AIDA unveiled its 2022 shortlist, which was filled with impressive spaces in hospitality, residential, workplace, retail and public settings. Whittling down those contenders to a list of winners must've been a tough gig, but it's one that the judges clearly relished. Their picks are spectacular, naturally.
Troy Sivian's house. Image: Anson Smart.
Nabbing the Premier Award for Australian Interior Design: Clare Cousins Architects for Stable and Cart House in North Melbourne, which the jury said was "sublime in every way". Located within a 1920s brick warehouse, the home also took out the Residential Design category, and was singled out for the way it "beautifully balances the retention of an existing building with very bold and practical new insertions".
If that's not enough home inspo for you, the 2022 Residential Decoration Award went to Flack Studio for Troye Sivan's house, also in Melbourne. Yes, you'll want to live there. Indeed, making sure that the tri-level abode, which has big London vibes and was originally a 19th-century hardball court, reflects its famous occupant was a big reason why it scored a gong. The home boasts a "strong sense of the client's character through a beautiful curation of art, furniture, lighting and objects in a way that doesn't feel forced or contrived," the jury said.
Arkhé. Image: Timothy Kaye
Announced at a dinner the Hyatt Regency Sydney on Friday, June 17, AIDA's 2022 winners also include Studio Edwards for Finesse Shoe Store — still in Melbourne, this time in Collingwood — which took out the Retail Design field. As well as displaying and selling rare and limited-edition kicks, the sneaker store is clearly quite the covetable space itself.
Up in Sydney, YSG Studio nabbed the Interior Design Impact gong for Edition Roasters in Haymarket, while Adelaide's Arkhé claimed the Hospitality Design Award for Studio Gram.
View of Eucalyptusdom showing commissioned work Pyriscence: After Fireby Anna May Kirk. Image: Zan Wimberley.
Back in Melbourne, the Monash Robotics Lab scored the Public Design prize, with Studio Bright doing the honours. Meanwhile, Sydney's Powerhouse Museum took out the Installation Design category for exhibition Eucalyptusdom, a win for SJB in collaboration with Richard Leplastrier and Vania Contreras.
In that same field, one of the most luminous new additions to the Australian art scene also picked up a commendation: digital-only, multi-sensory art gallery The Lume, with Decibel Architecture behind its stunning design.
The Lume.
For the full Australian Interior Design Awards 2022 winners list, head to the AIDA website.
Top image: The Lume, Decibel Architecture.