THE RUBINSTEIN GROUP

Esoteriko

TO ESTABLISH their client’s award-winning real-estate business as a market leader, interior designer Anna Trefely manifested a high-end workplace that symbolises luxury and sophistication and serves as a social hub. What was the brief? Our client had seen a completed fitout of ours, and wanted to achieve similar high-end, comfortable sophistication but as a masculine counterpart. He wanted grey, blue and loved terrazzo. We needed to create a multipurpose workplace for a growing team to use a small area, yet create a space as a physical representation of the brand with the interiors akin to a luxury retail experience. What were the challenges of the space and how did you resolve them? The 140sqm site required a complete internal gutting. Flexibility was key to our spatial response. The long entry table serves as a reception desk, meeting table, waiting area and display. It acts as a built element of physical separation while maintaining the visual connection to the spaces beyond. What were some of the influences that shaped your design concept? Motif and colouring reflect a sense of restrained extravagance to tell the brand story and achieve a balance of luxury and comfort. How would you describe the completed interior? An exploration of a real estate agency as a luxury brand; an extension of the group of people that inhabit it and the company they create. More than a workplace, it’s a social space for the occupants and represents the business of selling high-end houses. What informed the selection of furniture, art, fittings and finishes? The material selection was a distilled palette of light terrazzo, polished Venetian plaster, aged brass, honed stone laminate and washed linen. Lighting is used sparingly but with drama. A spectacular Dale Frank work injects intensity in a deep, reflective blue, with other works similarly injecting blue scattered throughout. What are your favourite elements? The abstracted and whimsical story created through motifs which can have multiple uses and are never just a decorative effect. Was the client happy? They love it. It’s a great backdrop to their rapidly expanding agency and has even informed the development of their brand. For example, the sculptural elements we developed for the shopfront have now been incorporated into their logo. Recently, the team celebrated their win of an important award in the space. It was such an appropriate setting for an upscale celebration, seamlessly morphing from workplace into high-end hospitality space. esoteriko.org

DAVE WHEELER