Kitchens and bathrooms are, arguably, the most consequential rooms in the home — and almost always the first to be reconsidered. Whether approached through renovation or new build, their design has the power to recalibrate how a home is lived in and experienced. For this issue, our guest editor, Mardi Doherty, principal of Studio Doherty, explores what it truly means to transform these pivotal spaces — and why thoughtful design in kitchens and bathrooms delivers dividends far beyond the purely functional.
As our dedicated Kitchen & Bathroom edition, we also spotlight designers who are challenging convention and elevating expectations (from page #82). Kitchens by Hecker Guthrie, Adriana Hanna Office, and Daniel Boddam traverse a spectrum from refined restraint to spirited exuberance. Bathrooms are no less compelling, with exemplary projects from Mathieson Architects, Mim Design and Smac Studio Interior Design demonstrating how utility can become sanctuary.
Mardi’s curatorial eye extends to the Light Box (from page #23), where furniture, lighting, art, objects and people converge in a distilled celebration of contemporary design thinking. In Profiles (from page #59), we continue the culinary thread with Josh Niland of Saint Peter fame, alongside features on the photographic practice of Michael Cook and the extraordinary work of Ella Saddington, whose revival of armour-making techniques propels ancient craft into the 21st century.
Architecture, however, remains our anchor. This issue gathers standout projects from across the Indo-Pacific region, each responding to place with intelligence and clarity. We begin with guest editor Mardi Doherty’s own Gable House — a compelling case study in the transformative potential of renovation. In Redfern, Brace Design reimagines a long, narrow terrace, coaxing light and generosity from a constrained footprint. From India, Taliesyn reinterprets the pavilion as a layered domestic landscape that opens and closes to the elements with quiet precision.
Related: When Kengo Kuma’s Japanese architecture met Indian textiles in Milan
Polly Harbison’s Coopers Shoot appears almost cleaved from its surrounding rock, while James Garvan’s Summersault House offers a lyrical tribute to Jørn Utzon. Melanie Beynon Architecture & Design delivers a vibrant expression for an art-collecting client, and Nicholas Elias shapes airflow and experience around a monumental pivoting circular door. Flack Studio raises the bar with a finely resolved boutique hotel in Naarm / Melbourne and Casey Brown Architecture revisits the idea of dwelling as a permanent campsite (from page #134).
Across scales and typologies, this issue considers how design — at its most resolved — reshapes not only spaces, but the rituals of daily life within them.
It is a rich issue packed with objects, artworks, ideas and inspirational moments.
Sit back, relax and create your very own slice of heaven!
