“It was definitely a surprise to win an award – it’s a beautiful compliment,” says Volker Haug, founder and director of the eponymous studio.
The German-born, Melbourne-based lighting designer has won the 2025 Melbourne Design Week Award presented by Mercedes-Benz Australia. The award recognises Haug and his studio’s outstanding contribution to the Australian design industry and the exhibition 20 Years of Volker Haug Studio presented in this year’s festival. The annual $5,000 prize, now in its sixth year, is presented by Mercedes-Benz Australia.
Haug’s engagement with the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) is in fact long, with the relationship starting almost accidently before organically taking form. “I first was involved with the National Design Centre 20 years ago, which was actually nothing to do with the NGV. But they happened to be at the NGV in The Ian Potter Centre, and they got to know me during my first solo exhibition there.”
Along the way Haug was contacted to supply some of the studio’s range in the Potter’s store, which have now become part of its staple offering. It was a very particular commission, however, that cemented the relationship. Haug explains: “The biggest compliment was definitely a commission for one of my personal favourites, the OMG light. They asked us to make an even bigger one for the Ian Potter Centre, to hang in one of the foyers – and it’s still there today, which is a career highlight. There was a lot of back and forth, collaborating with them on that project but the end result is very special.”
In many ways this is the role of an institution: to not just collect and display design pieces, but to include them in their living environment and engage directly with designers. It’s a position the NGV has pursued and affirmed by being among the first clients to order pieces from the Me and You collaborative collection with Flack Studio. Like all things Volker Haug, this particular collaboration was different from the last, being their first fifty-fifty design project.
“We don’t have a strict plan – we usually take things as they come,” he says. “Working with David has been a positive experience – easy, playful, collaborative and fun, which is so important. Always happy to work with them, especially as we’ve already started expanding the range since Milan.”
Collaboration is cornerstone of this practice that employs local artisans to make each of the pieces designed in the in the Naarm/Melbourne studio, with no attempt at cookie-cutter perfection. Rather, the materials are allowed their flaws and degrees of opacity, reflection and surface texture, which vary from piece to piece and choice of medium. “Bruce is a cast light arranged in a grid shape, with different sizes that are a bit imperfect, and that’s what people really love about it. The light itself has a clean, precise look, but the texture in the form is imperfect; it gives it a unique character that just works,” he says.
Additionally, each piece is a light as well as being a sculpture, with as much attention paid to its unilluminated presence. “I think it’s important for the designs to also look beautiful off or when the light is on, and I would say that our lights do that. They can look like a piece of art and that just happens to be able to be lit up,” says Haug.
Despite being called on a daily basis for install-ready pieces, Haug continues to work only on a collaborative basis with designers. Effectively, each piece is a custom creation that takes time and thought. “Our pieces are made to order – custom-made and handcrafted locally. Most people appreciate that, but sometimes there’s a deadline – and, realistically, it’s not always possible to have it ready by Thursday,” says Haug.
The need to answer these requests has slowly slid away as Haug’s reputation has grown. Architects and interior designers are increasingly commissioning work and taking on the role of educators, explaining that a light costs x amount and will take y weeks, but by also examining why having something unique is so important to lighting. What architects and designers love about his work isn’t simplicity, nor is it an established visual language, but rather each is a tactile and gorgeous expression of materiality. “Our designs are undeniably minimalist, focusing on celebrating the material rather than concealing it – exposing its natural qualities while creating clean, beautifully finished forms,” adds Haug.
One of Haug’s first collaborations came when he was taking a small business course. A call came from Kate Challis to create a series of lights for a Pilates studio in Melbourne. It was a big commission for the burgeoning practice, but perfect timing in terms of embarking on a sharp learning curve to put his own practice into the spotlight as a case study. “She asked me to make a whole heap of light shades in different colours and patterns, like stencil light shades for their yoga studio with quite short lead time. I also ended up doing a custom design for the stairwell of a long pendant that dangles down over two levels. And that was my first big job, my first custom design that happened essentially exactly 20 years ago.”
Twenty years on and Haug is universally acknowledged as one of the nicest people to work with. His care and consideration for his studio practitioners as well as his clients is profound. He also just really loves lighting and speaks of each piece with true affection. There is something of the idealistic about him, with a deep understanding of the responsibilities of being a fiscally stable practice alongside a very clear drive for artistic integrity. As such, he prefers to show at Milan in the off-season. “It’s great to do Milan Design Week every second year and in the off years for lighting: it gives people a chance to really focus on what we’re doing. It’s an approach that has always worked well for us.”
On the Design Week Award, Tony Ellwood AM, Director, National Gallery of Victoria commented: “The Melbourne Design Week Award presented by Mercedes-Benz recognises leading Australian practitioners for their accomplishments in the industry. Volker Haug has been at the forefront of lighting practice for the past two decades and we congratulate Volker on winning this year’s award.”
Haug himself added: “Being this year’s Melbourne Design Week Award winner is truly an honour. It’s a wonderful reminder that the work I’m passionate about resonates with others, and it inspires us to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. It’s also exciting to see Australian lighting design being celebrated, highlighting the creativity and innovation within our industry. I’m genuinely grateful for this recognition.”
