Celebrated Interior Designer and Stylist, Claire Larritt-Evans began her career designing commercial and retail spaces before focusing on her passion for high-end residential interiors. So, it made perfect sense for RT Edgar Bayside to engage Claire, who heads up Larritt-Evans Interior Design & Styling studio in South Melbourne, to design a functional but beautiful new workspace with a ‘residential’ feel that Bayside agents could call home. We spoke to Claire about this exciting new project, her vision, inspiration, and the design process.
“Right from the start, I wanted to create a semi-residential space for RT Edgar’s Bayside office. I wanted to play on that feel of a relaxed, familiar space, with the undertone of RT Edgar’s visual brand identity of understated luxury. We wanted to make sure the design was on par with the calibre of the houses the RT Edgar Bayside team represents, in an aspirational way. It was important to elevate the design to set the tone for buyers and sellers in the Bayside market.”
With herringbone oak flooring, a subtle colour palette, natural stone surfaces, and sculptural curved furnishings, the bespoke fit-out looks set to merge the boundaries between a workplace and a home.
“As an example, the kitchen in the new office is similar to one we would design in a high-end home. There is a beautiful travertine island bench, which will double as an informal meeting/gathering place for staff and clients to interact informally.”
Claire says this project gave her the best of both worlds in that she could combine her twin obsessions of aesthetics and functionality.
“Design should always go beyond aesthetics – that’s how I operate. Whether you are designing for a family home or a busy workplace, there are a lot of similarities.”
“I like to take a deep dive. I need to understand the client’s needs, not just for now, but for the future. For residential clients, I want to know: Who is the family? How do they live? Do they love to cook? How do they entertain? When you transfer that enquiry to a commercial space you ask the same sorts of questions, it’s just got a different set of questions around it. Who works here? How do they work? Who visits here? How do they interact and collaborate? Our job is to design in response to those parameters.”
Claire says there are a few unique factors to consider when designing a commercial project.
“Even though the outcomes are fundamentally different, there are many similarities between commercial and residential design. It’s the enquiry and execution of those findings along the way where the differences are found. In a commercial space, there’s a lot more to consider in terms of IT and technical requirements. It is tricky because technology is changing so quickly, but this is what drives us to create a considered workplace for now and in the future.”
Claire is confident her vision will be worth the endeavour.
“When planning a space like this, the greatest design outcomes are almost what you don’t notice, such as for this project we have hard-wiring electrical points concealed within custom desks, I needed to spend some extra time planning and consulting with IT experts. It’s never lost on us, that for our clients, this is what they’ve been dreaming of. You can’t ever lose sight of what it means for them, so to deliver that will be so rewarding.”
RT Edgar Bayside’s brand new Larritt-Evans designed office was unveiled in September.
For more information on Claire’s designs visit www.larritt-evans.com.au or follow Claire on Instagram to see updates.
Images by Eve Wilson.
