FEATURE PROJECT - DESIGN AWARDS

It isn’t easy planning and opening a new day spa in the middle of a pandemic and a city that is in constant lockdowns. This was the situation we were faced with while working on Relinque Urban Retreat and Spa throughout 2020 and 2021.

However, we did get there, and Relinque finally opened it’s doors in the Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe in December 2021. Featuring treatments by La Gaia Unedited and a beautiful retail selection carefully selected by our retail expert Holli, the experience at Relinque is one we are very proud to have shaped.

Working closely with Studio Tate to craft a functional floor plan was an absolute joy. They noted every detail on the design brief, which I so appreciated and after massaging the plan several times we arrived at the final result. The procurement was a big job as beautiful design deserves the very best in styling, so a lot of online research and then a lot of in store shopping was done the minute retail stores reopened. I had to make sure the organisational and styling elements did the Interior Design justice. This included the uniform selection for the team, as our staff are all part of the aesthetic.

Anyhow, just 4 months later, Relinque has been shortlisted for the Australian Interior Design Awards & the Dulux Colour Awards. Wow! We are all thrilled that the very thoughtfully curated materials and colour palette has been so well received by the Interior Design industry.

Here are a few paragraphs from the Studio Tate team themselves.

AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

Celebrating the natural verdant landscape of its locale, Studio Tate created a collection of immersive spaces with circular architectural form at Relinque, to support an intuitive client journey, offering an ‘all gender’ day spa experience, with an inherently natural feeling palette.

A functional floor plan underpins a day spa on one side ice and steam contrast therapy, hydrotherapy, body and face treatment spaces and yoga studio-offering holistic wellness. On the other side, a spinal clinic pilates and osteopathy complete the circular client journey with a natural flow as they move through the space. The functionality component was also key to enabling staff to work efficiently and support the client experience.

A palette of greens, greys, burgundy and earth tones feature through
the collective space, reflecting a sense of textural ‘earthiness’ whilst also being contemporary and sophisticated. A concrete floor in reception with coloured aggregate is offset by a forest green marble desk, forest green joinery and leather banquette seating, set against a backdrop of textured paint with timber battens. Within the spa, the five individually contained treatment rooms feature a colour datum in a deep rust tone and steam showers tiled in a soft, sage green, with a granite shower bench.

By Studio Tate

If you are from Melbourne, or if you are ever visiting, please do go and visit Relinque Urban Retreat and Spa. I promise you won’t regret it!

Dulux Colour Awards

Australian Interior Design Awards

Posted on April 14, 2022 .

FEATURE PROJECT - A WEBSITE MAKEOVER

Every so often (approximately 5 to 7 years) it’s important to take a step back and review the look and feel of our brand. Is it outdated? Have we evolved? Does our brand adequately represent who we are today?

Depending on our honest appraisal, or the honesty of others, it might be time for a brand makeover, which can unfold in a number of ways. It could be that we change logo, identity, colour palette, imagery and the overall look and feel of our brand. This then ripples out across our digital mediums such as website and social media and also across all printed collaterals, such as brochures and business cards.

Another way we may need to level up our business and the guest experience is through the aesthetics of our interior design and styling. This might be a light upgrade through new equipment, furniture, soft furnishings and artwork, or a more major renovation that involves freshly painted walls, new floor coverings, window furnishings, joinery and alot of new materials in general.

A rejuvenated guest journey might also be order and this can include upgrading our booking process and software, or the guest journey sequence and service deliverables from start to finish, extra touch points that surprise and delight, new towels, slippers and bathrobes. Perhaps a new retail offering.

Whatever the case, a thoughtfully considered makeover is well worth it. A tired business and team can quickly turn a corner with a bit of love and TLC.

Here below is one of our recent website and branding makeover projects, showing the before and after, and why we made the changes we did. I hope you love the final result as much as we do!

Posted on April 1, 2022 .