Industry Event, Style Me Merivale

The Style Me Merivale event was held in the incredibly grand Ivy Ballroom situated in the centre of the Sydney CBD with champagne on arrival. The space was filled with designers and design enthusiasts eager to hear from the Merivale experts. Neale Whitaker, Vogue Living Editor was the host for the evening and introduced the ‘creative dynamos’ behind Merivale.

 

The Panel

Justin Hemmes, the Chief Executive Officer of Merivale, is a pioneer and visionary in the Sydney hospitality industry. Since working at Merivale he has continued to buy and develop iconic venues, shaping an empire and changing the face of Sydney’s nightlife. Justin oversees every new project from start to finish and even has said that when he buys a property he can already envision the finished product, people in it and all!

Bettina Hemmes joined the family business soon after Justin and works on the styling and decoration side of the venues. At the event she said she often comes in towards the middle of the project to add in the layers but the panel disagreed. “She is there every day! She just keeps her opinion to herself until then”.

Amanda Talbot spent 10 years in London working with Elle Decoration and consulting for UK design icon Ilse Crawford. Since returning back to Sydney she has started blog SnOOp Global and worked on several major projects including working very closely with the Merivale team to deliver some incredible venues.

Kelvin Ho, founder of Akin Creative, has worked with some of Sydney’s most renowned fashion brands to create inspiring retail spaces. Now working with the Merivale group, his architecture background brings a unique perspective and point of view to the projects.

 

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The Discussion

 

1. What comes first, the venue or the idea?

“Either, idea sometimes but generally the venue”.

Justin said he has a passion for property that he inherited from his father. Plus he started out in construction and fell in love with buildings. For example, with Coogee Pavilion, the concept came after he found such an amazing site.

 

2. How does it come to life?

The panel all agreed – each venue always starts with a story and it can evolve throughout the development, but the main storyline is always referred back to when any decision is made about the design.

The Coogee Pavilion rooftop story stems from a fictitious character ‘Mr Wiley’. The rooftop is his greenhouse loft and thus is incredibly intricate and detailed but old and dilapidated at the same time. The story often comes from research, a character or the history of the site.

“The story is valuable because the team is from many different backgrounds” and it helps to make final decisions.  Whenever there is a question on an object, a colour or a layout the team use the story to make sure it is relevant to the overall theme and venue.

 

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3. How do you anticipate trends in the venues?

“I think we are actually anti-trends.”

The team said instead of focusing on an upcoming trend that is most likely going to date they use the concept and story to develop the theme, objects and design.

They also tend to focus on the way that people interact in spaces and new innovative ways that this is happening. The aim is to create longevity and a space that people feel constantly comfortable in and this is done by seeing and researching how people enjoy different environments.

For example, Hemmesphere, hasn’t changed its style or design at all since 1998. Which is why designing Merivale venues is always about creating a feeling and not a trend.

“Now people really appreciate a great space, a great drink and a great meal.”

Instead of focusing on trends and styles the team are focused on these new ways that people are building their lifestyles – places like Coogee Pavilion where you can come for breakfast, lunch or dinner are important as they cater for the way that people are building social meals into their lifestyles.

 

4. How important it is that Merivale’s venues are recognisable?

The ideal situation is that a customer recognises a Merivale venue and gets that same ‘feeling’ at each place.

Justin explains that every venue they work on is designed around them and is very hands-on, so the design of the site is never just on paper. The process is very organic and always has so much ‘soul’ which could be why the venues are so recognisable.

 

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5. How do you choose your colour palettes?

“The story usually dictates the colour.”

Amanda and Bettina discussed the trickiness and importance of choosing the right whites and greys. What can look amazing in one venue often looks awful in another. Colour for them is all about creating the feeling that matches the story for that venue.

 

6. How much free rein do you have with the design?

“Huge amount of creative band-width.”

The whole process is collaborative though, which means there are not often points in the process where you can come up with an idea by yourself.

They all agree – nothing is ever a bad idea! But the story always helps to diplomatically make the right decisions.

 

7. How important is social media in the process? Are you thinking about what is postable?

Amanda’s background is in magazines so she instantly agreed with this as she is always trying to find the “insta-moment” in a space.

“There are two bikes I have for the Newport and I am agonising over where to put them so they are shot!”

Kelvin on the other hand, with his architectural background, often thinks a shot will be good, but it isn’t, because his focus is always on spaces and the 3-dimensional not small vignettes.

 

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8. Where are things going next in the hospitality space?

“This is the most exciting time ever to be in Sydney.”

Justin identified that people are now willing to try new things, are passionate about quality and are increasingly more social. The Sydney hospitality industry is now 7 days a week and not just Thursday to Saturday, because people are mixing eating and drinking into their lifestyle so that it is now an extension of their everyday life.

The quality, style and variety of food in Sydney is like nowhere else in the world, and we as a city are continuously innovating in the hospitality space.

“We are at the best place we have ever been in this city.”

Even spaces like Ivy and Establishment have come to life and one of the reasons is because it is a multi-faceted space. It allows people to visit more than once a week – because it has a variety of offerings that all complement each other.

Justin’s theory is the more venues in the one space, the busier the space will be. That’s what he learnt with the introduction of the Ivy. The city became an iconic hub where people could eat, have a quiet drink and party all night in the same venue.

The Merivale panel are obviously very collaborative in their approach to design and venues. Each person contributes something to the group which is really what makes the venues so iconic – they are all as incredibly passionate and involved in the process as each other and on top of that are always completely focused on the end-user and what they get out of the space.

It was a truly inspiring evening – a huge thank you to Merivale!

Images via Merivale