This article originally appeared in INDESIGN #92 – find out more here.

A large and bright central atrium, with plantings to one end and a forest of First Nation Larrakitj poles at the other, explicates Australia as a nation that is open to engagement with the world. “For us, that was the key idea: a representation of a future-focused country that is grounded, welcoming and open,” says Mark Healey, Director at Bates Smart and Director of Interiors on this project.

The interior palette is pared back to layers of blackbutt timber (Eucalyptus pilularis), polished concrete, bronze, stainless steel and glass. Selecting blackbutt as the predominant material was underpinned by the economic importance of the timber, its versatility and its celebrated history of vast forests being propagated through burning. Additionally, the fine even grain of the timber coupled with the straight cylindrical growth make it a beautiful timber aesthetically to work with.

“The singularity of expression of the interior is welcoming, enveloping and warm,” says Healey, who quite rightly enthuses about the way the panelling detail mimics the various textures of the blackbutt tree found in nature. Thick, wide panels interspersed with finer rebated sections absorb sound and deliver fresh air to the lower sections, becoming smoother, finer and narrower as they rise into the rectangular oculus.

Opening to the roof light above, the combination of materiality and form creates a playful and engaging interplay of light and shadow to the adjoining spaces. As Healey explains, “these horizontal bands are an expression of the protective base of the tree and its relationship to fire.” Acknowledging this idea, the doors themselves have been blackened to give the impression of torched timber and thereby offers a further visual key to Indigenous methods of propagation.

Extrapolating these themes into a general Australian discourse, the vertical and horizontal rhythms provide a foil for the light that washes though the space for much of the day. With windows to all sides and glass above, the central void of the atrium is the full height of the building and, as Healey posits, “the quality of light that comes through at certain times of the day is quintessentially Australian.”

This is a difficult proposition to quantify as it is so experientially determined, yet he is right. There is a sparseness to the design that allows the light to bounce and shimmer through empty space, while the long shadows that are cast between the screen slats remain light. Parallels to the Australian bush are reinforced by the incredible acoustic barrier that give the whole a hush, rather than a silence – again a difficult experience to quantify for all but those who have Australia in their experience.

And herein lies the rub, the Embassy is quintessential to the Australian experience, but not at all what anyone unfamiliar with Australia would expect. In taking this stance, the Embassy presents a new face to the world and it is within this gorgeous capsule of light and timber that Australian designers and artists are being quite rightly held aloft on the world stage.

Working with the Design Institute of Australia (DIA), a range of designers including, but certainly not limited to, Adam Goodrum, Simon Ancher, Ross Gardam, Alexander Lotersztain and Tom Skeehan were selected for their fine design acumen. The lounge waiting room just past security makes for a seriously impressive introduction to Australian Design with the Walsh Street range of furniture designed by Robin Boyd and now manufactured by KFive + Kinnards.

Continuing this design gravitas, Derlot’s Autobahn lounge sections from designer Lotersztain, which Healey explains as having “the earthy colour of our rivers,” is an excellent first encounter in the main auditorium where its ribbon unfurls through the central space. Off to the side, Ross Gardam’s Ora Desk Lamps (Stylecraft) in anodised champagne are of just the right scale to hold the room beautifully. Each of the auditorium lounges boasts the work of Shane Sinnot, Colin Kupke and Justin Hutchinson for Kett Studio (Cosh Living) in a beautiful statement of rich olive green. Positioned over the golden glow of a rug based on the painting Sway by Regina Pilawuk Wilson, the colour pairing is genius. The second of these lounges looks out to a sculpture court where Callum Morton’s commissioned work, ‘Bull’, gently reflects the building back on itself.

Wanting to keep the material palette as reductive as possible, the concrete floors provide a visual connectivity while the rugs introduce focal points of cultural interaction. “Each is placed as a key moment where people can pause and contemplate those areas as places of real exchange, reflecting the woven mats and the idea of sitting on the ground on Country and talking and meeting people from other places,” says Healey.

Each of the rugs was created in collaboration with the artist (or their representative) to ensure fair procurement, while the rugs themselves were produced by Brintons to ensure quality. The pairing of the cream and black rug based on Tingari Cycle by George Tjungurrayi with the Robin Boyd furniture and Ross Gardam lamps, for example, is breathtakingly elegant.

And this really is the point. Each of the designers has been put on the world stage and, while many pieces are custom designed or tweaked – such as the seat detail Adam Goodrum developed with Kvadrat fabric for the Molloy Chair, or the custom boat shaped Board Table from Simon Ancher Studio – for the most part this is Australian Design available to all. As Interiors Director, Healey has embraced the idea of the Embassy building as the physical manifestation of ambassadorship and thrown everything into this powerful platform for world engagement. This is a serious and beautiful undertaking that he and the whole of Bates Smart have delivered superbly, and one we can all feel extremely proud of.

While in Washington DC, the author was the guest of Destination DC.

Bates Smart
batessmart.com

Photography
Joe Fletcher

Read Kristen Whittle’s first-hand account of the Embassy here