Australian House and Garden
Dec 2001 p.130-131

 

Interior designers Paul Hecker (left) and Kerry Phelan (right) met in 1996 while working on Melbourne's Crown Casino. They took a gamble, partnering up for further projects, and officially established their design company Hecker Phelan earlier this year. HECKER PHELAN, St Kilda, Vic (03) 9593 6900.

 

What was the brief for this room?
To create an entertainment room that is sophisticated yet spunky, playful and over the top."

 

What are your signature elements in this room?
"The colour combinations in the room, from the dark tinted floor to the bright orange walls - a true Hecker Phelan signature - and their contrast with the strong white of the walls and ceilings. We also believe in using a combination of serious, high-quality pieces balanced with more frivolous elements and ideas. We used a series of circular mirrors - which can be rotated to make the room an ever-changing 'interiorscape'. The fact that this feature abstracts, reflects and also acts as a playful artwork is another of our signature ideas."

 

In Putting this room together where did you economise and where did you splurge?
"In this instance, we basically splurged on everything."

 

What inspires you in your design work?
"We're influenced by contemporary pop culture: fashion, music and music videos, as well as the intersection of cultural styles in a global way that is both new and retro at the same time."

 

Your dream job would be.
"Designing the interior of an airplane, a tram or a train - in fact, any public transportation vehicle that's used by thousands of people every day. With a mass-produced product there is a lot more opportunity to develop ideas to their best resolution than when producing a one-off domestic interior."

 

What's the next big thing in interiors?
"The recognition by designers and consumers alike that the possibilities of design are endless and always shifting. Fashion may inform ideas, but there are endless directions for interpretation and definition. Technology will be another feature of interiors in the future - both with hi-tech appliance and 'toys' we introduce into our interiors and also in the hi-tech processes that are no being used to produce the latest textiles."

 

What's your favourite gadget around the home?
"The remote."

 

STYLE File
MDF WALL SCREEN (right) by Hecker Phelan, as above. Sofa by Hecker Phelan, and CUSHIONS, both made by Online Upholstery (Aust), Seaford, Vic (03) 9786 8770, Knoll Platner glass-topped SIDE TABLES and cushioned STOOLS both from Dedece, Melbourne, Vic (03) 9650 9600. Felted Rug from Artoz Rugs & Carpets, call (03) 9431 1345. MIRROR SERIES by Hecker Phelan, as above.