Design

Hospitality design is often discussed through the details you can point to: the curve of a bar, the material palette, the way lighting behaves after dark, how styling can frame a menu or sharpen the mood of a room. But for Adelaide-based architecture and interiors practice studio gram, founded by Graham Charbonneau and Dave Bickmore, the measure of a venue is less about how it looks in isolation, and more about what it gives back once people are inside it.

Two such venues – Leigh Street Wine Room and Fino Vino, both LEIF partner venues brought to life by studio gram – speak clearly to this sensibility. Here, we caught up with Charbonneau and Bickmore to talk more about craft, context, and designing places where guests can shake the dust.

Photography by Josie Withers

If Sydney has a current fixation with pared-back minimalism, Superfreak politely ignores it. Located on Enmore Road in Marrickville, the café – designed by the Sydney-based architecture and interior design firm YSG Studio and housed in the former (famed) Serendipity ice-cream factory – leans into texture, colour and a certain 70s-inflected sociability. Think cork underfoot, yellow walls and glossy green datums – a “soulful sanctuary” spinning plates of “nourishing eats from sunup to mid-afternoon,” describes YSG’s Founding Director Yasmine Ghoniem. It’s confident, nostalgic, slightly surreal, and – importantly – entirely committed to mood.

A partner venue of LEIF, Superfreak and YSG reflect our shared sensibility, grounded in tactility, atmosphere, and the emotional resonance of well-considered spaces. We caught up with Ghoniem and the venue’s co-owner Mike Ico to talk about how the future classic came to be, and why looking backwards can sometimes be the most progressive move forward.

Photography by Phillip Huyhn. 

Moments of togetherness ebb and flow throughout the year, and what follows often calls for a gentler, more unhurried rhythm. Here, we’ve gathered a selection of partner stays — ocean-facing, mountain-bound, deep in the bush, or tucked into rolling countryside — to inspire your own summer retreat.

Image credit: Natalie McComas

At LEIF, collaboration is a way of seeing anew — uncovering fresh perspectives on the forms and materials around us. Each year, our Holiday Collection becomes a meeting point between art and design, where botanicals are reframed through different creative minds. More than seasonal keepsakes, these limited editions are experiments in perspective, inviting our community to see the familiar anew.

For 2025, we turned to the Sydney-based artist and typographer Mark Gowing, whose vision moves fluidly between visual abstraction, language and form.

Founded in 1994, Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA) has established itself as a significant and innovative reference point in Australian architecture and urban design. The practice focus is on architecture as a civic endeavour with an emphasis on user experience and enjoyment of place.

LEIF partner venue Bundanon is a clear expression of KTA’s values — architecture shaped by place, purpose, people, and sustainability. We caught up with KTA Director and Principal Kerstin Thompson to discuss her design approach to the creation of Bundanon Art Museum and The Bridge.

High and low, far and wide — our amenity partners have you covered. We’ve rounded up a few of our favourite destinations, both close to home and further afield, to inspire your next escape.

The Isla was founded by a group of friends, and designed for friends. Casita is the latest addition by the group, bringing a holiday home for groups and families away from home.

We caught up with Yanna, director of Clay Interiors (and wife of one of the owners), to discuss the restoration of these wonderful motels.

Photography by Anson Smart and Ryan Linnegar.

Founded in 1999, Kennedy Nolan has built a reputation for bold, sustainable and design-driven architecture. Led by Patrick Kennedy and Rachel Nolan, the practice spans from residential projects to larger-scale commercial, educational, and public spaces — always with a focus on innovation, sustainability, and connection to place.

LEIF partner venue, HYDE Melbourne Place is a rare contemporary example of complete design, where both the building and the interiors are designed by Kennedy Nolan. Below, Principal and Founding Partner, Patrick Kennedy joins us to discuss the inspiration and process of the design.

Photography by Sean Fennessy, Kate Shanasy. 

Created as an agrarian destination for guests, with a commitment to slow living and respect for nature, Copperstone by The Range Estates is a luxury homestead and retreat set on 48 acres of picturesque countryside in Bangalow/Bundjalung.

We spoke with Co-Founder and Creative Director Emma Lane to uncover the vision and design that shaped this beautiful property.

Photography by Sean Fennessy.

What began as a personal project evolved into our 2024 Holiday Collection when Co-Founder, Mark Evans, started training an AI model in our studio.

Text prompts, previous in-house renders and 3D model inputs all added a new dimension to bring coral characters to life, imagined in the ether.

Artist Bobby Clark has made her mark on the contemporary art scene with her distinctive geometric paintings. Inspired by the Bauhaus movement, her works are simplistic with hidden depth and emotions.

For our 2022 Holiday Collection, we collaborated with artist and designer Evi O to bring the holiday spirit to life.