SUPAWOOD products dominate throughout the recently redeveloped Luxury Retail and Food Emporium of Melbourne Airport T2 International Departures.

The designers, NH Architecture, were asked by the client to completely rethink the traditional perception of airport retail and create a place with an atmosphere of an upmarket urban shopping experience. To achieve the design intent, they looked for architectural elements, which would leave a lasting impression of Melbourne’s civic grandeur.

SUPAWOOD’s innovative array of adaptable products and finishes offered the ideal choices.

The design reflects the face of Melbourne’s distinctive urban characteristics – luxury retail in the grand arcade, laneway cafes and the food emporiums.

The double-height space of the luxury duty-free retail arcade has been lined with custom SUPALINE panels finished in Gold from SUPAWOOD’s new Metallic Colour range. The effect of this magnificent gold ceiling pays respect to Melbourne’s grand shopping arcades. The ceiling panels have been installed in a faceted arrangement reminiscent of a cut diamond.

This ceiling required a complex fixing and framing system and involved the manufacturing of a large quantity of custom sized and shaped panels with a consistent colour match throughout, all supplied to a tight lead time. SUPAWOOD offered a full design and construct service from beginning to end with extensive prototyping, design modification and technical support to accurately achieve the desired outcome.

Within the great Food Emporium, showcasing Melbourne’s best restaurants, WAVE BLADES in SUPACOLOUR White fan out around a large central lightwell. Again, SUPAWOOD offered full support to ensure that a huge number of blades were supplied to the specified configuration, enabling a smooth install.

This large project highlights the dynamics and versatility of SUPAWOOD’s product ranges and shows how they can be adapted to create looks that suggest different moods, themes and concepts.

Sina Samiee from NH Architecture said that Supawood demonstrated, “Accuracy, technical competence and response, good information support, and a good supply of product with innovative approaches.”

Photography by Shannon McGrath