Beautiful Spaces, Memorable Places

By Benjamen Judd

If you have gone shopping in Sydney or Melbourne – and in particular gone to any of the stores that we might have recommended to you – it is highly likely you have meandered into a Kelvin Ho designed destination.

Kelvin is a Sydney-based architect slash interior designer and founder of Akin Creative. His has been the subtle yet firm hand behind some of our favourite retail destinations. Favourites not only because of the product they stock but because of what Kelvin has made of them. Using a less is more philosophy of the same ilk as Mies van der Rohe and John Pawson, it was Kelvin who designed the latest incarnation of Sass and Bide in Brisbane, the Bassike store in Avalon and the Incu men’s and women’s stores in the Galleries Victoria Sydney. Our first impression when we walk into one of Kelvin’s creations is – the man likes space. Considering that he is over two metres tall himself, you can understand why he might but it goes beyond that. He understands how space works and how it works commercially, making for a far more pleasurable shopping and retail experience as opposed to that standard rush-job chore it has become in other sites.

He has also recently turned his hand to restaurants, having been asked to come on board and design the interior to the latest Bondi hotspot, the Tapas Parlour. To say his work has been warmly received would be an understatement and we’ll let the crowds going there speak for itself.

For more information on Kelvin, plus contact details, head to his website here.