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AHEAD recognises excellence in hospitality design and experience in regions including Asia, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East. Held in London and New York, AHEAD Global is its pinnacle awards ceremony and includes category winners from regional competitions held in 2018.

Studio Ongarato won the global award for Visual Identity for its work on luxury Australian hotel Jackalope, after winning this category at the AHEAD Asia-Pacific Awards in 2018. The global Visual Identity category is comprised of exceptional projects that recognise the overall visual identity of a hospitality project including, but not limited to, elements such as graphic design, signage and physical collateral.

The studio’s work for Jackalope spanned brand identity and collateral, conceptual site narrative and experiential design, art curation and commissioning, environmental graphics and styling, lighting design, landscape installation design, and wayfinding strategy and signage. Watch the video here.

Recognised by industry leaders as an exemplar of the shifting landscape of Australian luxury, Jackalope and its bar, Flaggerdoot, and restaurant, Doot Doot Doot, command attention with their avant-garde integration of environment and brand experience.

Studio Ongarato carefully considered each of the hotel spaces to maximise a sense of intimacy while enhancing the cinematic appeal of the site, which is set on the 11-hectare Willow Creek Vineyard. At each turn, visitors are encouraged to engage with a thematic world where the mythological narrative of the Jackalope is unveiled incrementally, yielding a sense of discovery.

Jackalope’s magnificent site inspired a brand narrative based on the concept of alchemy as a metaphor for winemaking. This concept was also expressed in the Jackalope itself, a transformative and mythical creature that is half hare, half antelope.

Studio Ongarato’s conceptual site narrative was expressed in various incarnations throughout the hotel, bar and restaurant to encourage an immersive and interactive guest experience.

“Jackalope is a hotel brand conceived at the international level so we are very proud to see our aspirations for the project awarded at AHEAD Global,” studio co-founder and creative director, Fabio Ongarato, says.

“The award is particularly satisfying as it affords the highest recognition for our approach to visual identity and immersive design. The judges saluted our site narrative, which saw the concept of alchemy expressed through all areas of the hotel experience, from the distillation theme in its signature bar, Flaggerdoot, to the glowing installation of 10,000 suspended amber lightbulbs representing fermentation in the restaurant, Doot Doot Doot.”

Responsible for spearheading the shift towards brand storytelling in design, Studio Ongarato recognises that guests of luxury hotels and restaurants have come to demand exceptional, authentic experiences. In creating a cohesive language, the studio’s design elements are used to reflect the intended brand experience at every customer-facing touch point.

Ronnen Goren, Studio Ongarato co-founder and strategy director, says the AHEAD Global award is a vindication of the studio’s “design without borders” approach.

“We seek to elevate our clients to the forefront of cultural influence,” he says.

“Studio Ongarato does this by working with designers, curators and editors, architects, art directors and craftspeople. As with several of our projects, our vision for Jackalope involved working with renowned artisans and artists, such as Emily Floyd, Andrew Hazewinkel, Rolf Sachs and Kate Robertson.”

“Culturally grounded and immersive design can be playful – as our work at Jackalope demonstrates – but it needs to transcend novelty and demonstrate that it is founded on a rigorous, strategic interrogation of brand and context.”

Project Collaborators
Architects and Interior Design: Carr Design, Melbourne
Landscape Design: Taylor Culity Lethlean, Melbourne
Artists: Emily Floyd, Andrew Hazewinkel, Rolf Sachs, and Kate Robertson
Interior and exterior photography: Mark Roper and Sharyn Cairns

Held in Melbourne on 10 November 2018, the annual AGDA Design Awards recognise the best work in Australia across a wide range of design disciplines. A big thank you from us all to the clients who made these awards possible.

W SHANGHAI ATRIUM INSTALLATION
(Pinnacle Award)
Spatial
Permanent Installation

Captivating Contrasts was developed as the overarching narrative, drawing on the history, geography and attitudes of the paradox that is Shanghainese culture. A 22-meter high atrium space greets guests arriving at the W Shanghai. Intended to delight guests and seduce passers-by, this dramatic void is activated by a suspended, multi-storey light-scape in homage to the iconic Lilong laneway laundry tradition. Layered first with stylised garments, then the bright lights of Nanjing Road and, ultimately, the high-rise futurism of Pudong, it establishes a memorable and immersive entry that sets the scene for the
experience to follow.

85 SPRING STREET
(Distinction Award)
Print
Catalogues and Brochures

Building on the artful architecture and design of Bates Smart, Fabio Ongarato Design developed a positioning for 85 Spring St inspired by the German philosophy of Gesamtkunstwerk, a “work of art”; The concept was personified by a series of portraits themed Spring, Time, Melbourne and Building respectively. Each portrait became an independent volume in a keepsake set, expressing a unique part of the story that is 85 Spring St, layering up to create the total work of art.

PIDAPIPO
(Distinction Award)
Publications
Entire Book

The book is separated into four parts, delineated by chapter breaks referencing calendar numerals in the Pidapido colour palette and capturing Lisa’s memories from childhood to today. Recipe ingredients are personified in seasonal scenes using modernist yet playful illustration and design in the lineage of classic 60s and 70s Italian design. Lisa’s story is woven through the book, with memories captured in nostalgic archival material, juxtaposing her Italian family history and collected ephemera with her contemporary approach to gelati.

MECCA MAX
(Distinction Award)
Packaging

The packaging solution represents Mecca to the Max - max personality and impact – achieved using playful pop colours of tangerine and pink with highlights and bases of gold and white. Dialled up on make-up. Toned down for skincare. Spiral lines and moires infer quality and expertise. Max personality and cut-through that achieved cult status for the younger target market.

GEOFF HANDBURY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY HUB AT MELBOURNE GRAMMAR
(Distinction Award)
Spatial
Wayfinding, Signage and environmental graphics

A system of contextual wayfinding and signage elements, reflect notions of scientific processes, labeling and digital fabrication in this meticulous building designed by Denton Corker Marshall. The primary donor installation suspended between the grand spiral stair and the elliptical atrium space beneath, draws inspiration from orbital momentum and quantum mechanics.

WBRISBANE
(Distinction Award)
Spatial
Environmental design

A combination of brand DNA, site context and the overarching theme of River Dreaming, inspired Studio Ongarato to create four design sub-narratives: Native Allure, Tropical Eden, Brisvegas and Dark Paradise. The resulting interplay of ideas created a tribal meets pop, kinetic hybrid personality that electrifies in its many incarnations.

WSHANGHAI
(Distinction Award)
Spatial
Environmental Design

Like Shanghai itself, the W hotel is a vibrant fusion of eclectic influences that inspired the conceptual narrative developed by Studio Ongarato, Captivating Contrasts; expressed through installations and art commissions. FOD installations include: The entry atrium, an activated light-scape that pays homage to laneway laundries. Layered with garments, the bright lights of Nanjing Road and the futurist Pudong skyline. The concierge kaleidoscope that reflects Shanghai’s multitude of cultures and influences. Site specific commission by AVAF in the open air courtyards. Studio Ongarato’s mural commission of local artist Coozie in the all day diner.Restaurant features installation of enamelled discs forming a dragon motif.

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