2023 Corian Award for Robina Amenities
i2C is proud to announce that the 2023 Robina Town Centre Amenities as the overall winner in the Commercial Category in the CASF Australia 2023 Corian Design Awards. The Corian award for Robina celebrates the design.
About the awards
The Corian® Design Awards recognises local designers for their creative use of Corian® within their field of expertise. Launched by CASF Australia in 2006, the awards celebrate the best in residential and commercial design from across the country.
What the judges said
“Impressive! Robina is making waves and we’re hooked with the delightful blend of colour and form in this design. It brilliantly highlights the versatility of Corian®, demonstrating that it can be both visually striking and highly functional.”
“The considered reaction to the brief is very clear with the completed project highlighting the many benefits of Corian® within a public space, including colour, thermoforming, washplanes and hygienic aspects. This space is a colourful, fun well detailed space with fit for purpose materials in play”
“A playful design that applies Corian® over multiple applications to reach form, function, and accessibility for all users.”
About the project
The i2C Interiors Team was engaged by QIC to re-imagine the amenities with a particular focus on the parent’s room at Robina Town Centre. Understanding the importance of amenities as a key customer touch point, QIC’s brief to i2C was to create a design that was better representative of the Robina Brand and more focused on their customers. The focus of the design was to ensure functionality first and foremost, but also to make the entire space engaging for children. Ample opportunities for interaction and play were incorporated while maintaining safety guidelines.
With biophilic design at its core, the amenities look to the centre’s coastal Queensland setting for inspiration, in particular the Pandanus palm and sandy beaches. Unique reflections from the local coastal surroundings can be seen throughout the amenities and parent’s room as well as in feature elements that draw inspiration from the forms and materiality of sandcastles.
The vision for the design was to create a space that presents moments of playful luxury and delight, allowing customers to find calm and reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the shopping centre. Custom mobiles over the change benches were designed to mimic colourful coral. Full-height terrariums within the female and male amenities were incorporated to accentuate a feeling of timeless beauty, luxury and a connection to nature. Lighting was cleverly utilised in the design of these terrariums to create the illusion of sunlight streaming onto the large floor-to-ceiling plants, casting delightful shadows throughout the amenities.
With particular focus on the parent’s room the design aimed to curate a place for all its users, parents and children alike. A place where children could safely delight in the wonder of play whilst also providing a comfortable and functional space for parents to rest and recuperate. The kids play space is imagination brought to life, play elements and arch entries leap from the idea of sandcastles and padded seaweed to create structures for kids to weave between. Every wall junction within the space was met with a curve and walls lined with vinyl flooring meaning parents can allow children to explore freely in the comfort that there are no hard surfaces or harsh edges. The curated softened parent’s room emulates sandy beaches and the wonder of being inside a sandcastle.
Inclusive design plays an important role in all i2C Interiors Team’s designs, from the planning stages through to the construction process. The amenities at Robina Town Centre cater for all its users. The accessible and changing places amenities are, sadly, often forgotten in designs. Here they had as much focus as the rest of the amenities. By maintaining the same language throughout, with consistent colouring and design features these spaces are celebrated. During the design process, we worked with the Australian Standards to integrate accessibility within our design. Not forgetting our littlest users either, seamlessly moulded Corian® washplanes sweep downwards to create beautifully crafted children’s height washbasins. The organic nature of these forms emulates the undulating sand dunes of the local landscape.
i2C pride themselves in collaborative design and the Robina Town Centre amenities project was a great example of this. Working closely with both QIC and Asiv Construction Group was integral to the success of this project. The team couldn’t be happier to see our conceptual designs come to life so beautifully and be recognised with the Corian Award for Robina amenities.
Many moments of our design could not have been achieved if it were not for Corian®. The flexibility and malleability of Corian® meant that the organic forms in our designs came to life beautifully without compromising on durability and functionality. ‘Verdant’ and ‘Rice Paper’ in the Corian® range aligned perfectly with our vision for the amenities. Reflecting the design’s inspiration of the local landscape, ‘Rice Paper’ was selected to emulate the white beige sandy beaches and ‘Verdant’ that of the Pandanus palm which, through the usage of feature lighting, conjures the feeling of wind dancing through its leaves.
The malleability of Corian® means that our custom designs are easily and exquisitely realised. Corian® was used throughout the amenities at Robina Town Centre in a variety of functions and designs, namely for the baby change tables and alcove shelves above, custom wash planes, custom parent-child basin, accessible basins, beauty bars, wall end capping and cubicle shelf capping. Our design incorporates low-height washbasins which with the use of Corian® were able to be achieved (seemingly) effortlessly. The continuously moulded Corian® bench sweeps smoothly downwards allowing for the washplane to suit all its users being both hygienic and fit for purpose whilst maintaining the overall design integrity.”
Sustainability is a core focus of the i2C Interiors Team and Corian® has zero silica. i2C love that for their client’s sustainability goals (and the planet!) It also means that when minor adjustments need to be made, they can easily and quickly be done so on site. Installation is made easy using large, prefabricated Corian® pieces requiring minimal joining meaning that the continuously moulded surfaces can be achieved in no time at all. The well curated variety of Corian® colours available means that designs can be achieved in a manner that is easy to construct, fit for purpose and suited to the design intent with the confidence of durability, longevity, and sustainability.
Inclusivity is a core design principle of the i2C Interiors Team and was at the forefront of our minds when designing this project. The creation of a seamless design catering for all its users, no matter their ability, needs or heights is unique and something we are very proud of.
The Corian Award for Robina celebrates the dramatic usage of colour celebrates the amenities and its users. Painted bold ceilings paired with Corian® ‘Verdant’ for the washplanes and surfaces throughout curate a sense of beauty and wonder.
i2C Team: Emma Schagen, Magdalena Uscinowicz, Jessica Basile
Client: QIC
Builder: Asiv Construction Group
Photography: Rix Ryan