Case Studies
Exhibitions
Installations
Stage Sets/Costumes

Australia 99 Stamp Expo
Rutherglen Wine Centre
Blessed Be The Work
Brambuk Cultural Centre
Toolangi Forest Centre
Post Master Gallery Fitout

Title: Australia 99 – World Stamp Expo
Location: Melbourne Exhibition Centre
Exhibition Design: Rosemary Simons
Client: Australia Post

Design Brief: To design the bulk of a 13,500 square metre exhibition with a maritime theme for Australia Post and it’s International audience.
Circulation and visual impact to be of primary importance. Speed of installation imperative.

Design Notes: Avoiding the traditional floor grid, the stands were laid out like a fleet of ‘ships’, radiating out from either side of the centrally placed Australia Post ‘liner’.

Colour coded ‘ship’ stands assisted visitor orientation and fabricated buoys, wharves and a lighthouse, extended the maritime theme to other parts of the hall.

Responding to the extremely short installation time, the designer borrowed from traditional theatre techniques and materials in order to create many of the effects and to facilitate a three day build. These included a purpose-built ceiling grid which suspended sails and rigging and the towering walls of the Australia Post stand. This had the effect of transforming the upper volume of the hall into a dramatic adjunct to the exhibition.

Standard trade-show wall-panels and furniture were economically transformed utilising cladding, sails and prow and stern units.
(‘Australia 99’, finalists, 1999 Design Institute of Australia Major Award – Interior Design).

Client Comments: Postal administrations, dealers and collectors from around the world commented on the innovative design and layout. One of the aspects of particular note was the ‘open’ feel you achieved with the layout and use of building materials and lighting.... your design provided for freedom of movement and gave the impression of space, light and air.” (David Maiden, Manager, Philatelic Group, Australia Post.1999).

Acknowledgments:
Project Managers: Jo Wragg and Martin Mowlam
Fabricator: Delta Design and Display
Scenic Artists: Scenic Studios
Photographer: Dieu Tan