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KORI ICE CREAM
The experience of a neighborhood after dark.
Kōri Windsor is the third iteration of a brand that has become a Melbourne staple, and the most ambitious yet. Where Hawthorn celebrated Japanese craft and the CBD embraced industrial grit, Windsor called for something different entirely. We designed this one for Chapel Street after midnight: part ice cream shop, part Japanese listening bar, and entirely its own thing.
The Brief.
The brief was clear, create a space that earns its place in the neighborhood. The answer was a fit-out built not just to look extraordinary, but to last. One that could move with the brand, not against it.
Kōri's founders came to us with a site on one of Melbourne's most characterful streets and a brand we had helped build from the ground up. Two stores in, we knew this one had to be different. The challenge wasn't creating something new; it was creating something that felt inevitable for Windsor: a space tuned to the energy of Chapel Street, where late nights, good music, and great food are the standard.
When the Hawthorn store closed, it sharpened everything. Watching a fit-out we cared about head to landfill wasn't something we were willing to repeat. So from the outset, we made a commitment that shaped every decision: nothing in this store would end up in a skip at the end of a lease. We designed the entire space as a kit of parts, modular, relocatable, and built to hold its value long after the lease runs out. For any hospitality or retail client, that's not just a sustainability position. It's a financial one.
Project Highlights.
Designed to Move
Most retail fit-outs are written off the moment a lease ends. We designed Kōri Windsor to be the exception. Every major element, the fridges, the ceiling, the wall panels, the joinery, was engineered for relocation. Disconnect the power and plumbing from the counter units, lift them out, reconnect elsewhere. The fit-out doesn't depreciate with the tenancy; it moves with the business.
The signature stainless steel fridges are clad independently on all four sides, meaning each unit can be extracted and reinstalled without damage. The acoustic ceiling panels are mounted on a purpose-built framing system developed with our builders Masterfit Construction, specifically to allow removal and reuse. The cork wall panels are kept to standard sizes, no cutting waste, and no demolition required when it's time to move on.
For our clients, this approach means the capital invested in the fit-out retains its value. That's not typical in retail design, and it's something we're proud to have delivered here.
Designer Testimonial
"Retail design demands a shift in accountability. We have to be better at creating solutions that are removable or easy to relocate. A store can look beautiful, but if it ends up in a skip because a lease runs out, that's partly on us as designers and architects. By designing for mobility, we give our clients more than just a look — we give them an asset."
— Janine Kariyawasam, Head of Design, Air Design Studio
The Shell as the Statement
We built with what was already there. The existing brick was treated with a light limewash, barely touched, just enough. The builders' marks on the walls were left visible. The approach was deliberate: use less, reveal more, and let the building's history become part of the story.
For the DJ booth, we sourced discontinued timber veneers from The Elton Group, material that was otherwise destined for disposal, and paired it with second-hand furniture reupholstered in premium Instyle fabrics. The result is a space that feels considered rather than constructed, and that carries a genuinely lower environmental footprint without making a performance of it.
A Listening Bar Built to Sound Like One
Windsor runs on music. So rather than treating audio as an afterthought, we treated the space like a proper listening bar, which meant getting the acoustics right before a single panel went up.
We collaborated with Pitt & Giblin, who measured the room and tuned it for audio performance prior to construction. The result is a ceiling lined with high-performance acoustic panels, a space calibrated for sound rather than retrofitted to it, and a DJ booth that functions as both a design centerpiece and a working room.
For a hospitality and retail venue where atmosphere is everything, the difference between good sound and great sound is felt by every guest; whether they consciously notice it or not.
