Kate Durham

Interior Architecture

Kate Durham is a Melbourne-based photographer, photoshoot stylist, interior architecture honours student, branding content creator and social media manager.

Her fascination with nostalgic style and design movements is evident not only in her 35mm film photographic work but also in her interior designs. Kate's design philosophy revolves around the idea that no singular design discipline operates in isolation; instead, they should harmonise to create a cohesive experience, atmosphere, or design outcome. Her interior design style is characterised by the use of natural yet high-end finishes and materials, drawing inspiration from an eclectic array of design movements. She particularly enjoys infusing elements from movements such as modernism, mid-century design, post-modernism and elements of 1960’s and 70’s design into a more contemporary 21st century result.

Kate is enthusiastic about merging her interior architecture skills with her passion for branding, fashion, social media marketing, content creation, and photography during her career after university. She hopes to utilise her creativity to transport, unite and bring comfort to people as she strongly believes atmospheres place a significant impact on our lives, mental health and in how we express ourselves.

Kate is currently working as a freelancer, creating content and managing the social media accounts for Yolk Group, a Melbourne-based hospitality group and Underline Co, a property development company. In her spare time, Kate channels her creativity into designing and building furniture, styling and capturing photoshoots for fashion brands, socialising and enjoying the multitude of hospitality venues and music events Melbourne has to offer.

Lofi Café

A hypothetical fifth café venue for a local Melbourne hospitality group. The design is a minimalist space, with nostalgic accents, inspired by a retro American diner.

Counterculture co-working space

A view of one of the communal desk areas in my Capstone project for semester 1 of my honours in Interior Architecture, titled Counterculture. Counterculture is an affordable co-working studio solution for the new wave of post-pandemic workers, i.e. freelancers, “gig-workers”, content creators or entrepreneurs. The design solution was informed by research on the rise in co-working spaces, as well as the changes in work culture and affects the movement of working from home had on our society during and post-pandemic.

Counterculture Events

Counterculture Events was the second part to my Capstone project, completed during semester 2 of my honours year. The event space’s primary objective is to support ventures of not only CWS occupants but also external entrepreneurs, businesses and creatives alike. The project’s development has been influenced by extensive research into the principles of successful branded interiors as well as the rise in social media marketing.

Counterculture Events

A shoot for Something Very Special Co.

An image from a fashion photoshoot I styled and captured for a local Australian clothing brand, Something Very Special Co. As a freelance photographer and branding content creator, I am constantly connecting with local brands or venues and shooting content, videos and photoshoots for them. This is something I intend to keep part of my career as I look forward to and already thoroughly enjoy collaborating with other businesses and creatives and using my creative skills and love of human connection to support brands.

Acknowledgement of Country

The School of Design and Architecture respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners and knowledge-keepers of the lands, waters and sky that surround us, where we work, learn, create, communicate and make place. We recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded and this always was and will always be Wurundjeri Country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who continue to make a better world through design.

We extend our acknowledgement to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, alumni, real-life clients, and knowledge keepers, who have contributed to our own education diversity and growth. We will continue to ensure that staff and students respectfully honour ancestral connection to Country and Place in everything that they do.

We are dedicated to the notion of design to make a better world and we acknowledge that making tools, shaping place, sharing stories, making meaning, wayfinding and collaborating have long been and continue to be both central and integral to First Peoples' cultures. We recognize that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultural contributions have continued relevance to design practice and commit to: reconciling ancestries of design and contemporary practice as well as pursuing culturally and professionally appropriate ways to engage with a diverse population of colleagues, industries and clients. In a time of treaty-making and voice we understand that there are overlaps between caring for Country and the sustainable production of goods, services, experiences, products and buildings.

Guided by the principles of respect, reconciliation, and reciprocity we undertake to indigenising and decolonising design practice by dismantling colonial structures and challenging biases that have marginalised Indigenous voices and design.

As students of SoDA you will be given opportunities to both engage with and educate yourself in Indigenous creative practices and cultural protocols through a lens of inclusivity, diversity, respect, mutual understanding, inter-cultural dialogue in all aspects of design practice. Indigenous people have been telling stories, making tools, and connecting to Country through visual media, placemaking and place marking for more than 60,000 years and these practices are part of an ongoing, evolving and live tradition.