Hecker Guthrie has been awarded the Rigg Design Prize 2018, tonight at the opening of the exhibition at NGV, in Melbourne.

A triennial event, The Rigg is awarded to an Australian design practice displaying outstanding creative achievements in contemporary design and is supported by the Cicely and Colin Rigg Bequest (it involves a $30,000 cash prize!).

Melbourne-based Hecker Guthrie was judged on their philosophy and design expertise in relation to interior architecture, decoration and the use of materials, processes, tools, methods, traditions, and aesthetics.

Paul Hecker and Hamish Guthrie created the room The Table Is The Base for an exhibition of shortlisted Prize entrants. Their space celebrates ‘the table’ as a modest yet powerful object, bringing and binding people together. By playing with the form and scale of the table, this installation asks us to question our relationship to this object, at the same time as its appearance.

‘Using only two elements – the simple form of the Parsons table and terracotta as material – the Hecker Guthrie project demonstrates the power of design restraint and curiosity at play,’ said Shashi Caan, the international judge of the prize. ‘A testament to the potential and capacity of design, this project inherently addresses our societal need for smaller footprints for today’s responsibly designed domestic space.’

Previously a furniture-centric showcase, this year’s Rigg turned its focus to contemporary interior design in a bid to highlight the importance of interior design in shaping and influencing the way we live today. In line with this new scope,  10 interior design firms have created site-specific installations, or rooms, on the theme of ‘domestic living’ – you can take a virtual tour of them all here.

The winners’ installation, along with those of the other nine shortlisted design firms will be on display at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia from October 12th to February 24th, 2019 (entry is free).