in Small Business
Issue No. 1 - July/August 2001
Harben Design
Interior designer, Mary Harben set up her own practice seven years ago, after graduating a Bachelor of design from the University of SA and working for a year in an architectural firm. Today, Harben Design is the interior design consultant to Westfield in South Australia, responsible for overseeing all retail fitouts in the State’s three Westfield Shoppingtowns.
Mary has a reputation for intellectual rigor and meticulous organisation. She was the first interior designer to win the University of SA medal, awarded for outstanding academic achievement in the Faculty of Arts and Architecture. She has won a Design Institute of Australia award for retail fitout — Savvy Kids — a Building Construction Award and two Westfield awards, for jewellery stores at West Lakes and Tea Tree Plaza.
Westfield’s clear requirement is for a guiding creative influence to make sure retail premises in shopping centres meet basic design standards. All fitouts must be designed by a qualified designer or architect.
The work amounts to a full—time job and Harben Design has two staff members on it. They are not building monuments: “With retail designs you understand they will not be there forever,” Mary said. Retail turnover is rapid; Savvy Kids has closed.
Mary prefers to work on commercial designs, because business people accept creative ideas more willingly than homeowners concerned about their personal space. A common misconception is that interior design...
