Classic Maison Cartier with Melbourne Notes

Cartier Melbourne at 90 Collins Street has been remodelled by French architectural firm Bidard & Raissi, in the Haussmannian style with tall windows and spacious light-filled rooms. While the renovation is classic Maison Cartier with a palette of golden beiges and champagne bronzes and the emblematic Panthère motif, it also reflects the Melbourne locale. Flora from the nearby Royal Botanic Gardens can be seen on gilded stencilled walls, in glass marquetry panels, and on hand-painted silk wallpapers. Tasmanian wood panelling and sand-cast bronze and quartz chandeliers embody the Australian landscape.

Bespoke finishes from Di Emme unify the expansive spaces. For the Melbourne store, Di Emme built on a library of custom finishes created for Cartier’s Oceania boutiques in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Newly reopened Cartier Melbourne at the 'Paris end' of Collins Street

Di Emme has designed an extensive portfolio of custom gilded finishes including the moon gold patina applied to the textured plaster ceiling domes and the signature Cartier gold finishes on walls, columns and fittings.

The backdrop to the women’s watches is three distinct waves of tinted gilding. Di Emme artisans undertook the painstaking process of applying a textured plaster finish covered with gold leaf and a layer of paint which they then rubbed away to reveal the tinted gilding.

Based on an original Cartier design, Di Emme created the polished plaster stucco and gold leaf pattern on the staircase which customers ascend to the first floor for fine jewellery, bridal collections and hospitality.
 
While the renovations took 11 months to complete, the design and approval process for the bespoke finishes spanned 18 months. For the staircase, there was nine months of back and forth between Di Emme and the French design team from initial sampling to finessing the line work and graphics for the stencilled gilded wall. On site, Di Emme artisans created a polished plaster stucco, applied the stencils, added gold leaf, removed the stencils, and provided touch ups. A smaller version of the gilded stencil leaves was created for the internal lift walls.

Di Emme created the custom coffee bean patina for the first floor bar in the Leichhardt studio

Melbourne’s coffee culture is celebrated in a coffee bar on the first floor. Di Emme created the custom coffee bean patina on canvas panels in the Leichhardt Sydney studio and installed on site. Similarly, the cross-hatched gilded joinery in the care services library was prepared in the Di Emme studio.
 
Utilising the studio was integral to meeting the project deadlines as working on site was restricted and meticulous scheduling was required.