Sitting high above Melbourne’s CBD, inside the city’s only Harry Seidler-designed tower, architecture & Interior Design studio Studio Kennon opened its doors to celebrate the second iteration of Being Sensitive — an immersive exhibition for Melbourne Design Week that explores the emotional relationship between design, memory and space.
Held within Studio Kennon’s expansive new headquarters at Shell House, the event ran in partnership with RUSSH Magazine. It was an evening that brought together artists, musicians, designers and creative minds for a sensory experience that blurred the lines between exhibition, salon and social gathering. Guest snacked on light nibbles, drank cocktails courtesy of Four Pillars and sipped wine from Seppeltsfield Wines.
Kennon Studio's core philosophy is that the human experience is fundamentally shaped by sensitivity to architecture, objects, sound, light and one another. And this was the guiding light behind the exhibition and celebration.
For Studio Kennon founder Pete Kennon, Being Sensitive is deeply personal. The exhibition takes its name from a thesis he wrote years ago exploring how identity and memory are informed by physical environments and sensory touchpoints, particularly the homes we grow up in.
“The whole concept is about how memory and identity is framed through your experience of space,” he explained during a tour of the studio. “It always forms back to the idea of your home, primarily your childhood home, because you have this primal landscape of where you’re feeling and learning things for the first time.”
Fragments of that thesis appeared throughout the space, including a delicate banner installation suspended above the building’s heritage-listed staircase, printed with imagery from Kennon’s childhood home, references to his father’s library as well as the thesis that Kennon holds so dear.
The exhibition itself featured works from 12 Australian artists – Amy Vidler, Em Frank, Claudia Bloxsome, Julienne Lewis, Lilach Mileikowski, Maya Collection, Sabu Studio, Sarah Tracton, Studio Backcountry x Dasha Tolotchkov, Studio Kyss and Dalton Stewart – many of whom created bespoke pieces in direct response to the studio and the Being Sensitive brief. Sculptural ceramics, tactile vessels and large-scale installations transformed the office into something closer to a lived-in gallery than a corporate workspace.
Among the standout works were architectural sculptures by Studio Kyss, inspired by the geometry and elevations of Shell House itself, alongside glazed ceramic pieces by Melbourne-based artist Lilach Mileikowski that Kennon described as “eroding from the solid earth.” Nearby, delicate vessels by Julienne Lewis echoed the exhibition’s themes of fragility and permanence.
What makes Being Sensitive particularly compelling is its refusal to separate creativity from functionality. While Studio Kennon operates within the high-pressure world of architecture and interiors, the studio has intentionally cultivated an environment that prioritises comfort, openness and collaboration.
“We work in a frame where it’s 50 per cent quite corporate,” Kennon said. “There are massive financial implications to our projects, but I like to pull out the stress and pressure of those moments by feeling comfortable in where we’re doing it.”
That ethos extends beyond the interiors themselves. Opening onto a sweeping rooftop terrace overlooking Melbourne, the studio has quietly become a gathering place for musicians, artists and collaborators. Inspired in part by the intimate rooftop performances of Fred Again, Kennon hinted at future low-key live sessions and creative takeovers.
As the sun set over the city skyline and guests filtered through the studio’s library, terrace and exhibition rooms, Being Sensitive felt less like a traditional launch event and more like an invitation into Studio Kennon’s world — one built on vulnerability, community and the belief that spaces should make people feel something.
