Why Arent&Pyke is in the Design 100

Juliette Arent and Sarah-Jane Pyke founded Arent&Pyke in Sydney in 2007, building what they describe as a decorative modernism: interiors with clean, considered architecture as their starting point, then layered with colour, pattern and collected objects until a room reads as lived-in rather than staged. It is a harder balance than it sounds — precise enough to photograph beautifully, warm enough that clients actually settle into the spaces rather than merely admire them.

Nearly two decades on, the studio has grown well past residential Sydney terraces into hospitality — its work on Perth’s Alex Hotel picked up national recognition — and the practice has been named Designer of the Year at Australia’s Interior Design Excellence Awards. That combination of a distinctive, exportable aesthetic and sustained industry recognition is why Arent&Pyke remains one of the clearest reference points for interior design coming out of Australia.