Otomys | A Lantern of Light.

Coming full circle, Otomys has demonstrated an agility within the changeable social, economic and cultural landscape of the past couple of years, steering the gallery seamlessly between the physical and digital. Early this year, when John Wardle Architects completed the residential offering at 424 Malvern Road, Prahran, co-directors Megan Dicks and Hannah Abbott seized the opportunity to transform the ground floor — at the time a mere shell ready to be defined by use — into a space that would not only exhibit works from a ever-growing stable of artists, but also foster a place of connectivity. 

As I arrive at Otomys on a sun-drenched winters day, a gentlemen walking by comments on the beauty of the gallery, next door patrons fill the seats outside Hobba enjoying a lunch as the trams rattle by. The scene is quintessentially Melbourne, filled with the industriousness of a community back in the rhythm of urban living after a moments pause. The gallery, which has leaned into its digital presence through the pandemic years, has emerged here as a seamless integration into the streetscape, shoring up the accord between interior design and art that the gallery effortlessly mediates.

Otomys via interior via @georgina_jeffries

“The digital space served us really well through covid, then it got to mid/end of last year and we began looking for spaces,” explains Hannah of a return to bricks and mortar that had been placed on hold throughout the pandemic. Taking a divide and conquer approach to the search for a new home, 424 Malvern Road was the first space Megan and Hannah viewed together and both agreed that it was perfect. “There were no floors, nothing recalls Hannah, “which meant we could have a hand in the way it would come together.”

Within a space John Wardle Architects describe as a “lantern of light,” interior designer Georgina Jeffries has also worked her magic, finding an equilibrium between the retained industrial accents of the architecture (which references the history of the automobile industry on the site), and a tangible essence of home. A linen curtain drops full height to define a stockroom space behind while instilling a domesticity contextually aligned to the artworks viewed in front and around it; a vignette with USM sideboard, floss light and interchangeable artwork reinforces the in-situ context; a chest height rectangular volume clad in chalky tiles in a nude hue hides services while also providing a perfect fixed plinth for sculptures or a surface for unfurling unframed works. Every element becomes unified by the diffused shadowplay of light which lays like a gossamer across every surface, binding them to each other and creating an atmosphere of cohesive quietude which juxtaposes the dynamism of the street outside.

Ultimately, Otomys has emerged as a place of togetherness. A place where the artistic community can come and convene, where the neighbourhood can wander and wonder, where consultations and conversations are nurtured and where the art world can step into rhythm with the vernacular.

Architecture | John Wardle Architects

Interior Design | Georgina Jeffries