Imagine a pair of sliding doors, at their centre sit two delicately crafted door handles each shaped in the form of a branch. As you set your hands upon the branches to pull the doors apart – much like parting the branches of a tree – their textural bronze forms warm beneath your touch.

Designed by English designer-manufacturing studio, Philip Watts, the door handles are an exact recreation of a pair of branches found in a forest not far from Watts’ Nottingham workshop. Cast from bronze using the branches as the pattern to form the mould, the handles now grace the home of an imaginative, design-led client in Queensland; and they are just one of the many stories Colin Wright, founder of Spiggy, shares as he recounts some of the more bespoke projects he’s delivered on.

Spiggy, a maverick of the designer hardware market, found its feet in Brisbane as Colin, with an eye for design driven products, looked to enrich people’s environments with door furniture, handles, lighting and power that are almost jewel-like in their quality. In all of Spiggy’s pieces there dwells an attention to detail and creativity expressed through artisanship and age-old manufacturing techniques.

“Our products are quite unique, they’re design driven, authentic, original and they don’t follow trends, they create their own trends,” comments Colin.

Since its inception, Spiggy has found strong foot-hold among a growing clientele of Australian architects and designers looking to elevate their projects beyond the standard hardware offering that tends to dominate the market. And Colin is happy for that, as a major part of his strategy for Spiggy has been to forge out a reputation at the other end of the market, curating a collection of unique products that inspire those seeking something different.

Nothing could speak the spirit of Spiggy’s brand louder than its new Sydney showroom, which embodies the elegance, artisanship and flair of its products. It is a veritable jewellery box of discovery, a portal into the world of designer hardware where you’re invited to explore, touch, weigh a piece in your hand, lay it out alongside complementary counterparts, and start to plan out the adornment of your home spaces.

Spiggy engaged architects Joel Alcorn and Chloe Middleton of Alcorn Middleton to design their Sydney showroom.

Located within Artedomus‘ Sydney showroom the Spiggy space – originally used as a storage room – faced significant spatial constraints. However the architecture team saw this as an opportunity to create an intimate and immersive setting. “A fundamental part of Spiggy’s identity is the way architectural hardware is perceived – not simply as functional objects but as beautifully crafted, bespoke adornments, much like jewellery,” say Joel and Chloe. Responding to this, the duo transformed the compact and elongated space into a welcoming destination and consultation zone that supports easy circulation and interaction between people and products.

A carefully crafted, expressed window treatment is an exquisite addition to the otherwise minimal and subdued space. Joel and Chloe describe the intervention as transformative, bringing essential natural light into the showroom so customers can clearly evaluate colours and materials.

Stretching down the centre of the showroom is a console which doubles as workspace for the Spiggy team. In addition to this, it serves as a functional workbench, “allowing hardware to be compared side-by-side or against other finish samples”, say Joel and Chloe. “It also acts as a spatial device encouraging fluid circulation”, not to mention valuable concealed storage, given the limited footprint of the space.

“The island,” says Colin, “is a great space where we can lay out the products – latches, hinges, locks – and create a collection – similar to the way you might select a wedding suit: you choose the suit, then the shirt, the tie, belt and then the shoes to bring it all together. And we have all the drawers behind us with the colours and finishes, cleverly concealed away. So it’s a bit of a different experience to your generic hardware store and it works really well.”

In addressing principles of surprise, drama, theatre and intrigue; functional aesthetic; and adaptability and flow, Joel and Chloe have transformed what was originally a backroom with ceiling tiles, into an immersive retail experience. “Every design decision was made to facilitate interaction”: allowing visitors to engage with the products by picking them up, handling them, experiencing their weight and texture, and craftsmanship too. Importantly the displays are easily interchangeable and adaptable too, so customers can take a sample home, and Spiggy can continuously evolve its collection, without the bother of embarking on a re-fit.

Joel and Chloe also highlight the integration of Artedomus Arute Hashi Border tiles around the plinths of the console, and Maximum Royal Platinum porcelain panels which clad the benchtops – a rich, textural homage to the partnership between Artedomus and Spiggy (which sits within the Artedomus group).

“I really wanted the customer experience to be about surprise and excitement, a process of discovering the products, rather than viewing static, sterile presentations,” says Colin. “Our products are exclusive – there is literally nothing like them on the market.” And, like the branches that became door handles, each piece tells a story of its own.