Felice Carlino was specifically employed as Project Leader to deliver, simultaneously, the Marc Newson Ltd designed Qantas Sydney and Melbourne First Class Lounges. Newson’s vision was to reintroduce the style and romance of the early years of aviation and to provide a near-seamless transition from airport arrival to aircraft boarding.

 

The Lounges were not merely the finishing of space and structure, they were a study in detail design and the purity of detail, working closely with Marc Newson’s associated architect Sebastien Segers, to materialize the vision.

 

Marble, hand carved and pre-cut in Carrara Italy, were assembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle in Australia with zero tolerance. Strict design parameters were made all the more challenging by the fact that no components were stand-alone. Each element was integrated and impacted upon the other.

 

With project components coming from Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Sydney, Adelaide, Queensland, Kempsey. The projects required an extraordinary commitment to precision and co-ordination between different trades, contractors and suppliers, to ensure all working to precise tolerances and each part interdependent on the others.