A Day in the Life with Josh McLean and Michelle
Soufya at In Addition

Gone are the days where a space is designed purely to look pretty on Instagram or for aesthetic effect. In Addition is leading the way in how retail spaces are informing guest experience, focusing on cultivating human connection through emotional, sensory and functional impact.  

Josh McLean, In Addition’s Co-Director, and Michelle Soufya, the studio’s Associate Interior Designer, have both come from larger interior design practices. They craved a more intimate professional relationship with their clients to craft a more intentional and personalised design experience.  

Josh says that working directly with a client from concept to completion “makes the design process so much more personal”. It also allows them to understand the clients’ design brief and business goals on a more intimate level earlier in the project timeline. Michelle adds, “I think knuckling down on those key elements really helps unpack a brief and from our end, [allows us] to create an outcome that’s really personalised and speaks to who they are.”  

This client-centered approach taken to create immersive brand experiences is evident in their work with Unita for Sheet Society Burnside and Doncaster, as well as Lune Pacific Fair, which is set to begin works in the coming weeks.   

Needless to say, Josh and Michelle are busy. We asked what a typical day-in-the-life looks like for them.  

Josh McLean 

On a typical Thursday, my alarm will go off at 5:00am and I’ll snooze it twice before I actually get out of bed. I then jump on a mountain bike and meet a really lovely group from Curve Cycling. We go and ride around the Yarra trails, which I find is just a really great way to start the morning and to be in amongst the trees – you get back from the ride with all the endorphins, and it’s amazing.  

I then come into the office normally a little bit later, because there’s always cafe chats at the end. And then I’ll make a double espresso on the coffee machine here while I catch up with the team for a little bit. This morning, we are jumping in on a phone call with the Lune team and the Unita team. We’re really happy to be working with the Unita team again.  

And then it’s time for lunch. There’s an amazing little French baguette place up the hill, so I normally go there and grab a quick bite to eat. In the afternoon I’ll probably have a couple of meetings. This evening we’ve got an event with Artedomus for a new launch and then I’ll be heading home. 

Michelle Soufya 

The alarm goes off in the morning and it’s a minimum of two snoozes before I actually roll out of bed. At this point my little pup is usually standing over my head waiting for a doggy treat, so we go downstairs. I have two puppies, so they’re ready to go for their morning snacks.  At this point. I head back upstairs and realize I’m probably running a little late. I quickly throw on some clothes and I’m in the car.  

I have a pretty long commute every morning to work, but I usually get through that by picking up a coffee along the way and listening to a podcast to kill that hour-long drive.  

I’m usually always about 10 minutes late to work. I get to the office, sometimes have another coffee just to kick into gear, and then I’m at the computer. At the moment we’re working with Unita to deliver Sheet Society Doncaster. We’re sort of at a pinnacle point in the project, we’re just making sure Unita gets all the information they need first thing in the morning so their trades are ready to go. So, there’s always a bit of communication with our team, with Unita and the team onsite each morning.   

My day usually moves into either some documentation work or some design work, working on various retail projects. Our office is really central in the city, so there’s lots of great places to eat at lunchtime. I’m usually a sushi gal and that works well for me. 

This afternoon I’m catching up with a client for a collaborative design workshop just to massage out some design details and get design approvals for a final project. Then we have a site visit later in the afternoon, and a supplier event at Artedomus later in the evening. 

You can see more of In Addition here.

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