Adytum Library & Exhibition Space in Canberra by Pattern Studio.

Pattern Studio describe their library and gallery for Australian wellness brand Adytum, as a semi-permanent space that “honours the intellectual nourishment and repose one derives from the written word”. Situated on Canberra’s Lonsdale Street, it stocks a collection of design, art, craft, urbanism, landscape, and architecture titles that can be browsed in-store or borrowed with a membership.

The Adytum Library is also home to the works of Sydney photographer Traianos Pakioufakis and ceramicist Alana Wilson, whose collections align with the philosophical beliefs that underpin the Adytum brand which encourages and cultivates practices of meaningful ritual.

Pattern Studio is currently designing a boutique wellness centre and urban sanctum for the socially and environmentally responsible Adytum brand that is set to open in 2021. Ahead of the opening, this retail pop-up showcase has been designed with a minimal environmental footprint. The Sydney-based designer duo have used reclaimed MDF, natural plaster, and stone offcuts from local stonemasons to construct a dreamy, textural interior.

Pattern describe the space as serene and subdued, conceived to “pay homage to the reverence of great libraries.” A large central island bench with beautifully softened edges is sprinkled with publications, artefacts, and small portable table lamps by Danish design company Hay. Display elements made from imperfect stone and construction site waste stand beautifully within the neutral scheme.

Alana Wilson’s ceramic works include a range of vessels that are hand-coiled and beaten in terracotta clay. The organic and highly tactile nature of these works forces those who interact with them to detach, even momentarily, from their digital lives, encouraging us to find beauty in imperfection. Further, Traianos Pakioufakis’s large-scale, leafy Xerox-style prints sit draped cover custom frames. The works invite viewers to reflect on the quiet beauty found in the ancient and the hand-crafted. “This photographic exhibition, not unlike the library itself, offers a peaceful disconnection from the often frenetic outside world”, Pattern studio asserts.

The 98 square-metre space offers a sensory experience via a custom herbal tea blend and Adytum’s own incense that fill the room with a soothing subtle fragrance. The design feels refined and thoughtfully minimal, standing as a teaser of what is to come in Adytum’s future salon.

[Images courtesy of Pattern Studio. Photography by Traianos Pakioufakis.]