Hemingway
Reframe your reality
Everybody wants the dream. The traditional beach house just metres from the sand, warm Pacific waters a sprint away, views that never get old. But who can afford it anymore? Conventional apartments promise the dream but fall short. Enclosed spaces tightly framing letterbox views. Still good. Still popular. But Hemingway had more.
Melbourne developers Hirsch & Faigen brought us a genuinely unique project at Palm Beach on the Southern Gold Coast. Designed by Rothelowman Architects, the building took inspiration from classic single-level Queensland beach houses with their iconic wrap-around balconies. Clever articulations reduced the building’s perceived bulk and dramatically enhanced aspect, delivering wide-open views
The insight
Everyone wants the dream — a beach house metres from the sand, wide-open views, warm Pacific water a sprint away. But conventional apartments fall short. Enclosed spaces, letterbox views. The brief was to close that gap, and Rothelowman's architecture already had the answer.
The idea
The building took its cues from the classic Queensland beach house: wrap-around balconies and clever articulations that opened aspect and reduced bulk. Beach house views, just in the sky. When council objected to the concrete columns as too Brutalist, the architect proposed salmon pink — and that colour sparked everything. Hemingway. The romance of Havana, the muted pastels, the pink glow of El Floridita.
The creative
We built the brand around reframing reality, a different kind of beachside living, re-interpreted for a new generation of Palm Beach locals. Pinks, yellows and aquas replaced the expected coastal blues. Photography captured the golden-hour romance of the coast. The collateral felt like flipping through a sun-faded photo album. It resonated powerfully with interstate audiences dreaming of escape. Two days before the Grand Launch, 77 of 78 apartments had sold.
The recognition
Hemingway is one of Theola's most consistently recognised bodies of work. At the 2021 Transform Awards ANZ, the project took Silver for Best Visual Identity from the Property Construction and Facilities Management Sector. The AGDA Design Awards recognised the work across four categories — two Merits for brand identity and brand expression, and two Finalist citations for design effectiveness and print. The Best Design Awards NZ also selected the brand identity as a Finalist.
