The eclectic 6 Manton St creative hub is more than just studio-space for Koush Design’s Julie Pieda.
Co-owner of two of the Hindmarsh hub’s residents – the café Pony and Cole and the interior and furniture studio Koush Design – Julie designed and fitted out Pony and Cole’s welcoming ‘60s-inspired homely look, complete with custom chairs, tables and handprinted art.
“I wanted it to feel like this café had always been there; that it was always part of the neighbourhood,” Julie says of the café she owns with Nicolle Hahn, which opened in 2017.
Koush is one of several creative studios that calls 6 Manton St home, including Union St Printmakers and the letterprint studio Stone and Quoin, while the space is also used as a gallery.
The studios are in an old warehouse out the back while one of Adelaide’s premier brunch destinations, Pony and Cole, takes pride of place on the street front.
Pony and Cole is a calling card, if you will, for Koush and the friendly vibe (which includes the adorable studio puppy, Fozzy) that 6 Manton St projects to its neighbours and visitors, and it has come a long way from the old warehouse that Julie and Nicolle witnessed when they first saw the space.
“It had bright yellow signs out the front, it had been a HaggleCo at one point,” Nicolle says. “There was a rug showroom and a warehouse out the back, it was still zoned as a warehouse, and it was treated as a storage space.”Now it is a buzzing creative hub that showcases Koush’s design ethos with its mid-century look and feel.
“Part of it was a crusty old warehouse and we embraced that; we needed it to feel like it was lived in, a little bit handmade where nothing was too perfect. This contributes to the welcoming feel because it has history, this place has lived a life.” Even though she has a fondness for mid-century design, Julie says Koush doesn’t have a house-style: “We’re very much about whatever the job calls for, and there’s not too many things where I’d go: ‘I absolutely would not look at that’.”Starting Koush in 1999, Julie’s award-wining studio has built a name for its bespoke objects and unique interiors in the commercial and residential spaces.
This includes Tea Tree Gully Library’s Children’s Reading Area’s colourful furniture, various hubs and spaces at Flinders University, a refurbishment of Police Credit Union’s Adelaide branch as well as custom furniture and objects that showcase Julie’s bold and quirky style.
“I really like that mix of commercial and residential,” Julie says. “Commercial is fast-paced where you’ve got to get that value proposition across all the time, whereas with residential, clients see value because they go: ‘I’m going to have this for 20 years, I want it to be beautiful and I’m going to love it every day’.
“We’re really collaborative when we work with architects and builders, but our clients are at the top of that totem pole as make sure they get what they want.”
