David Caon – Profile

The Sydney-based designer is always pushing frontiers, whether it’s high in the sky with Qantas or down on earth in our most beloved eateries.

Everybody has an opinion about David Caon. Or, rather, everybody has interacted with his designs in the quite literally highly pressurised environment of a Qantas aircraft. The Sydney- based industrial designer has the somewhat unenviable task of designing basically everything – from first-class cabins through to cutlery – of the de facto national carrier. And though this comes with significant benefits, Caon nevertheless shoulders significant responsibility in shaping the tactile experience of travellers.

The Sydney- based industrial designer has the somewhat unenviable task of designing basically everything – from first-class cabins through to cutlery – of the de facto national carrier.

“What I do in aviation is part of but not the whole experience, but for better or for worse, the service element is probably the thing that most influences people’s enjoyment of a travel experience combined with many of the factors that are put into place before I’m even involved,” explains Caon, using the distance between seats as an example. “I acknowledge that essentially people think I’m responsible for either all of it or none of it, and so while it’s important to think about that during the project, it’s not something I think about after. I instead focus on what the best way to do something is so that it meets a criterion that we set for ourselves.”

With function as the driver, Caon can then turn his attention to ensuring it looks considered and refined, something he spends a lot of time pursuing with suppliers, fabricators and manufacturers.

At the core of that benchmark? It has to work really well. With function as the driver, Caon can then turn his attention to ensuring it looks considered and refined, something he spends a lot of time pursuing with suppliers, fabricators and manufacturers. “It doesn’t matter if you’re building a house or making a chair, anybody that you work with has their own way of wanting to make it, and that drives a certain result of ‘This is how we do this, and this is how we do that’,” he explains. “A big part of our job is to challenge that, not to the point that I’m telling a welder how to weld something, but often I’ll ask what the outcome of a certain process is going to be and question how we can improve parts. Those proactive conversations can help us to learn and to push the best possible result without compromising how things are done.”

One of Caon’s most recent projects, Modulo – a partnership with Australian not- for-profit R&D and marketing organisation Woolmark – is speculative, allowing him time to interrogate the way something is made.

One of Caon’s most recent projects, Modulo – a partnership with Australian not- for-profit R&D and marketing organisation Woolmark – is speculative, allowing him time to interrogate the way something is made. It aims to transform aircraft seating, harvesting the potential of merino wool in a brand-agnostic exploration of materiality. By employing a 3D-knitted, wool-blend membrane, airlines have the potential to address weight reduction, body temperature regulation and cabin refreshes. “I’ve never liked 100 per cent privacy on a plane, I like things to be semi-opaque – that Japanese approach where there’s a bit of translucency to it – so while 3D knitting is nothing new, I wanted to see why it’s just a seat cover that’s changed when it could be so many more elements,” he says. “I think it brings a lot more depth to the design, and I’m always trying to find a texture in design for aviation.”

Of a more imminent timeline is Caon’s design of several new venues for Neil Perry, as the restaurateur continues his culinary takeover over Sydney’s Double Bay. Adding to his portfolio of Margaret, Next Door and Baker Bleu, Perry’s forthcoming establishment, Asian-inspired restaurant Songbird, will open later this year as part of the extensive Lawton Hurley renovation of the area’s iconic Neville Gruzman-designed building. In its basement, on the site of the former Pelicano nightclub, will be Bobbie’s, a modern take on the speakeasy bar that he’s conjured up with Linden Pride and Nathalie Hudson of buzzy Greenwich Village bar Dante.

With function as the driver, Caon can then turn his attention to ensuring it looks considered and refined, something he spends a lot of time pursuing with suppliers, fabricators and manufacturers.

Caon is intensely involved with just about every aspect of the two new sites, where he’s again collaborated with Sydney interior architectural firm ACME. “My relationship with Neil is a long one now, and as a client, he’s very, very trusting of our decisions,” he says. “He’s not the type of client that wants to sit there and make creative decisions about architecture or its aesthetics; he’s very focused on functionality – Neil designs his own kitchens, and he’s maniacal about that – but that’s why things work so well. When it comes to materials, to branding, we all understand each other.”

Much like the food that’ll be on offer, Songbird won’t bear much resemblance to Margaret. “The design is based on Neil’s ideas around food, so while it’s different to Margaret aesthetically, it shares that common theme,” says Caon, offering a link back to his highly visible work for Qantas. “Every project that we do with them is an evolution of their brand aesthetic without it being a total departure. You have to be holistic with it and not try and completely change how it feels, because you can only affect small parts at a time. It’s important to evolve slowly, thoughtfully, but you do have to continue to evolve.”