Hare and Klein founder Meryl Hare has been recognised in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours list with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her exceptional contributions to interior design.
Hare, who founded interior design firm Hare and Klein in 1989, said she was shocked by the news.
“I was in Darjeeling when I received an email to confirm my acceptance. My first reaction was of disbelief! It took a while to sink in, but when it did – there were tears!”
“I am hugely grateful to the advocacy of the proposer and industry colleagues for making this possible.”
Born in South Africa and raised in Zambia and Swaziland, Hare migrated to Australia 1988 before establishing Hare and Klein the following year. Now based in Sydney, her residential interior design is renown for its elegant, cohesive and meticulous approach. Hare is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia and was inducted to the DIA Hall of Fame in 2011. She has published two books Hare + Klein: Texture Colour Comfort (2014, 2018) and Hare + Klein: Interior (2020) and won a Gold Award for Product Design in Australia’s International Good Design Awards for her design of The Bridge Table.
“I am hoping that receiving this honour will help the profession of interior design gain recognition – particularly in light of recent New South Wales building regulations where interior designers have been excluded. This has had a huge impact on the ability of designers to undertake the work that they have done traditionally.”
“Personally, I am truly humbled to receive this honour from my adopted country.”
Source: Architecture - architectureau
