The Mondrian Gold Coast has fast become a Burleigh Heads landmark—a seamless blend of coastal ease and international luxury.
Designed by a collective of leading studios including Alexander & Co. and Studio Carter, the hotel’s success lies not only in its striking aesthetic but in the precision and craftsmanship behind it.
Transforming that design vision into reality fell largely to Furn-Niche’s senior industrial designer, Joshua Abel, whose hands-on approach bridged the gap between creativity and construction.
A maker at heart, Abel’s career has focused on designing and building products that unite form and function.
At Mondrian, that experience proved essential.
He was responsible for engineering the concept designs created by Alexander & Co. for the public areas and F&B venues, ensuring every detail could be manufactured, installed and maintained without losing the artistry of the original design intent.
Working alongside Studio Carter, who led the guestroom interiors, Abel translated their concept for the standard room into a full suite of production-ready solutions.
“Studio Carter had developed a clear design language,” Abel said.
“Our role was to make it work in reality—across every variation, every tolerance and every installation.”
That included designing 18 unique versions of the pop-up TV sofa to suit the hotel’s 18 different room types. Each variation required its own engineering drawings, mechanisms and prototypes to accommodate spatial and functional differences—while still appearing as one cohesive design family.
While Abel’s main focus was realising other designers’ concepts, he also had the opportunity to contribute his own creative designs, including the outdoor armchair—a sculptural yet durable piece developed specifically for the coastal environment.
“The outdoor chair was designed to look light and effortless but withstand salt, sun, and humidity,” he said.
“That’s the challenge I enjoy most—when something looks simple but is technically complex underneath.”
With a background in industrial design and bespoke furniture fabrication, Abel brings a maker’s mindset to every project.
He approaches each product as both a creative and engineering challenge—transforming sketches into repeatable, high-performing pieces suitable for luxury commercial environments.
Working alongside Vitale Group and Furn-Niche’s offshore manufacturing partners, Abel led the full process from design development through to delivery.
His focus on design-led manufacturing ensured that each custom piece—from solid teak beds with integrated side tables to upholstered seating—met exacting standards for structure, safety and longevity.
“Hotel furniture has to perform beautifully and last,” he said.
“We refined every curve, joint and junction to make sure it could be repeated accurately across hundreds of rooms without losing character.”
Furn-Niche’s integrated model allowed Abel to manage the entire design-to-production workflow.
He coordinated multiple factories across Asia, overseeing prototyping, sampling and fabrication to maintain alignment with the Australian design team and site installation schedule.
This approach delivered consistency across complex product ranges—an increasingly valuable model for developers looking to scale design quality without compromising efficiency.
For hotel developers, the Mondrian Gold Coast highlights how close collaboration between design and manufacturing teams can improve quality, control costs, and protect creative integrity.
By embedding manufacturing expertise early in the process, the project achieved both design fidelity and operational efficiency.
Abel said: “Good hotel furniture design isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about engineering intent. The best results happen when creative and technical thinking evolve together.”
The Mondrian Gold Coast stands as a case study in design collaboration, technical precision, and craft-driven problem solving—a benchmark for how creativity and manufacturing expertise can work hand-in-hand to elevate hospitality design.
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