Set along Australia’s iconic Gold Coast beachfront, a pair of sculptural residences has quietly reset the benchmark for design-led living – Rocabella a statement collaboration between award-winning developer GRAYA and Australian architectural fixtures brand ABI Interiors…
Rocabella, showcasing a preview of the Antique Collection by ABI Interiors, delivers the kind of considered material storytelling that the best boutique hotels have been chasing for years. Spanning five levels each, the two villas were conceived with a singular ambition: to evoke the feeling of a resort without ever leaving home. It is an idea that resonates well beyond residential design. For hoteliers and specifiers working in the UK hospitality sector, Rocabella offers a compelling case study on how hardware and finish selection can elevate an interior from polished to genuinely memorable.
Image credit: ABI Interiors
The Antique Collection: Aged Character, Engineered to Last
Central to Rocabella’s material palette is ABI Interiors’ Antique Collection: taps (specifically antique brass taps), showers, sinks, and accessories finished in tones that feel quietly aged yet are engineered for the demands of high-traffic environments. The four latest finishes include Antique Aurum, Antique Steel, Antique Bronze, and Antique Slate.
Each piece is crafted from 304 and 316 stainless steel and refined through ABI’s proprietary three-step tumbling process, combining ceramic and vibrational technology to produce an organic, textured surface that carries the warmth of vintage metalwork without the maintenance liability. Antique Aurum, Antique Bronze, and Antique Slate are sealed with PVD coating for lasting protection against tarnishing, corrosion, and wear. Antique Steel is left raw and uncoated, maintaining its industrial, textured appearance over time.
Image credit: ABI Interiors
“When I was first investigating what colours to use in this house, I was in the ABI showroom, and I saw a brand new colour: Antique Bronze. I personally like pared-back tones. I don’t like anything too shiny, too glossy, so the aged finish really suited the style of the home,” commented GRAYA Founder, Rob Gray.
The appeal goes beyond aesthetics. In high-end residential and hospitality settings alike, finishes that dull within a few years are a persistent frustration.
“We want our homes to not just look good in the first year, and then three or four years later be dull or deteriorate,” Rob continued. “If you get the right finishes and products from day one, it’s never going to change the look.”
The UK boutique hotel market continues to mature, and guests increasingly respond to interiors that feel authored rather than assembled. Rocabella demonstrates that hardware need not sit in the background. The Antique Bronze tapware anchors a broader palette of Silver Travertine and textured render, creating a layered material narrative, the kind of tactile detailing guests notice and remember.
For designers specifying on UK hospitality projects, the collection addresses a practical gap. Achieving an authentic aged-metal aesthetic has traditionally meant either accepting high-maintenance unlacquered brass or settling for printed finishes that lack depth. ABI’s approach, artisanal texture paired with PVD durability, sits between those poles, backed by a 25-year warranty.
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- Image credit: ABI Interiors
Coming to the UK
ABI Interiors has been steadily deepening its UK presence, from its original showroom at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, to a new flagship space in Clerkenwell. Spanning two levels at 250 Goswell Road, the Clerkenwell Showroom has been conceived as an immersive environment blending residential and hospitality design.
Later this year, visitors will be able to experience the Antique Collection in person as it arrives in the UK market. Developed for both hospitality and high-end residential applications, the range represents the next chapter in ABI’s expansion, bringing the same balance of aged character and long-term durability seen throughout projects such as Rocabella.
Rocabella stands as evidence that finish and fixture design, when treated as an integral part of the architectural vision, can shape the character of a space as powerfully as the floor plan or facade itself. Once the collection arrives on UK shores, it will offer designers and hoteliers a new way to create interiors that feel layered, memorable, and built to endure.
ABI Interiors is one of our Recommended Suppliers and regularly features in our Supplier News section of the website. If you are interested in becoming one of our Recommended Suppliers, please email Katy Phillips.
Main image credit: ABI Interiors
