Greenfield practice Tracton Optometrists, an independent practice in the heart of Bondi Junction which opened last year, has been shortlisted in the Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), Australia’s largest independent design awards program.
Launched in 2003, the program celebrates the best of Australian interior and product design across 15 categories. Tracton Optometrists is shortlisted in the retail category and is the only optometry practice to be nominated.
Optometrist Mr Daniel Tracton established the business with his wife and operations manager, Ms Michelle Tracton, during the height of COVID-19.
With the street-facing retail space only 50-square metres, they engaged designer Mr Conrad Perry from Perry Design who was able to visualise a bespoke, high-end but functional interior design.
The practice features an extra high glazed shopfront entry flooded with natural light, has product displayed at the front, and two treatment rooms in the rear.
Tracton said it was Perry’s first time designing an optometry practice, and Perry nominated the practice in the IDEA.
Award winners will be announced at the IDEA Gala Party in November.
“This is great news for us as we are about to celebrate our one-year anniversary after opening during a tumultuous lockdown time,” Tracton said.
They originally planned to open in early July 2021, but Bondi went into lockdown at the end of June, which resulted in a three-month delay in opening.
“We opened three weeks before lockdown ended and could only provide critical care. It was a difficult balancing act,” he said.
They also faced further disruption this year when the street was closed off to build a cycle pathway.
“We had no foot traffic for four months during the street’s reconstruction,” he said.
Since opening, Michelle has been working on and is about to complete a Certificate IV in optical dispensing at the Australasian College of Optical Dispensing (ACOD). The former environmental consultant is currently completing the last module in her training.
Co-incidentally, Tracton’s sister, Melbourne-based ceramic artist Sarah Tracton, is shortlisted in the IDEA furniture and lighting category.
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