Driving with BIASOL

DESIGN DUO JEAN-PIERRE AND HEIDI BIASOL TOUR THE TASMANIAN CAPITAL IN A CHIC NEW LEXUS THAT LIKE THE CITY MELDS GREEN CREDENTIALS WITH DESIGN INGENUITY AND DASHING GOOD LOOKS.

- Elise Elliott

Hobart has experienced not so much an evolution as a revolution. The vibrant and edgy-yet-organic city has grown into an art, design and culinary hub. Designer Jean-Pierre Biasol, founder and director of awardwinning multidisciplinary design studio Biasol, is here to check the city's creative pulse and pay a visit to one of his recent projects, Sandy Bay café Sisterhood. JeanPierre's parents are Italian and he studied in Europe. Does European design inspire and inform his work? "Absolutely! I love capturing the quality and craft of Europe, but I use the filter of tone and colours that are unique to Australia to suit our audience and conditions."

The car for our two-day tour of Hobart's design hotspots: the new Lexus NX 450h+ plug-in hybrid. The electric motor paired with a petrol engine gives drivers the best of both worlds. Around town you can drive on electric power only, but for longer distances or sudden bursts of acceleration the car seamlessly adds in the petrol engine. According to Lexus, when the battery's running low, the car switches to its hybrid drive mode. The petrol engine is then assisted by the electric motors to propel the vehicle and maintain the battery's charge.

Fortunately there's no fear we'll run out of power when touring Hobart, given the city's close proximity to Jean-Pierre and Heidi's pick of local establishments.

THE ROX