Smart Design Studio is an innovative, sustainable and sculptural building that is purpose-built for who we are and how we work. Both new and renovated facades sit harmoniously with the brick warehouses of this inner-city conservation area, which was built in a time when materials were relatively expensive and labour cheap. The design embraces the essence of industrial buildings from this precinct. This is both in an aesthetic sense as well as in the functionality, economy and innovation that you see in these modest structures.
Visually, this is apparent in the composition of the façade as well as the basic, durable materials. Structurally, it embraces the innovation and economy of industrial buildings. Environmentally, the naturally lit and ventilated studio collects its own water and generates its own power, creating a carbon neutral building. The readapted industrial building houses a purpose designed studio for our multi-disciplinary design practice, Smart Design Studio. A mezzanine with four meeting rooms overlooks the light-filled space through the existing slender steel trusses.
On the top floor, a dramatic caretakers residence consists of four self-supporting brick catenary vaults that are offset from each other to allow light into the space.