Workplace Design

Smart Design Studio by Smart Design Studio

Design statement —

This readapted industrial building houses a purpose-designed studio for multidisciplinary design practice Smart Design Studio. A mezzanine with four meeting rooms overlooks the light-filled space through the existing slender steel trusses. A dramatic caretaker’s apartment on the top floor runs the length of the building.

The interior celebrates the joy of the architectural process and making, and it reflects Smart Design Studio’s design and work processes. Four 14-metre-long freestanding joinery units create a square “room” with five long desks within. These joinery units serve as large “picture frames” for pinned-up design sketches and documentation drawings. Ten large display cases at the end of each workspace bring order and rhythm to the space. Behind the freestanding joinery units are ancillary spaces, including a materials library, model workshop, canteen and reception. Trusses, cranes and floors were retained and complemented with industrial elements such as a sculptural steel wire balustrade.

Jury comment —

Smart Design Studio’s own workplace is an outstanding example of remarkable design and technical prowess. It realizes the full potential of the brief through exceptional functionality, innovation and memorable experiential qualities that are synonymous with the brand. The architecture and interiors are seamless in terms of expression. In regards to the use of open and closed spaces, the office fitout is exquisitely executed and thoughtfully considered, while the caretaker’s residence is a beautiful study in materiality, form and space – so beautiful, in fact, that one jury member would be happy to apply for the role of caretaker, should the job become available.

This exceptional project goes beyond the resolution of workplace planning issues by prioritizing people. The jury applauds Smart Design Studio for employing architecture to drive the adaptive re-use of the site, maximizing the floor plate and punctuating it with a pared-back material palette that heightens the building’s form.