I love my shop
SARAH BRADFORD AND SHARNI HONOR RUN ADELAIDE’S SUMMERTOWN STUDIO – A CREATIVE HUB BY THE SEA.
Where is it? 13 Paringa Avenue, Somerton Park, Adelaide.
Describe Summertown Studio in a sentence. A collective of creative niceness.
What goes on there? Sarah Bradford: We’re a big warehouse housing a shop filled with local makers, flowers, records and vintage wares; a coffee bar; a co-working space; a yoga and pilates studio; and a workshop/events space. In a PRE-COVID life we held live music run by The Porch Sessions and lots of beautiful evening soirées.
How did it all begin? SB: Sharns and I had been working on The Porch Sessions when we had to relocate from our office space. I was in the early stages of my floristry and lifestyle business, Sundays Design Co, too. We’d dreamt of having a brick-and-mortar space as a base for our businesses and wanted to expand to house other makers and nice things. The day our lease ended, we found the most perfect space that had been listed just that morning!
Describe the space for us. Sharni Honor: It’s tucked away in an industrial district, nestled between mechanics and used-car yards. (Our warehouse actually used to be a tyre manufacturer, then a mechanic, then a spray booth for cars and a kayak shop. It’s seen many lives.) You enter through this big roller door and you’re greeted with hanging plants woven between festoon lights, and a big, open space with vintage things and local artisans’ work.
A few metres in, you’re smacked in the face by the best smell in the world: coffee. Natural light pulls you to the pergola, our outdoor seating and event space filled with cacti and couches.
What’s your favourite part of the space? SH: Personally, I adore the pergola. I love how people interact with it and feel instantly comfortable, and that you can smell the ocean and get the morning sun on your face. SB: Our loft space is the dreamiest room, with wooden floorboards and a golden glow constantly streaming through the louvre windows.
What were the biggest challenges of setting up shop? SB: Having such a diverse and broad business plan at the beginning, it was hard for people to get their head around what it was and how it would work. We kept the plans flexible so we could allow ourselves room to change and improve over time, focusing on the concepts that were working and changing the ones that weren’t.
Tell us about some of the events you’ve held. SH: We’ve had a lot of gigs with The Porch Sessions, featuring beautiful musicians and a crowd tucked up on Persian rugs. We’ve just brought back our jazz nights, with wine and gin, a food truck and a live, unplugged jazz band. There have been beautiful workshops, too, sprinkled between film nights.
What do you love about what you do? SB: Can I say everything? So often, we find ourselves having these heart-warming conversations about how grateful we are to be doing what we do. SH: I love witnessing the growth of all the businesses in the space, and seeing good humans do what they love and being really flipping good at it. It’s super-inspiring.
Any plans for the future of Summertown Studio? SH: We have so many ideas for events, collaborations and physical changes to the space, but for now, we’re just feeling lucky to have our doors open at all.
Where can we find out more? Online at summertownstudio.com or on Instagram at @summertownstudio.