Recipient of numerous architectural awards from the Australian Institute of Architects including the prestigious Sir Arthur G. Stephenson Award, the new studio and home for Located at Alexandria, in one of Sydney’s conservation areas, has become a capsule of
William retained many of the original features, such as the steel trusses but created an “The facade of this warehouse had previously been altered so many times, with different windows truncated at every stage, that we didn’t feel we were compromising the original structure,” William says.
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Instead of the variety of apertures, that almost appear to have been fashioned on a potter’s wheel, allowing light to permeate this precious vessel where it’s needed. And on the top level, William added a series of interlocking barrel-vaulted forms, clad in steel and
As with William’s previous studio, arranged around the art of model-making, here, staff are literally surrounded by maquettes, all constructed in Balsawood and painted white, like the pristine white walls dotted with plans and schemes. Finely curated like William’s bespoke homes, apartments and commercial projects, even the staff computers and materials appear recessive in the individual black laminated alcoves.
William’s living and dining space features some of the architect’s most loved pieces, including the and the
Corian surfaces characterise William’s stripped-back kitchen, with running from one end of the vaulted apartment to the other.
A dressing room acts as a ‘veil’ to William’s bedroom. Embedded into the dressing room cupboards are graphic paintings by artist Mike Parr. William’s signature pieces, the and the , complement the minimalist scheme.
William’s bathroom features a custom vanity and mirrors, and – just as the
While this studio is open plan on a substantial footprint of 3,600 square metres, there’s also the boardroom and enclosed meeting areas on the mezzanine level. Accessed by terrazzo treads and 53 white steel wires for the balustrade, it’s artfully conceived ‘macrame’ (a 1970s phenomenon) for the future.
While William enjoys the studio environment, he also appreciates leaving this space at occasional times during the day and every night to find solitude in the “When we were planning this space, we decided to make it entirely open, with the only fixed door to the bathroom,” William says. So, while everything is on one level and without doors, spaces have been discretely located to create privacy.
Smart Design Studio’s studio reception features the and the and
Featuring and curvaceous ceilings, reaching an apex of four metres, the apartment includes everything that William’s last home didn’t, and in some instances did, include. “We never use a bath so why include this? Likewise, we didn’t want the kitchen to ‘read’ as a traditional kitchen,” William says, pointing out the sculptured Corian bench with two smaller fridges concealed below. This artistry extends to the dressing area that creates a subtle ‘veil’ to the bedroom. Embedded into the dressing room cupboards are graphic paintings by artist Mike Parr.
For William, who designed this space for the long term, there’s a sense of calm and tranquillity as he enters the separate entrance via a curved glass wall set into the and climbs the pink terrazzo treads. “It’s such a reflective space, enjoying the stream of light on the brickwork and how this changes along with the reflections of the landscape on the glass. It’s serene and allows me the space that I need not only physically but in my mind,” William adds.
This feature originally appeared in est Magazine issue #42.
William Smart | Photography courtesy of Martin Mischkulnig
William designed the top of the warehouse into a series of interlocking barrel-vaulted forms clad in steel and hand-glued .
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