Smart Design Studio's own offices win top commercial prize at the 2021 NSW Architecture Awards
When leading architectural firm Smart Design Studio decided to move into new premises, they saw it as a chance to completely remodel an existing warehouse building and test, model, and prototype new ideas and technology.
It’s brought them rich rewards in not only a stunning place to work on an industrial street in Alexandria – but also the top NSW award for commercial architecture, the Sir Arthur G. Stephenson Award.
“We were in two buildings on three floors before, and we’d outgrown the space and aspired to be all together in one large room,” said creative director William Smart.
“Our new premises was originally a factory built in the 1950s making confectionery machines.
“Now, it’s a really beautiful, light and bright space and, even on a gloomy day, we often don’t need to put on any lights. It’s got heavy insulation, underfloor heating and cooling, and no airconditioning, so it’s so quiet. It’s a lovely place to work.”
The NSW Institute of Architects jury loved it too, presenting the top prize for commercial architecture at their awards evening on July 2. They said, “The original warehouse, addressing a laneway, has been meticulously restored with steel windows and detailing to highlight its enduring beauty.
“The front of the warehouse, irrevocably altered over time, has been replaced by a contemporary wave of bricks wrapping around stairs and folding open to curate views and light to the inside meeting rooms at ground and mezzanine levels.”
The vast open-plan studio dazzles with light from large clerestory windows, supplemented by bespoke linear lights, designed to tie in with the grid of fine steel truss work. The company hopes the building, constructed with durable materials, will continue to be its home until at least 2050.
“As a commercial offering and a contributing element to this burgeoning cultural community, this studio truly establishes an architectural legacy,” said the jury.
Others have also loved the studio; it also took out the top award for sustainable architecture, the Milo Dunphy Award.
The jury for that award said not only was it a model for adaptive reuse and recycling, it also utilises a broadly passive system to keep the space warm in winter and cool in summer. It uses an automated building management system connected to Bureau of Meteorology data to regulate automated facades, hydronic heating and cooling, and ceiling fans.
The other two awards in the commercial category were both won by Bates Smart. The first was for the Doma Group’s Little National Hotel, with 230 rooms rising through 12 storeys on a small 800-square-metre site above the entry to Wynyard Station, with one of Sydney’s few CBD rooftops.
Their second award was for Workshop, a campus-style, eight-storey building on Harris Street, in Pyrmont, with large office spaces for global creative companies, small spaces for startups and shopfronts, an indoor-outdoor sunken cafe, a double-height gym, and a childcare centre.
Another special award, the COLORBOND Award for steel architecture, was taken out by the Maitland Regional Athletics Complex. It is stage two of the Maitland Sportsground recreational precinct master plan, and those involved in its design included its three employed architects and Studio Dot.
“It was a very varied field with some very high calibre projects this year,” said jury chair Belinda Goh of Populous, the firm that won a commercial architecture award last year for the Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta and previously both national and state awards in a joint venture with Hassell for the redevelopment of Darling Harbour. “We had a lot of debate around the winners as they’re often so different, it makes them hard to compare.
“But the Smart Design Studio for us pushed so many innovative and of-the-times pieces, like sustainability, workplace ethos, and providing staff with the opportunity to contribute, all integrated into one wonderful project.”
Commendations were received by SJB for its BMW + MINI, a new retail showroom at the intersection of Darlinghurst, Rushcutters Bay and Kings Cross, and by Harley Graham Architects for the Stone and Wood Brewery in Byron Bay, functioning as a cellar door as well as a brewery and management headquarters.
The William E Kemp Award for Educational Architecture was won by architects Neeson Murcutt + Neille for Barker College’s Rosewood Centre, a new sports and learning facility.
The two other awards for educational architecture were won by Architectus for the Ainsworth Building at Macquarie University and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer for The Athenaeum Wenona in North Sydney.
This year’s Sulman Medal for Public Architecture was won by Hassell for the wharf renewal project for the Sydney Theatre Company, while the two other awards for public works were taken out by Andrew Burges Architects and Grimshaw with TCL in collaboration with the City of Sydney for Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre at Green Square.
In the heritage awards, the Greenway Award winners were Cox Architecture with Neeson Murcutt + Neille for the Australian Museum Project Discover, while the other two awards were taken by lahznimmo architects for the creative re-adaptation of Sub Base Platypus in Neutral Bay, and Hector Abrahams Architects for the restoration of Reid House in King Street, Sydney.
