SMART DESIGN STUDIO
ESTABLISHED 1997
SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES
Creative Director William Smart founded Smart Design Studio in Sydney in 1997. With 40 staff, this multi-award-winning design studio works across the spheres of architectural, interior and product design. Smart is personally involved in every project, contributing at all stages from design to final delivery, and continuously exploring ideas relating to flexibility, contemporary living and the merging of art and architecture. Smart’s passionate attention to detail has been fundamental to the Studio’s success in realising innovative projects of outstanding quality.
Smart has a genuine love of concrete. To him, it is precious. In contrast to a material like plasterboard, he sees concrete as soft and forgiving—cracks and crumbling imperfections in the surface can enrich rather than detract from its finish. He is fascinated by its sculptural qualities and its capacity to express a continuous line, and has utilised these qualities in some of the Studio’s most significant projects.
Indigo Slam, 2016
Chippendale, New South Wales
Indigo Slam is a piece of sculpture to live in. Behind a façade of sculpted concrete, serene living spaces and monumental halls create a dynamic spatial interplay of spare interiors in which the main decorative element is light. The concrete façade is alive to the changes wrought by light, shade, sun and cloud.
Throughout the design process, Smart worked closely with engineer and friend Brian Wood to work out how the house could be built. Smart notes that the actual construction process, ‘was more about carpentry than concrete’, acknowledging the complexity of the formwork required to create the intricate structures.