The Guymer Bailey Melbourne team have been in their home at the “top of the hill” in Camberwell for just over two years now. In some ways, we are still settling in, with work continuing. Recently, we changed some of the fixed windows to operable louvres to allow for fresh air through the office and our “booths”, secluded seating pods that resemble phone booths are currently under construction.
Starting with an empty floor, many of the team have had hands on involvement in the development of the studio, including the design, building and constructing our own furniture.
To find out more about the aspirations for the Melbourne Studio we sat down for a Q&A session with Senior Architect, David Ash, who played the lead role in the design and construction of the office fitout.
Using three words how would you describe the concept for the Melbourne studio design?
Collaboration, transparency, democracy.
Where did the inspiration come from?
Our inspiration and design ideas came from the aspirations we have for the practice. This was one of the first “collaboration” projects amongst the senior staff in the office and we got to think about and decide what our office needed to be, and what we wanted it to be like, in terms of the culture and the direction.
What was the most challenging aspect of having our own studio as a project?
The short timeframe and budget. As we were moving out of our old office space and into a new one, we had to factor in the decision making of where we were moving to first.
There was no set budget to begin with, but after we did the initial design and got it tendered, that gave us the benchmark/reality of what we were aiming to achieve. We also had to consider the cost of relocating the entire office, and other related overheads so we had to be realistic with what we could and couldn’t do.
Having said that, constructing to a budget does assist in the design and evaluation process and in our case assisted us in filtering through our priorities – with extremely positive outcomes.
What’s the most rewarding aspect?
I’d have to say the collaboration and the way everything came together. There were a few hiccups along the way, but through open discussions and a shared vision there was a strong design consensus.
Having been out of the main studio and on site for almost five years (including one year at a project office) it was good to get back into the design headspace. There were so many design ideas piled up! I had a lot of aspirations about materials, for example timber, and many of those personal design ideas were incorporated into the final build, so this is rewarding too.
Which element are you the most excited about?
The collaboration space in the middle of the office. It reinforces all the ideas of creating a collaborative design studio and process, and it’s a significant space in the office.
How do you know which ideas to keep and which ones to let go?
When you have a solid concept it’s easy to tell which ideas can be let go. For example, I wanted to design curved timber walls, but instead we did plasterboard, which was more economical. We kept the form, but it wasn’t imperative to keep the timber.
What is your favourite thing about our Camberwell studio?
The culture created by the office fitout. We are on our way to a more collaborative approach to design. While the mindset of the industry now is focused on tight project timeframes and the speed at which multiple projects can be completed, through the studio fitout, particularly the collaboration table, we aim to put more emphasis and importance on the design process.
