Stokes 14 by Smart Design Studio

For the past two decades, architect William Smart had been living above his practice, Smart Design Studio, in its previous iteration in Surry Hills, New South Wales. Designed and built with innovation and efficiency in mind while also changing the perception of city living, Smart wanted to repeat this approach with his new home and design studio, Stokes 14, by further pushing the envelope.

“I think the thing that people found during the pandemic was that working from home was incredibly efficient – you can get things done at home while you’re at work,” he says. “What we wanted to achieve with the project was to make it very private from work and to completely change the ambience.” Set within the industrial neighbourhood of Alexandria, close to Sydney’s CBD, Stokes 14 challenged the principal of Smart Design Studio with discovering new ways of capturing views that weren’t of rooftops, car parks and roads. Turning his attention to the interiors, Smart also did not want to see the office from within his home either. “For part of our design, we wanted to frame the views of the beautiful things that couldn’t be taken away,” he explains. “Views of the sky or views of certain trees that were in the area.” The building frames certain outlooks while also welcoming the sun in through unique design features, such as a low set of windows. “It is mostly solid wall with very limited openings, then what we do with the light when it comes in the space is really critical and that tends to give you this kind of feeling that you’re not in Alexandria.”

“What we wanted to achieve with the project was to make it very private from work and to completely change the ambience.”

Another crucial part of designing the home was discovering which materials would bolster the reimagining of the industrial building. “That meant working with everyday robust materials, like brick, concrete and steel – things that were very durable and very practical,” says Smart. Due to its location within an area with conservation regulations, the material palette of the home and office needed to adhere to these rules while also presenting an interesting challenge. As Alexandria is made up of predominantly bricked buildings, the project also incorporates the material with another level of detail. “All the bricks are glued together with terracotta tile glue instead of being mortared, so there is a finesse to them and, when they’re laid, there’s a kind of laying of them that’s beautifully done.”

Another example of considered material use is the roof. “It’s a beautiful industrial material. It’s not like a copper or zinc roof that you would expect to see on a more refined building in the city centre,” says Smart. Moreover, the windows of the apartment are an unpainted galvanised steel, with narrowed handles more commonly expected in workshops. “The detailing is really robust and raw and simple, and it reflects this industrial area and resonates well with it.” The process of creating his own home and studio showcases Smart and his team’s enduring commitment to sustainability demonstrated in all their projects, but here, through an urban lens. “I don’t think city projects have to shy away from sustainability. I think you can actually do a lot in a city,” says the architect. “And if we’re all to do that, then maybe we don’t need to have massive power factories or solar farms elsewhere. We can just embed sustainability into the city and start to make a more sustainable future for everybody.”

Set within the industrial neighbourhood of Alexandria, close to Sydney’s CBD, Stokes 14 challenged the principal of Smart Design Studio with discovering new ways of capturing views that weren’t of rooftops, car parks and roads.

Considering the rich history of the inner-city suburb, Stokes14 creates its own definition of working from home while working towards a sustainable future. Smart knew that there needed to be a level of disconnection between the workplace and a space to relax and unwind in. “I wanted to just get to the end of the day and go home and not think about work,” he says about the need for his apartment to be calm and simple. “Most people will come upstairs and go, ‘Wow, this is really something’ or ‘It’s really monastic.’ I’ve even had clients come up and say ‘You could never tire of this’, and honestly, I haven’t. Normally after a couple years, I think I want to move on now, but I really do love coming back home every night.

Architecture and interior design by Smart Design Studio. Build by A J Bristow and Sons. Engineering by Northrop. Joinery by Interex Custom Joinery. Artwork by Bianca Chang, T-yong Chung, Peter De Potter, Dung Ming-Ling, Mike Parr, Todd Robinson and Coen Young.