Balancing Focus and Retreat – Brunswick Studio by Robert Nichol and sons, Fieldwork and DesignOffice
From the blank canvas of a new and as-yet uninhabited apartment, Brunswick Studio is a carefully crafted live-work space that reflects how both apartment living and work culture are changing. Robert Nichol and sons weaves a considered new layering within the building – originally designed by Fieldwork and DesignOffice – in response to the multi-functional brief.
Embedding flexibility and allowing for personalisation were both cornerstones for the formation of Brunswick Studio as its own deliberate space. Intended to be used for both working and living, the interior is built up by Robert Nichol and sons to ensure the floor plan and its elements support the needs of both typologies. Not yet occupied, the shell was originally designed as an apartment within a new development by Milieu and Neometro, with architecture by Fieldwork and design by DesignOffice. In its bareness, the exposed concrete ceilings and warm oak flooring provided the ideal base for transformation. Together with the generous ceiling height of over three metres, the base elements ensured the small 51 square-metre floor plate felt decidedly more open its actual area, setting the tone for a similar play on scale in the new works.
Informed by the way a hotel plays many roles, functioning as a home, office and social space, Brunswick Studio streamlines the essentials needed for each of its functions to support a temporary and non-permanent stay. In this vein, the approach was formed around a simplicity. Then, adding animation and richness, layers of custom joinery serve several purposes, from divider, storage and display to also becoming a working surface. The balancing of colour with a more muted palette also creates a hierarchy of use and adds moments of focus.
Taking musings from the minimalist shell of the space and a certain industrious and eclectic energy of the area, the combination of colour and its effect on bringing some of the outside in was important. As a response to the surrounding context that the live-work space sits within and as a capture of the neighbours who share a similar melding pot mentality, diversity is celebrated through texture, finish and functionality. Offering the ability to live and work meaningfully, Brunswick Studio demonstrates the benefits of a hybrid approach executed with precision.
As a proposition for a new way to both live and work, Brunswick Studio facilitates and encourages personal expression. Within the context of a new apartment shell, Robert Nichol and sons bring a vibrancy to the space and inspire a liveliness through a restrained yet deliberate approach.
