Rothelowman WA Studio
Rothelowman’s WA Studio embraces a warm, residential feel to inspire creativity, with Laminex surfaces heroing the rich colour and texture of jarrah.
Located on Whadjuk Noongar land in the Perth CBD, the Rothelowman WA Studio is housed in a beautiful 1980s red-brick building. “It’s amazing the number of people – when they enter this studio for the first time – comment that it doesn’t feel like an office space, it feels like coming into someone’s home,” says Kylee Schoonens, WA principal of Rothelowman. “We craft places for people to live, and it was really important for us that this studio represents that.”
As a national architecture practice, Rothelowman has five unique offices around the country. “Every Rothelowman studio has its own personality and connects it back to the place in which it’s located,” she says. For the WA studio, the team wanted to showcase jarrah as one of the hero materials. An incredible native hardwood with a rich red-brown hue, jarrah also holds personal significance for Schoonens. “We have been very lucky to be able to repurpose a piece of the jarrah furniture that my grandfather made 70 years ago and recraft it into a beautiful lobby bench seat.”
Through the entrance, the studio opens out into the kitchen, meeting rooms and collaboration hub, where autumnal tones, pops of red and cobalt blue and a residential warmth infuse the space. The monumental Viking table in the kitchen is the heart of the office. “This is a place where we collaborate and we socialise and work,” says Martina Lofflerova, senior design associate. “Every studio at Rothelowman has their own Viking table. It’s a big part of our culture.”
When it came to the design, it was important to create a workplace that inspired creativity and avoided the trappings of conventional corporate offices. This meant out with anything white or black, including carpet tiles, and in with warm cork floors and woodwool ceilings. “This really creates a very sot acoustic quality throughout the whole space, but then the main heroes and the main fun happens throughout the joinery,” she says.
The team collaborated with Laminex to create dynamic joinery that celebrates the rich hue and natural texture of jarrah. “Laminex’s TrueScale technology has really allowed us to fully embrace the large, oversized joinery pieces that we’ve used throughout the studio,” says Schoonens. “They have no repeating pattern lines in them, and this is really evident both in the jarrah joinery that separates the collaboration hub from the rest of the studio, but also the oversized Viking table.” The table appears as one solid piece of timber furniture, mirroring the craftsmanship of her grandfather’s bench seat.
Overall, Rothelowman’s WA Studio is a workplace that feels comfortable, relaxed and conducive to creativity. The warmth and texture of Laminex products is central to achieving this vision. “We really do see that this is an opportunity to celebrate our core values and allow the creative process to be shaped by the space in which we work,” Schoonens concludes.
