In this episode of Design Vault, Doug speaks with William Smart, founder and creative director at Smart Design Studio in Sydney, Australia.

Visit glengery.com/design-vault to see photos and additional information as you listen along.

The new Smart Design Studio building is an innovative, sustainable and sculptural building with both new and renovated facades that sit within an inner city conservation area of brick warehouses. The design relates to the industrial buildings from the precinct.

While it makes a departure with a modern facade of tiles, galvanized sheeting, steel frame windows and dynamic forms of curling and curving brick. Structurally, a large portion of the building feels industrial with precast concrete slabs, structural brick roof vaults and steel. Environmentally. The naturally lit and ventilated studio collects its own water and generates its own power, creating a carbon neutral building.

In addition, large full length clear story windows enable natural light to enter the single industrial scale workspace. The Sawtooth roof trusses and a portion of the facades were retained with the exception of the offices on the western street frontage. That's where a narrow, highly designed apartment runs atop the length of the building. The apartment features four self-supporting offset brick, cat and airy vaults that allow light into the apartment.