Business can get messy. Working stations, files, archives and competing needs for space can make a workplace chaotic, quickly. But if your client’s needs are thoroughly assessed from the outset, and the character of a workplace pegged, then personality and functionality are able to come together in a playful space of deceptive simplicity.

This is what was achieved by BoardGrove Architects when it took on the renovation of a shared studio space in Windsor, Melbourne. The two businesses that use the space – Earl.St, a graphic design studio, and ANGLE, a boutique property developer – had for years been slogging it out in a warehouse building with little natural light, minimal colour and a mess of squeaky office chairs. As a close-knit team of creative professionals, this existing space failed to capture the vivacity that defines their output – and with little storage or display space, there was no room to share and hide their collateral.

For this project, colour and spatial definition were the two driving agendas. BoardGrove conceived of a modern, gradated colour scheme in three shades of peach to lighten the space: the darkest shade was used towards the front of the studio, where natural light was most plentiful, getting lighter towards the back.

A windowed stable wall was erected towards the entrance as a playful separation of meeting and working space, without cutting one end off from the other. Neon signs shaped like irreverent emoji characters replaced the glum hum of fluorescent lighting.

Mid-height, peach-hued cupboards were installed along the edges of the studio to hide away necessary business materials while, for more aesthetically-pleasing design projects that beg showing off, retail-style display shelving was installed, with spaces specifically designed for the incorporation of pot plants and greenery.

Photography by Haydn Cattach.

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