an Osborne Park warehouse became a shared design studio in Perth
Tucked between automotive workshops and light industrial sheds in Osborne Park, a sprawling former storage building has quietly transformed into one of Perth's most talked-about shared design spaces. The conversion marks a growing appetite among Western Australian creatives for workplaces that prioritise community over corporate polish. Where forklifts once rolled across the concrete, designers now sketch elevations, mould clay, and debate materiality over flat whites from a shared kitchen.
The project speaks to a broader shift in how Australian architects and makers think about space, rent, and collaboration. Rather than commissioning a purpose-built facility on the city's edge, the founders chose to retrofit an existing structure, weaving together the area's industrial bones with the needs of a contemporary practice. The result is a working studio that feels both rooted in its Perth suburb and connected to wider currents shaping Australian architecture.
The building's industrial bones
Osborne Park has long been one of Perth's workhorse suburbs, a corridor of warehouses, wholesalers, and trade businesses stretching west of the Mitchell Freeway. The building in question dates back to the late 1970s, originally constructed as a single-storey storage shed for a local freight operator. Its tilt-up concrete panels, sawtooth roof, and exposed steel trusses are textbook examples of the utilitarian architecture that defined Perth's mid-century industrial fringe.
For decades, the shed shifted between tenants, hosting everything from a plumbing supplier to a wholesale furniture importer. By the time the current custodians secured the lease, the interior had been stripped back to its skeleton, with little more than the concrete slab, perimeter brickwork, and the original clerestory windows remaining. That patina of use became the starting point for the entire design conversation, with the architects choosing to retain as much of the original fabric as they could rather than impose a glossy new skin.
Heritage advisors consulted on the project noted that while the structure held no formal protection under local planning schemes, its age and condition offered a rare chance to celebrate Perth's often-overlooked industrial architecture. The decision to keep the building legible as a former warehouse, both inside and out, set the tone for every later choice.
Rethinking the floor plan
The adaptive reuse began with a careful audit of what could stay and what needed to go. Services were entirely replaced, with new electrical, plumbing, and data reticulation threaded through the existing shell. Natural light, once blocked by years of accumulated partitioning and signage, was reinstated by clearing the original north-facing clerestories and adding a series of internal translucent screens to bounce daylight deeper into the plan.
The architects organised the 480-square-metre footprint around a central shared zone, with private studios radiating off a generous circulation spine. This layout echoes a long tradition of warehouse conversions seen in places like Fremantle and Melbourne's inner north, but the team resisted the urge to over-finish the interior. Plywood joinery, black steel framing, and polished concrete floors allow the original building to remain the protagonist.
A covered outdoor deck extends the working area onto a rear laneway, giving residents a year-round spot to gather, host crits, or simply enjoy a break under Perth's wide blue sky. The deck, built from recycled jarrah offcuts sourced from a local demolition yard, nods to Western Australia's deep timber heritage while providing a robust surface that can handle the city's harsh summer sun.
| Aspect | Original warehouse | Shared design studio |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use | Storage and freight | Multi-discipline design practice |
| Interior partitions | Heavy, blocking light | Minimal, open-plan zones |
| Natural light | Obscured by later additions | Restored clerestories and screens |
| Floor finish | Worn concrete slab | Polished concrete with underfloor cabling |
| Identity | Utilitarian industrial shed | Layered industrial-meets-creative |
A day inside the studio
On any given weekday, the studio hums with a mix of disciplines. An interiors practice works alongside a small furniture maker, a textile designer, and a recent graduate completing documentation for architectural registration. The shared model allows each tenant to operate independently while benefiting from the resources, conversation, and occasional gentle critique that comes from rubbing shoulders with peers.
A monthly rotating dinner brings everyone together around a long communal table, often cooked by one of the residents. These meals have become a small ritual, a chance to share everything from project deadlines to recommendations for the best coffee roasters in Subiaco. The founders see this kind of informal exchange as essential to the studio's purpose, particularly for younger practitioners who might otherwise be working in isolation from home.
Equipment is pooled wherever it makes sense. A large-format printer, a CNC router, and a modest materials library sit alongside individual benches, reducing the overheads each member carries. For early-career designers in Perth, where studio rents remain comparatively high relative to Sydney or Melbourne, this pooling of resources has proven to be one of the studio's quietest but most valuable features.
Strengthening Perth's design network
The studio has become a natural anchor for the Osborne Park design scene, which sits slightly off the radar compared with the high-profile practices clustered around Subiaco and the Perth CBD. By opening up the space for occasional open studios, design talks, and informal crits, the founders are helping to redirect attention to an area that has long been written off as purely industrial.
Local industry bodies have taken notice. The studio regularly hosts gatherings tied to broader programs supporting emerging architects and makers across Western Australia, and has begun collaborating with TAFE and university programs to offer short-term residencies for students. These partnerships align closely with the work being championed through the Contemporary program, which convenes practitioners across the country around shared questions of practice, place, and material culture.
For visiting designers from interstate or overseas, the studio offers a grounded view of how Perth's design community is responding to local conditions, from the cost of construction to the realities of building in a sun-soaked, sometimes unforgiving climate. It is this groundedness, rather than any polished marketing, that has made the space a useful stop on the wider Australian design map.
Sustainability and circular thinking
Sustainability shaped the conversion from the outset. Rather than sending the existing concrete, brick, and steel to landfill, the team worked with local recyclers to repurpose or reuse more than 70 percent of the original structure. The remaining materials were sorted and documented carefully, with salvaged items donated to community workshops and second-hand building suppliers around Perth.
The studio also operates a small-scale materials exchange, where offcuts from resident practices are catalogued and made available for others to claim. Timber scraps from one project might become prototypes in another; surplus fabric from an interiors job might find its way into a maker's next collection. The approach mirrors a wider move within Australian architecture towards circular practice, one that treats waste as a design problem rather than a disposal issue.
Energy performance was addressed through passive means wherever possible. Cross-ventilation, high ceilings, and deep roof overhangs help moderate the building's temperature, easing the load on mechanical systems. Rooftop solar, sized to match the modest daytime energy profile of a design studio, contributes to a noticeably lower operating footprint than a comparable tenancy in a newer commercial tower.
Looking ahead
The next phase of the studio's life will see the rear laneway activated as a small public space, with plans for a quarterly market featuring local makers, a pop-up exhibition program, and an expanded residency offering for international designers passing through Perth. The founders are also exploring partnerships with local councils to advocate for better pedestrian and cycling connections to the area, recognising that Osborne Park still leans heavily on car-based access.
As the studio settles into its rhythm, its story offers a useful counterpoint to the prevailing narrative of new builds on greenfield sites. Working with what Perth already has, the project suggests, can yield spaces that are richer, more sustainable, and more connected to the communities around them than any pristine development.
If you're interested in seeing how this shared studio fits into the wider conversation about Australian architecture and design, explore the latest from Contemporary and discover upcoming events, programs, and features celebrating the people shaping our built environment.
