fireside chat series continued in Sydney this winter as the pair behind joined our Editor Timothy Alouani-Roby at the Surry Hills showroom. Speaking before a live audience of exquisitely well-dressed designers and enthusiasts, the conversation explored Jonathan Richards and Kirsten Stanisich’s professional relationship, the development of their practice and the principles that have remained consistent since establishing it eight years ago.
Richards and Stanisich started by explaining that the decision to establish a smaller practice reflected a desire to focus on the type of work and clients they wanted to pursue. Both had previously worked at SJB, where they had been colleagues since 2002.
“I think the most important thing when you do it is you just have a very strong vision for what you think it’s going to be,” said Jonathan, speaking about the launch of their own studio.
One of the practice’s early projects was an installation for the NGV’s Rigg Design Prize, which gave the pair an opportunity to publicly articulate their approach to domestic space. They described the installation as an exploration of how to create a natural experience within an increasingly industrialised and digital environment. While the aesthetic direction of their work has changed according to individual projects and clients, they emphasised that the underlying principles have remained consistent – particularly an interest in materials, craft and creating spaces that feel appropriate to how people live.
Practice culture was another central theme. The designers described it as something that develops through the behaviour and relationship of the principals rather than something that can simply be imposed: “The culture comes from the top: it comes from the relationship that we have,” they said.
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The pair also discussed the less visible aspects of running a design practice, including financial management, staffing and client selection. Before an audience that included many younger designers with an eye on setting up their own practice one day, they emphasised the importance of understanding design as a business as well as a creative discipline. They also described deliberately growing the studio to around 20 people to support internal roles that allow them to spend more time on design.
When recruiting younger designers, Richards and Stanisich said qualities such as resourcefulness, adaptability and confidence dealing with people can be as important as formal design experience. They pointed to hospitality work as one example of ostensibly unrelated experience that can develop these attributes. For design education, however, they argued that students should prioritise design thinking while also having greater opportunities to work directly with trades and materials.
The designers also spoke about the importance of allowing ideas time to develop. Richards described galleries and art exhibitions as a recurring source of inspiration, while Stanisich said her understanding of the design process had changed with experience. For both, flexibility, self-reflection and rigour have become increasingly important to sustaining a practice.
Royal Oak Floors
Photography
Bianca Lamont Photography
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