Working in the country. Branch Studio Architects.

The design of their studio – built entirely from recycled materials – is also their business card. Brad Wray and Nicholas Russo from Branch Studio Architects located their office in a small country town in Victoria, Australia.



Two friends who live about 115 km apart, decided to open an architecture firm together and agreed that an orchard located at a half way point between their homes would be the perfect site for their studio.





The location was made even more attractive by the sculpture studio already on the site, which they decided to use as a workshop and testing ground for their ideas. So, all they had to do was build the studio space; the form evokes the visual image of a traditional garden shed without actually being stereotyped.





Based on the importance of engaging with its natural setting the new, 25 square-metre construction is filled with light that streams through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the orchard becomes an extension of the project.
The plywood interiors meet the architects’ needs and include a small meeting room.



The materials are sourced from the site, and the architects themselves collected the old corrugated iron from the paddocks surrounding the studio. The façade was originally designed with wood in mind but when the architects discovered the corrugated iron they decided to recycle that instead.





The glass is another sustainable solution and came from a previous job – its strong visual impact adds vibrancy to the composition.

Design Team:
Brad Wray - partner in charge, Nicholas Russo - http://www.branchstudioarchitects.com
Size: 25m2
Materials: Recycled Corrugated Iron [found lying in nearby paddocks], Glass [left over from an old job] and Plywood [ceiling, floor, all joinery & door].
Location: [Bellevue Orchard] Officer, Victoria, Australia. 
Photographs: Courtesy of http://www.branchstudioarchitects.com