MEET THE MAKER - IAN SMITH FROM COX ARCHITECTURE
August 2020
We were excited to be contacted by Ian Smith, a director at Cox Architecture Canberra, to create a large scale recycled Blackbutt waterfall bench top for his family’s new renovation in Ainslie. Ian was inspired by traditional drawer joinery - and requested a series of half-blind dovetail joints across each end section of the waterfall.
We recently visited Ian in his new family home, to learn more about his career and inspirations as a Canberra based architect.
The kitchen island waterfall bench top - amongst a new extension of Ian’s family home.
The bench top before leaving the Hammer workshop.
What do you love about Architecture? And do you use much timber in your designs?
What drew me to architecture was that process of actually influencing the environment, hopefully in a constructive or positive way. That’s what really drew me to it.
I used to study tech drawing and I really enjoyed that, but I realised I didn’t want to be the one being told what to draw. But to input into and shape what was being created. And it’s also a really nice combination of technical and also creative - which I think suits my personality.
Timber is a wonderful, sustainable material. I definitely try and embed it where appropriate. I think if I had to pick one material to use it would definitely be timber as it’s so versatile. You can do the structure, you can do the flooring, cladding, roofing. It’s such an agile material that’s renewable as well, so it’s got so much going for it.
Where we can, we embed timber. In my own home it was something we wanted to use to add warmth to what could have felt like a relatively cold space. The planning you can see in this house, there’s primary circulation then there’s a living zone - where we’ve used timber to delineate the use of space in a pretty subtle way, which we think works reasonably well.
Delineated spaces in the living zone, which is a new build connected to the back of the traditional Ainslie home at the front of the block.
Dovetail details.
What are you most proud of making or designing?
In terms of projects that I have done over my career - one that we did recently that I was really proud of that’s just opened is the Leisure Centre at Mt Stromlo. Which has got some really amazing timber structures in it.
The scale of the building is pretty incredible, it’s about 100 metres long. So it’s quite a big scale. But I think in terms of how it sits on the site, in that context it’s actually surprisingly discrete. And that’s partly to do with the colours selected and the materiality, and the way it’s cut into the hill to reduce the apparent scale of it. The thing that most people comment on is the timber structure, which is renewable and an appropriate structure for the space - because if you use steel in a swimming pool environment it corrodes badly and you have a lot of trouble protecting the material. But timber is innately appropriate in that sort of aggressive environment, so that’s one of the reasons we went with it - as well as making the space feel warmer. And to take the edge off all the glass and concrete and other hard materials.
The Stromlo Leisure Centre is now open - www.stromloleisurecentre.com.au/
What does sustainability mean to you?
For us as architects it’s an imperative to do buildings that are as sustainable as possible, and have the least impact. Building construction is a big part of the global warming challenge, so every building we do as best as we can, we have a significant chance to influence that. But every project is different, so the response has to be tailored.
How do you spend your down time?
It doesn’t feel like I have a lot of that, but just chilling out with my wife and friends and family. I quite like photography, so that’s a bit of a hobby I’ve been trying to pursue a bit more. So I bought a nice camera recently, and have been experimenting with time-lapses - trying to get good pictures of the milky way which is surprisingly difficult! The sky is not that dark in the suburbs, but if you head down to the Orroral Valley south of Canberra, that’s one of the best spots in the world to do it.
Other recent projects Ian has been a part of: Pictured here is Willinga Park at Bawley Point.
And Moss River House near Yass - making use of the original stone cottages, much like his Ainslie renovation of an original Canberra home.
Your best source of inspiration?
The way our studio works, it’s very much a team process, a collaborative response. So I find that’s the way to come up with the strongest ideas and solutions. So I wouldn’t say I look at a particular historical figure and the style of their work. It’s more about a collective effort and I think that’s how the best results come. That interaction and collective dialogue.
But you don’t design by committee, you don’t take everyone’s ideas and try and mash it into an outcome. The trick to that process is to just take the best bits that are complementary and the synergy that comes from that is somehow greater than the sum of its parts. That’s what we aspire to at least!
What do you love about your job?
It’s bloody challenging at times, but every day is a unique challenge. It’s never boring, there’s always a challenge to address. And that’s the nature of our work, it’s problem solving. So if you don’t like problems, then you’d be in the wrong game doing architecture. You really need to be someone who embraces challenges and enjoys finding good solutions. So I think that’s what I love about it, that dynamic. There’s a lot of paperwork and process and management involved, but the creativity that’s in there is a critical part of the experience.
You can see more of the project’s Ian has worked on with Cox Architecture here - www.coxarchitecture.com.au/people/ian-smith/