Spotlight On... Williams Burton Leopardi - Equal Partners
Williams Burton Leopardi have a national reputation for finely crafted residential interiors. Key contributors to this are a design philosophy that seeks the unique significance
Of meaning in each project and a design methodology that prioritises a collaborative approach at every project stage, especially during initial concept development.
Words by Joanne Cys.
Joanne Cys is Professor and Pro Vice Chancellor of the Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences, University of South Australia.
Photos by Caroline Cameron.
A humble egalitarianism enables Williams Burton Leopardi to initiate the collaborative process on equal footing with all project partners: collaboration with the client to set the design narrative and establish the context, reference points and aspiration for the project; and collaboration with builders and tradespeople to ensure the project is considered and delivered as a complete three-dimensional entity of volume and container, inside and outside, interior and architecture. Recently, Williams Burton Leopardi have extended their collaborations to designer-makers, including JamFactory studio tenants Ebony Heidenreich and James Howe.
Williams Burton Leopardi Director, Sophia Leopardi believes that designing a residence with practitioners from the very beginning of the project enables deviation from ‘typical’ architectural design methods. The process starts from a position of conceptual equality, rather than commissioning a discreet item for insertion into an already formed interior. Leopardi’s own experience of designing bespoke joinery, “…furniture is its own little universe, a miniature interior…” results in a deep respect for designer-makers’ different approach to materials and scale. She describes the moderating influence these collaborations bring to projects: “Practitioners are walking encyclopaedias of materials and finishes, designing with them adds to the overall balance of materials in a project.” Designer-makers contribute three-dimensional impact through the exquisite texture, layer and composition of each element they design, whether it be door handles, light fittings or furniture pieces. For the residential client, bringing these ordinary items into design focus elevates their value and adds meaning and delight to the residents’ daily lives.
“Practitioners are walking encyclopaedias of materials and finishes, designing with them adds to the overall balance of materials in a project.”
Working with practitioners’ scale models allows an earlier and more fulsome consideration of interior details that would otherwise not be possible in the design development stage. It also extends the possibilities of material use and application. Can ceramic panels be employed in a kitchen island bench? How would they be connected? How would the bench be constructed and installed? In parallel, Williams Burton Leopardi find their own design input is more restrained and composed, tempering the visual space around each piece to ensure balance. The bespoke handcrafted pieces speak for themselves within the interior, releasing Williams Burton Leopardi from the conventional quest to design ‘feature elements.’
Members of South Australia’s design community would attest to its closely networked and cooperative culture. The sorts of collaborations Williams Burton Leopardi are entering into with designer-makers represents further evolution of our collaborative design ecosystem where practitioners collectively progress their creativity rather than working in isolation. The positive outcomes of such connected practice are multi-faceted: extending conventional interior design and architectural project processes; and enabling designer-makers the opportunity to work with clients who otherwise would have only connected with their work in a gallery or showroom.
