Contract - November 2014 - 72

Compulsive Productions
Architect Matt Gibson
Architecture + Design
Client Compulsive Productions
Where Melbourne, Australia
What 2,325 total square feet
on two floors
Cost/sf $57
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list, see page 84 or
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W

hen Matt Hopper, owner of Melbourne,
Australia-based Compulsive Productions,
hired Matt Gibson Architecture + Design
to retrofit his film production studio,
Hopper requested a space both dark and light, enclosed
and connected. Working with a narrow floor plan, a tight
budget, and specific functional requirements, Gibson-
based in Melbourne and Sydney-transformed
Hopper's studio into a multifaceted, flexible venue.
Derived from the tools of his client's trade, Gibson's
design for Compulsive Productions offers a new model
for film production studios as well as an attractive
coworking solution for Melbourne creatives.
For the redesign of the two-story warehouse,
which has been home to Compulsive Productions' film
studio for the past seven years, Hopper envisioned
a light-filled workspace to accommodate ten people-
his staff and a few freelancers-as well as dark,
sound-controlled areas for film editing. Yet Hopper
aspired beyond the standard editing suite that is often
a cramped, inhospitable space isolated from surrounding
activity. And budget dictated that the new design follow
the existing 2,325-square-foot studio's general spatial
arrangement that has a first floor with storage and an
open-plan second floor. Finally, Hopper wanted a
dynamic, marketable space that would attract industry

freelancers and generate a rich working environment.
With these requirements in mind, Gibson says, "We
sought to create a philosophically open, flexible,
collaborative workspace, with sections that could be
closed down for functionality."
Dark and light, enclosed and connected
Inspired by Hopper's collection of vintage cameras and
studies of noir and sci-fi films, Gibson devised spaces
that could be dark and closed for editing purposes,
and light and open to foster an interactive, exciting
environment. Visitors enter on the ground floor into a
white, linear gallery, then travel up a stair to encounter
the project's main feature: three open-ended pods,
comprised of aperture blade-like facets. Together, they
reference the receding barrel of a camera lens and
stretch along the second floor's southern wall, leaving
a path to the north and allowing light from the west
windows to penetrate the warehouse's entire depth.
Outside the pods, hot desks line the north wall near the
windows, while the pre-existing stair and kitchen wrap
the wall toward the east.
Each pod houses a different function-private
desks are closest to the windows; the main editing suite
is in the middle; and a sub-tenant editing suite occupies
the rear. Compulsive Productions' new editing suites

The main editing pod (above)
appears to float above the dark
wood floor. Glass panels at the
ends of pods (above and right)
maintain visual connections
with the surrounding studio
space. Built-in shelves beneath
the windows (opposite) serve
as a library and display area.

72

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november 2014
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Contract - November 2014

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