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Artist Eliza Gosse and architect Benjamin Jay Shand (of multidisciplinary architecture, object and art office Studio Shand) always had a ‘distant dream’ of building their own creative studio from the ground up.
‘Separately in our careers, Benj and I have struggled to find spaces in Sydney for our creative practices, as most artists do,’ Eliza says.
Then, a few years ago, the couple saw an old-school Italian restaurant called Buon Gusto come up for sale in Darlington. It might seem like an unlikely location for an artist and an architect to set up shop, but Eliza says it was ‘completely perfect for us’.
‘It had windows in every room, was charming, and run down enough that Benj as an architect had his interest piqued,’ she adds.
Eliza also started out studying architecture before realising her real love was in painting homes, rather than designing them. Now, her work champions the beauty of retro buildings from across the ‘50s, ‘60s, and beyond using a distinctively warm colour palette.
So between the couple’s shared passion for art, and architecture, and the Buon Gusto building’s brick walls, archways, and coloured glass saloon doors, it was a match made in heaven.
Studio Shand took a deliberately light touch turning the ‘very tired’ restaurant into a functional studio, embracing the origins of the classic Italian pizzeria. They even restored the restaurant signage on the exterior and the Buon Gusto legacy lives on in the space’s new name: Buon Gusto Studios.
‘Colour, texture, and tone are derived from the original restaurant’s interior and era, forging a connection between its past and present use,’ Benjamin adds.
The upstairs was already divided into ‘private dining rooms’ — punctuated with hand-painted Sicilian murals and large windows with arched awnings — which have been converted into studios for a collective of creatives from across Sydney’s inner city.
In addition to Eliza and Studio Shand, resident artists here include Morgan Stokes, Katie Harvey, Bronte Leighton-Dore, writers Madeleine Gottlieb and Will Goodfellow, alongside interior design firm Studio Manifold.
‘Filling the spaces was all word of mouth,’ Eliza says. ‘We reached out to artists around us and met with many. Our aim was to create balance between creative pursuits, and to bring together a group we felt would get along. We’ve now all been in the space for over six months and the dynamic is wonderful.’
Everyone has their own space and schedule, but when the sun is shining, they often meet on the rooftop terrace for aperitivo hour!
