It occurred to us recently that while we’ve been filling your feeds with sparkly images of our beautiful new space, you’d be forgiven for thinking this architectural gem just magically popped up over night. Not true!
You see, Newstead Studios is not just a pretty space. There’s two people who dreamt it up and brought it to life, and that’s us – Cass and Sam. Hi! Sam is a photographer and director who travels to the most beautiful corners of Australia shooting for a long list of lifestyle and fashion brands, and Cass is a former communications manager who recently left the corporate world to steer the Newstead Studios ship. We’ve been married nine years, created two rat bags and now we’re putting all our eggs in one basket to live our dream.
Our history with the building goes back 10 years – we actually had our engagement party here when it was just a raw, blank canvas warehouse! When the owner (a family friend who used it as a gallery for his artwork) went to sell it, we pounced. We did some basic DIY renos and converted it into a photography studio with some open plan office partitions. This worked nicely for a few years, but we always had a grand plan bubbling away in the background (and also the roof leaked and the aircon unit took up half the studio). Our vision was to create a space that inspired creativity through beautiful design, lots of natural light, greenery and a variety of mixed-use spaces.
It took us several years of planning to make sure we got the design, layout, aesthetic and functionality just right. Finally, we engaged a brilliant builder (Apollo Property Group) and architect (Fouche Architects) and brought the vision to life – a light-filled creative hub and event space to create, collaborate and entertain. The finished product is beyond our wildest dreams and we are so proud of it.
We have a stunning co-working space filled with inspiring business minds and creative talent, a photography studio that makes jaws drop, spaces for all kinds of beautiful events, a mesmerising gallery, and a café drawing queues around the block. Pretty cool.
So there you have it. The face(s) behind the space. Now that you know us, pop in and say hi and have a coffee. We want Newstead Studios to be a place that breathes life into the creative process, whether it be a photo shoot, event, exhibition or just a brainstorm.
We are incredibly grateful for the support of our friends and family – running your own business together is no walk in the park. We hope you enjoy following our journey…we have some very exciting things in the pipeline for Newstead Studios!
Cass & Sam
