Cinderella Deep | Geller Studio

“We wanted Cinderella Deep to feel like one generous room with many lives. The design holds work, conversation, art, wine tastings and quiet moments together through a single architectural gesture: a long walnut table that anchors the space and gives form to the collective spirit of Ubuntu.”

Valeria Geller, Director & Architect, Geller Studio

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What was the brief and how did you approach it?

Cinderella House in Redfern is a space for coming together, a place to forge ideas and share knowledge, inspiration and conversation. It’s a hub for enterprise, camaraderie and entrepreneurship, where members gather over news, meals and work.

For the ground-floor entrance, “Cinderella Deep”, the brief was to welcome visitors: a space to work, host and cross-pollinate that clearly connects to the rest of the building and physically embodies the Collective’s core value of Ubuntu  “I am because we are.”

A client visit to the Donald Judd Foundation set the tone, focusing on proportion, rhythm and material. The space was also composed to be in dialogue with Anna Dudek’s sculptural copper works.

Can you give some insights into the design process?

We began by setting the choreography of arrival: a custom reception desk welcomes you, then a long table leads you deeper into the building. The plan takes its cue from Ubuntu (one space, shared purpose), so it works hard through the day for meetings and shifts effortlessly at night for wine tastings and hosting other events. Embracing the site’s constraints, we kept the structure honest and centred everything on a single, nearly eight-metre walnut table with cork inlays. Its legs read as volume (storage, support, and rhythm in one), while stools tuck away until called upon. From this spine, smaller hubs and quiet nooks take their cues, offering spots to focus, talk, or collaborate.

What are some of the key ideas behind the project?

-      Ubuntu and shared values: The room is conceived as common ground where the Cinderella collective comes first; the long table is the anchor for gathering and exchange.

-      Versatility, day to night: A workspace that shifts easily into events, tastings, talks and exhibitions. Furniture, lighting and planning support quick changeovers.

-      Working with what’s there: Structure and brickwork stay expressed; new insertions are keyed to the existing grid and spans, setting a calm, Judd-informed rhythm of repeated modules. Air-conditioning services are absorbed into a continuous shadow line along the ceiling beams and acoustic panels (part of the form, nearly invisible).

-      Workstation as architecture: The long walnut table integrates power and cable management; chairs tuck flush; legs read as rhythmic volumes for storage and services—so the whole setup recedes into the room, reading as a sculptural form.

-      Place-based making: Locally sourced materials and a short supply chain, delivered through collaboration with local artisans and craftspeople.

-      Opposites in balance: Warm materials (walnut, cork, textured leather, lacquered gloss joinery, existing brick) are balanced with cooler, robust elements (galvanised steel, glass, concrete) to create harmony.

Can you talk a bit about the materials used and your approach to materiality?

We pair opposites to find balance - warmth against the industrial. Deep-stained walnut and cork sit alongside the warmth of the existing brick details, while high-gloss lacquered joinery offers a crisp counterpoint to galvanised steel, glass and concrete. Supple hides from NSW Leather add a softer touch at the hand and bring the room to a more human scale. The mix is layered and intentional: materials are chosen to spark imagination as well as serve function, so combinations stir emotion and curiosity while solving practical needs. Texture sets the mood and rhythm; clay renders are left to gently patinate over time, echoing how the space will evolve with use.

How do different rooms, spaces and zones relate to each other?

It’s one big, breathing room on purpose. We’ve tuned it by light and tempo rather than walls: sunny edges along the street windows for lounging, deeper pockets for focus. A clear height hierarchy of leaners, standard tables and low lounge settings sets the pace, and a tidy service spine lets the space flex without a reset. Structure stays honest; warmth and grit sit together, so the whole reads calm, communal and ready to shift from work to hosting in a beat.

Were there any constraints or particular challenges involved in the project?

Because of the timeline (early April to end of July/opening party), we kept the structure, refined rather than rebuilt, and made every move count: reclaimed brick bands in the slab instead of patching, and the existing ceiling transformed in place to read like off-form concrete while concealing services and softening sound. We stitched this level into the wider building with a new entrance to the mineshaft stair and resolved a shift in building class—covering structure, fire and egress—so the required automatic fire door now reads as a considered industrial element. We worked with local collaborators and artisans to keep pace, and it became a joy that made the project stronger: furnishings, joinery and lighting were sourced locally or in-stock, keeping delivery tight and the making close at hand.

Does the project aim to create a certain experience or evoke a particular emotional response?

Calm and purposeful by day; charged and social after hours. The room shifts easily from collaborative work and meetings to open discussions, wine tastings, and exhibition moments for art and sculpture. Ubuntu sits underneath it all, it is a place that invites exchange.

A note on inspiration + collaboration

This project is a collective build. Sublime Custom Cabinetry prototyped and refined the joinery with us, Bishop Master Finishes delivered a custom off-form concrete texture, Promena Projects ran the site with Catalyst Consulting steering delivery, and Sphera layered the lighting in custom colour finishes so it sits quietly and the room can shift mood without fuss. Along the way we mocked up table and chair details, tested finishes in real light, and made decisions on the floor with the makers and with the people who’ll use the space. Anna Dudek’s copper pieces punctuate key moments, completing the dialogue. The furniture collection brings together existing client-owned pieces previously specified by YSG Studio from Studio ALM, additional furniture specified and procured by Geller Studio, and final styling layers by Joseph Gardner / Studio Gardner.