{"id":254832,"date":"2025-06-17T14:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T04:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.russh.com\/?p=254832"},"modified":"2025-06-17T14:02:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T04:02:48","slug":"eliza-gosse-benjamin-jay-shand-interiors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.russh.com\/eliza-gosse-benjamin-jay-shand-interiors\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Darlington apartment of artist Eliza Gosse and architect Benjamin Jay Shand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tucked into the leafy folds of Sydney\u2019s Darlington, artist Eliza Gosse and architect Benjamin Jay Shand have carved out a life defined by colour, form and careful composition. Gosse, known for her architectural paintings of post-war and mid-century design, and Shand, who leads Studio Shand with a focus on architecture and object design through considered essential materials and geometries, are partners not just in marriage but in creative life too. Together, they run Buon Gusto Studios \u2014 a transformed former pizzeria that now acts as a shared creative space, just a stone\u2019s throw from their home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve lived here just over three years,\u201d Gosse says of their brick apartment block, cut into the sandstone at the edge of the city. \u201cIt immediately felt like where we wanted to be,\u201d Shand chimes in.<\/p>\n

Inside their home, their approach to interiors mirrors their individual disciplines: architectural yet lived-in, artistic but unpretentious. But their studio space leans into its past, celebrating its 1970s bones. \u201cFor Buon Gusto \u2013 our pizzeria-turned-studio \u2013 we leant into the period with mustard yellows and stained timbers,\u201d explains Shand. \u201cWhereas home is a little different. Face brick to the outside, and with rooms that taper and turn allowed us to be broader with our materials, colour and art.\u201d<\/p>\n

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At home, design decisions are intuitive, layered with personal significance. \u201cBenj designed and installed an acrylic bar for entertaining, and we have works of mine throughout \u2013 including a big painting from my alpine series and little portraits I\u2019ve done of Benj,\u201d Gosse says. The space reads like a living archive, filled with pieces made, found, or gifted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love our yellow lounge: an Adrian Pearsall design for Craft Associates. <\/span>There\u2019s<\/span> also our <\/span>fibreglass<\/span> bed; a very 70s suite of <\/span>moulded<\/span> shapes that we restored (that Eliza may tell you is uncomfortable, which is untrue).\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a continuous rotation of furniture and art through our home courtesy of Benj and his never-ending marketplace adventure quests,\u201d Gosse says with a smile. \u201cThere are so many favourites! One would have to be our bedroom rug \u2013 a design by Benj as part of his SUPERGRAPHICS<\/em>\u00a0collaboration between Studio Shand and Cadrys.\u201d Shand points to a particular standout: \u201cI love our yellow lounge: an Adrian Pearsall design for Craft Associates. There\u2019s also our fibreglass bed; a very 70s suite of moulded shapes that we restored (that Eliza may tell you is uncomfortable, which is untrue).\u201d<\/p>\n

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The space isn\u2019t precious \u2014 it\u2019s built for living and gathering. \u201cFrom our wedding afterparty and Christmas lunches<\/a> with friends, to movie nights with an inflatable screen on the roof \u2013 we love to entertain and have had some excellent times here,\u201d Gosse reflects.<\/p>\n

Art, of course, also plays a significant role in the fabric of their home. Their collection has grown organically, piece by piece. \u201cWe\u2019ve put together our collection from Eliza\u2019s art swaps, studio visits and late-night auctions,\u201d says Shand. \u201cEliza\u2019s Archibald portraits in the shared stairwell greet you on entry, so generally you have seen my face at least twice before you reach our door.\u201d He gestures to another favourite: \u201cOur Eric Smith work above the lounge \u2013 the large canvas with a rich blue background in oil \u2013 is an absolute favourite.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some pieces travelled longer journeys to end up here. \u201cThere\u2019s the Coburn Pinton tapestry that we found at an auction house in New Jersey, bringing it home in our suitcase,\u201d Gosse recalls. Others, like a small but potent memento, have a deeper local resonance. \u201cA slightly quirkier favourite of mine is a framed geometric carpet cutting that Benj pulled from the floor of the iconic Sirius building before it was gutted,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

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Living alongside art \u2014 particularly one\u2019s own \u2014 offers its own complex experience; over time, they explain, the work can reveal itself in new ways. \u201cI have made art over the years that I see completely differently through fresh eyes and in a new space, it can be a special feeling,\u201d Gosse says. \u201cMostly I have kept sentimental works, portraits of Benj, places we have travelled to, a little work of our old Darlinghurst apartment and one I gave to him on an early date in exchange for a dumpling dinner I wouldn\u2019t let him get me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly a great trade,\u201d Shand quips.<\/p>\n

Gosse is candid about the relationship between an artist and their older work. \u201cAll the works of mine in our collection remind me of a special time or place, otherwise, as my practice evolves, I would find it difficult to look at old works continuously without judging them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA Sunday afternoon may be the closest to ritualistic \u2013 coffee machine percolating, CDs spinning, Benj tinkering and I\u2019ll be drawing or baking.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But it\u2019s not just sentimentality that grounds their space, it can also be found in the little domestic rituals performed each day. \u201cA Sunday afternoon may be the closest to ritualistic \u2013 coffee machine percolating, CDs spinning, Benj tinkering and I\u2019ll be drawing or baking,\u201d Gosse muses. Their music taste, fittingly, leans into nostalgia and comfort. \u201cControversially, we’re a little more compact disc than vinyl!\u201d Shand jokes. \u201cI’m still spinning Welcome to the Black Parade<\/em>\u00a0whilst Eliza opts for some Norah Jones or Dido. There tends to be some middle ground but it\u2019s a little touch-and-go.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As an architect, Shand naturally filters his surroundings through an eye for detail. \u201cFor me it will always be about points of interest and difference \u2013 quirks in detailing, shows of an original architect\u2019s hand,\u201d he says. \u201cAt Studio Shand we place a real focus on detailing through making, so these are always things we look for in spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when it comes to the elements that elevate a house into a home, both Gosse and Shand agree it comes down to a few key pillars. \u201cColour, volume and objects with stories,\u201d says Shand. Gosse agrees: \u201cArt, knick-knacks and natural light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their sources of inspiration are expansive and eclectic. \u201cFor me, I\u2019ve always been drawn to artists that flatten perspectives and colours \u2013 Howard Arkley in Australia, and artists like David Hockney and Alex Katz abroad,\u201d Gosse says. \u201cI\u2019m also drawn to artists like Cressida Campbell and Fairfield Porter who can make you feel warm and sentimental about mundane everyday scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Shand\u2019s influences echo the unconventional and subversive sentiments present in his practice. \u201cI\u2019ve always liked designs and art that push the norm and play with form,\u201d he says. \u201cMy inspirations are broad and include the concrete works by John Lautner, playful timber homes by Andrew Geller, angular cars by Giorgetto Giugiaro, designs of Dieter Rams and constructivist sculptures of Robert Klippel. I could add Japanese robots from the 80s, but we\u2019d run out of time\u2026\u201d.<\/p>\n

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