Architect Ben Edwards, UK-trained, co-directed Edwards Moore Architects from 2009-2016. In 2011 winning the National Interior Design Excellence Award for projects like the Arnsdorf store—a hosiery-crafted concept space & Lightbox House- with its perforated flooring & translucent roof. The 2012 Institute of Architects Award followed, recognising the dual-purpose Artist Carpark Studio.
After the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, Edwards led bushfire recovery, creating the regrowth pod—an open-source prefab shelter now vital after the 2019/2020 fires. He held a 2005 board position at the not-for-profit Social Studio, transforming Smith Street into a recognised retail and training area for underprivileged Australians.
In 2016, Ben founded Studio Edwards, devoted to innovative projects. These include the Micro-hotel, House 28—a prefab dwelling for a tricky coastal site, a laneway house designed solely from shadow diagrams, and sky pavilion—a prefab steel roof garden for a 4-storey townhouse, supported by existing party walls. The studio has earned accolades including Designer of the Year 2019, Best Retail, Best Workspace 2021, and numerous sustainability Awards.
In 2018, self-initated ‘alt.material' explored fabrication and materiality, inviting designers to reimagine materials through exhibitions, resulting in an ongoing materials archive —alt.material.com. In 2019, amid COVID-19, the studio introduced the 408Smith retail model—a scalable income- generating approach for building owners.
More recently, in 2022, the studio's 22m2 Finesse shoe store
won the National Australian Interior Design Award. They are currently developing plans to transform their Fitzroy studio into an apartment complex—with the ambition to push small space design to its limits.