Sobi Slingsby

With a love of design and a growing understanding, Slingsby is well on the way to reaching her potential and uncovering her architectural motif.

It seems that Sobi Slingsby was always destined to become an architect. For someone who admits to being indecisive, becoming an architect was one thing Slingsby definitely knew she wanted.

With parents who are both potters, form and the handmade were intrinsic to everyday life. And then there was also an uncle who happened to be an architect. Not to mention a childhood fascination with space planning through a game played with her sister, imagining where people might sleep and eat in the rocky outcrops of the beaches in the mid-north coast of New South Wales.

From childhood aspirations to the present day, Slingsby has indeed followed her passion and in 2021 completed her NSW ARB accreditation. There has been quite a journey in between that has helped mould and define her in the exploration and meaning of architecture and design.

Studying architecture at Griffith University was a pathway for her fledgling career and a supportive relationship with her tutor, Dr Henry Skates, provided guidance that helped shape her architectural thoughts. Concurrently, in the last two years of her course, she was working with architect Rob Norman, director at Symbiosphere, on a project on Lady Elliot Island in the Great Barrier Reef. This project further developed Slingsby’s interest in the environment and she was able to see firsthand the changing climate as she mapped the island using a cloud port scanner supplied by the University.

Able to consider nature and weather patterns, she developed a project for her master’s thesis: a design of elevated tent typologies, in a response to the anticipated impact of climate change and sea-level rise on a coral cay at the southernmost tip of the Great Barrier Reef.

Not only has the study for her thesis provided definitive information on changing weather patterns, her proposal was unanimously voted the best submission by the judges who awarded the prestigious BlueScope Glenn Murcutt Student Prize from the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) in 2019.

Through her exploratory design of land-based and over-water architectural shelters, Slingsby further created her conversation about climate change through an architectural response and also claimed a much-lauded accolade.

“Winning the Glenn Murcutt award was pretty amazing. It’s an incredible honour. In my position as a student, it was very special,” says Slingsby.

Upon graduation, Slingsby joined the esteemed practice, Peter Stutchbury Architecture, placing her in the very centre of the vibrant Sydney architecture community, working at an exemplar practice where every day was, and still is, an incredibly valuable learning experience.

Peter Stutchbury is a fine mentor and through his work has achieved countless awards and a stellar reputation. In the past, houses such as Invisible House have stretched the boundaries of design through the use of steel and it is apparent this is still the case today.

One residence near the coast that Slingsby is working on in the studio will have a roof made from SUPERDURA^® Stainless steel in LYSAGHT CUSTOM ORB^® profile, that will set the scene for beauty, durability and longevity.

“I’ve seen some really impressive things come together with steel in the office and following them being designed is remarkable,” she says. “Steel can simplify the construction of a design in a way which is quite lovely, it doesn’t have to be a consumptive build because, as a material, steel brings flexibility.”

Spending time at Peter Stutchbury Architecture has also opened ways of learning. “There’s a huge focus on and importance of passing on information, educating and sharing knowledge, which is a fantastic way to work,” says Slingsby. Alongside respect, the practice is immersed in the ethos and values of sustainability.

This of course also relates to materials made by BlueScope. As Slingsby comments: “I think this discussion around durability and recyclability is very important”.

“I know Peter Stutchbury and the studio have been doing this for a really long time, and it’s good to see such principles integrated, and more broadly accepted.”

Also, the idea of buying local is fundamental in Slingsby’s mind. “The idea of us being in Australia, this big island, it was easy to not question where something came from before the pandemic. But now, you start to question; ‘Where does it actually come from? What’s in it, that means I can’t get it made here? So, I think the idea that people have slowed down because they’re not travelling all the time allows time to question the origins of their purchase, especially in construction,” she says.

“And also, I think working with more durable, flexible and lightweight materials such as steel is good. As I’m sitting here, looking at a steel frame balustrade at the office, it has the ability to be recycled and reconfigured.”

For this advancing architect, working at a pedigreed architecture studio – gaining knowledge of design, process and materiality – is helping to form an exceptional practitioner.

“I’ve always admired the lovely big sheds that you see in the country and I think there’s something beautiful about the simplicity of using material such as COLORBOND^® steel,” she says. I think it can be a very Australian aesthetic and growing up in an old house where you can hear the rain on the roof, is such a wonderful timeless memory” she reflects.

Memories are powerful; they can inform future actions.

With a love of design and a growing understanding of steel in her sights, Slingsby is well on the way to reaching her potential and uncovering her architectural motif.

This is a star on the rise and a bright light to follow, however it seems almost that for Sobi Slingsby, the future has already arrived.