First Look: A New Ceramics Studio Shapes Its Creative Future

This new ceramics studio in Brighton & Hove gives Matt Smith – V&A artist – a dedicated Sussex base that unites making, research and display within a compact, light-filled space. We designed, the building to function as both a working studio and a public threshold, opening the processes of contemporary ceramics to the city’s coastal creative community.​

Studio, Clay & City

Rooted in layered seaside context, the studio borrows the scale and texture of local mews and yards while announcing itself through carefully detailed natural minimised surfaces. Its position is hidden - out of sight, carefully positioned in a well crafted environment of care and attention.

Light, Layout & Practice

Soft coastal daylight is drawn deep into the plan, giving Smith precise control over how colour, texture and glaze will appear in varied exhibition settings. Flexible work zones, archive tables and mobile display elements support his dual role as maker and curator, enabling rapid testing of installations that challenge how histories and identities are framed in institutional collections.