Peter McCamley has had a distinguished career with years of experience in senior leadership roles. It’s led to the creation of a new interdisciplinary practice which is guided by the principles of people, place and planet. McCamley worked for over 15 years with Pablo Albani at Geyer and GroupGSA, creating the basis for a strong relationship to take forward into a new practice.

With over 35 years of work in the design industry, it’s clear that McCamley has the breadth of knowledge and experience to make his own moves. After studying architecture initially, he found himself gravitating towards interior design from early on and began as a designer at Geyer. In 23 years at the company, McCamley moved all the way up to becoming CEO.

“I was fortunate in being exposed to a strategically focused design organisation but also having the opportunity to develop commercial acumen,” says McCamley. “That took me across Australia broadly but also into the Asia Pacific market.”

Albani, meanwhile, has a diverse portfolio of experience with a clear expertise and passion for commercial, workplace and higher education environments. Together, McCamley and Albani are establishing Studio P3 in order to “spark a difference” in the industry.

“As a young designer at Geyer under Peter as CEO/director, there was an obvious and immediate respect for him – he not only brought a nice balance of leadership and charisma to his role, but was generous with his time, especially when it came to strategic thinking, mentoring and overall knowledge sharing,” says Albani. “Later, we realised that we each came not only with a complementary set of skills but looked at the world through a similar lens.” 

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The next step, seven years ago, was a move by both to GroupGSA. It was already an established practice and McCamley’s role there focused on “building the brand perception of the organisation, specifically the interior design team,” he adds. The experiences in both practices have spanned commercial, workplace, education and hospitality sectors, as well as mixed-use projects. “Working side-by-side again at GroupGSA brought us closer together professionally, which really set the foundation for what we think Studio P3 will eventually become.” Says Albani.

It’s a strong foundation and the attention now turns to creativity and collaboration. “We strongly feel that, at this point in the industry, there’s a real need and incredible opportunity for creativity. That might be creative thinking in terms of how business can tap into people, the adoption of informative physical environments and the influence that has on our social consciousness,” says McCamley.

“Now, more than ever, there’s a richness in all industries around difference and we wanted to be part of that,” he adds. “That’s why we decided to set up Studio P3. From our perspective, the market is looking for freshness and a point of difference. It’s looking for the opportunity to bring good people together from diverse backgrounds with diverse mindsets to create innovative outcomes.”

“Strategic thinking with regards to workplace design is an ever-evolving beast, especially now after Covid,” says Albani with excitement for the future of the practice and sector. “We want to support our client end users, landlords and developers through clear design outcomes, expertise and collaboration. This means tapping into ongoing research on things like neurodiversity and its effect on the workplace or data informing how hybrid working is evolving.” 

The new studio is focused on collaboration within a framework that extends beyond design by broadening into consultancy work. “It’s very much about bringing the best of the industry together for the nature of a given project,” McCamley explains. A large part of the motivation here is also about mentoring young and emerging design talent, something that he notes is a great source of pride in both his and Pablo’s careers.

Albani is perhaps the best example of exactly that, illustrated fittingly with the establishment of Studio P3. “Studio P3 is a nimble practice, and we want to bring true collaboration back to our industry,” he notes. “We are here to break the mould of the standard interior design studio.”

And what about the name—where does the P3 in Studio P3 come from? It’s multilayered, beginning with the three Ps set to guide the practice: people, place and planet. “They tie into everything that we do,” says McCamley. He also explains how the number three carries a symbolic significance, representing unity and bringing people and industry partners together.

“We’re driven by opportunity ­– to make a difference and build relationships,” says McCamley. Building upon so many years of experience across different parts of the design world, Studio P3 is already hitting the ground running with consultancy engagements locally across Sydney and Melbourne, and more broadly Asia and the US market.

Studio P3
studiop3.com.au

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