STUDIO

Independent.
Experimental.
Material-led.

SYML takes its name from the Welsh word for simple.

The name connects to Mark’s Welsh heritage, but more importantly to an idea central to the work — simplicity not as an aesthetic, but as a process of removing what is unnecessary.

Material, proportion, function and the evidence of making are allowed to remain.

SYML is both a name and an intention.

MARK LEVER

Founder & Creative Director

Mark Lever is the founder and creative director of SYML, a New Zealand design studio creating objects for architecture.

AN UNCONVENTIONAL BEGINNING

Born in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland in 1963, Mark followed an unconventional path into design. Leaving formal education at fifteen, his early working life took him through factories, mines and commercial kitchens. Time spent cheffing and working in practical, process-driven environments established an early familiarity with materials, tools, repetition and making.

INSIDE THE STUDIO

IMAGE-MAKING

While living in London,

a chance introduction to photography became the beginning of a career in commercial image-making.

After returning to Aotearoa following the 1987 crash, Mark moved to Auckland and established himself as one of New Zealand's leading advertising photographers.

Photography led naturally into filmmaking. Mark went on to direct music videos and advertising campaigns, working internationally for major brands.

A CONTINUING FASCINATION WITH MAKING

Alongside this career ran a continuing fascination with making.

Sailing, building, woodworking, furniture and the process of understanding how objects are constructed.

In 2018 he co-founded SmallSpace, bringing these interests together through bespoke interiors, furniture and fabrication.

The SYML studio interior with its workbench and windows

WORKING FROM MATAKANA

Working from his studio in Matakana,

Mark now approaches lighting, architectural hardware and objects with the eye of an image-maker and the instincts of a craftsman.

Materials, proportion, surface, light and the evidence of process are central to the work.

SYML

SYML is the culmination of those experiences — a studio where image-making, fabrication and material exploration come together in objects intended to sit quietly within architecture while retaining a distinct identity of their own.

The workshop

The workshop keeps design and fabrication close together.

Prototyping, machining, assembly and finishing happen in the same place, allowing each object to be tested and refined directly in material.

The machinery is part of that process — a way of resolving proportion, surface, function and detail through making.

The Nereides sailing yacht anchored in a sheltered bay

SYML — Objects for Architecture.

Independent.
Experimental.
Material-led.

SYML takes its name from the Welsh word for simple.

The name connects to Mark’s Welsh heritage, but more importantly to an idea central to the work — simplicity not as an aesthetic, but as a process of removing what is unnecessary.

Material, proportion, function and the evidence of making are allowed to remain.

SYML is both a name and an intention.

MARK LEVER

Founder & Creative Director

Mark Lever is the founder and creative director of SYML, a New Zealand design studio creating objects for architecture.

AN UNCONVENTIONAL BEGINNING

INSIDE THE STUDIO

While living in London,

a chance introduction to photography became the beginning of a career in commercial image-making.

After returning to Aotearoa following the 1987 crash, Mark moved to Auckland and established himself as one of New Zealand's leading advertising photographers.

Photography led naturally into filmmaking. Mark went on to direct music videos and advertising campaigns, working internationally for major brands.

The workshop

The workshop keeps design and fabrication close together.

Prototyping, machining, assembly and finishing happen in the same place, allowing each object to be tested and refined directly in material.

The machinery is part of that process — a way of resolving proportion, surface, function and detail through making.

Independent.Experimental.Material-led.

While living in London,

Alongside this career ran a continuing fascination with making.

Working from his studio in Matakana,

The workshop

Independent.Experimental.Material-led.

While living in London,

Alongside this career ran a continuing fascination with making.

Working from his studio in Matakana,

The workshop

Independent.
Experimental.
Material-led.

Independent.
Experimental.
Material-led.