Studio
Navatu makes precision laser-cut miniature room kits. We're based in Paddington (Sydney, Australia). It's a small operation and we like it that way.
ARTIST'S BEDROOM: CONCEPT SKETCH
BATHROOM
SURF SHACK
WRITER'S ROOM
Louise bought a miniature diorama kit online in 2025. Spent her evenings building it instead of answering work emails. When she finished she thought: good. Then she thought: this could be so much better.
Six months later, Navatu.
PADDINGTON
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
EVENING LIGHT
CHESTER AT SUNRISE
BONDI AT DUSK
AFTER THE WALK
EVENING SKY
SANDSTONE
BONDI
Design
Each room begins with sketches, references and a lot of adjustment.
Prototype
Parts are cut, assembled and changed until the room works.
Make
The final pieces are cut in our Paddington studio, checked and packed here.
Cut in the studio.
Sheets are loaded by hand and cut one at a time.
Each run teaches us something. Some parts work. Some go back to the drawing board.
Louise builds systems, stories and objects.
Navatu brings together Louise's work across design, publishing, art and law.
She studied Art History and Theory at the University of Sydney, then Graphic Design at Enmore Design Centre. She worked in book publishing and multimedia design before becoming a litigation lawyer.
Her strength is taking something complicated and making it coherent.
Painting remained part of her work, but miniature rooms offered something different. They brought drawing, spatial design, materials, light, engineering and storytelling into one object.
In 2025, Louise bought a miniature room kit and spent her evenings building it instead of answering work emails. When it was finished, she thought it could be better.
Six months later, Navatu.
SEE LOUISE'S PAINTINGS →Navatu means "the rock".
The name comes from a house at Kurraba Point on Sydney Harbour, built on a broad shelf of sandstone.
Navatu is a Fijian word meaning "the rock". In English, it also sounds a little like "navigate to you".
Both meanings stayed.
"I am large. I contain multitudes."
WALT WHITMAN, SONG OF MYSELF
Our kits are small rooms that hold real things: light, proportion, joy, patience. That's enough.
See what we've been building. Browse the collection.