We're at Cremorne Point and the project is quite defined by that.
The view, it looks out over the foreshore reserve and then the bay and then the city beyond that.
We basically wanted to try and bring that into as much of the apartment as we could, so a lot of the
design was really how to bring that sense of light and the views all the way around the apartment.
A big part of the brief was about simplifying the circulation and providing a strategy to
have the apartment worked and how it related to that outdoor view.
The idea was to create an urban retreat,
but also a social family home within the constraints of an existing 80's building.
Initially the existing apartment had a kitchen which was totally enclosed and didn't have a
relationship with that view, so we removed that existing wall and opened up the plan.
The other thing we did was to link the
bedroom spaces and the living spaces so that we could bring light deep into the interior.
There's a central core which houses functional elements like bathroom, storage and kitchen, and
that then creates a circulation loop around that core which all of the living spaces are arranged
off of that loop. And I think that really helps the social aspect of the apartment. It creates
these interesting relationships. Conversations happen around corners and it encourages this
movement around the apartment. That was very much the mentality of the clients as well,
they wanted a simple way of life but something that really was quality.
Living in an apartment, space is at such a premium that we tried to make every
square meter do its job. That extended to concealing a lot of things within walls;
pantry, bookshelves, all of these marginal spaces were made use of.
From when you enter the apartment the bronze mirror is a subtle way to open up the space a
little bit, make that space feel larger than it really is. And then as you move
through past the joinery into the main living spaces, that's where it
goes from a more enclosed space and opens out and then you see the natural outlook.
We understood the tastes of the client which were very much around simplicity
and a very calm and understated approach to their way of life.
We wanted to create this sense of softness
and tactility that responded to touch and to human presence.
The materials could serve to bring light deeper into the apartment so a lot of the
design is around trying to create these uninterrupted surfaces of materials.
There's also a sense of real beauty to natural materials
when they're expressed in quite a simple way.
We use pale oak timbers, porcelain and aged bronze which has a living finish so that it
changes over time. That was an idea we were exploring this
idea of light passing and changing over time that had natural patinas and natural qualities
but would be something that is able to achieve a soft light when you actually experience it.
I think one of the things that people respond to in the design is that there is a sense of
simplicity and minimalism to it. There's a sense of repose, of calm.
People perceive that there's a Japanese influence in the design of it.
And whilst that wasn't necessarily something we were working towards,
part of that aesthetic is that the negative space is just as important as the positive space.
It's about trying to create these calmer or sparser areas that allow the individual
items or individual objects to really have their place within the design.
One of the real senses of accomplishment is when
the client comes to us and says "I've always wanted something like this!"
That wasn't part of their brief, it wasn't something that perhaps they even necessarily
knew that they wanted but we're really pleased to be able to fulfil this thing that wasn't even said
or wasn't even known beforehand. There's a real sense of satisfaction with that.
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