A much needed renovation of this penthouse apartment on Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach. Located on the top floor of an interwar Art Deco walk up flat, the refurb looked to both open the apartment to a generous rear north facing courtyard and modernise the existing interiors. As a heritage item, particular care was taken internally + externally to retain protected features such as cornices and mouldings. Internally a joinery wall acts as furniture, separating public and private space and touching the existing fabric lightly to enhance the perception of space. Finishes and fixtures were chosen with the clients specific brief in mind to create a weekend retreat to relax and unwind in.
Description
The apartment building is Heritage listed – albeit local significance only, therefore a heritage report was undertaken for council approval. Council did impose some restrictions; namely the retention of the decorative cornices and external corbels. No changes were allowed to be made to visible window + doors.
The art deco period is a great period of architecture; the buildings are well made and beautifully detailed. We wanted to retain this level of quality while opening the apartment up for modern living. Retaining some art deco features keep some character of the apartment, while acknowledging the history.
The clients call the apartment their ‘diamond in the sky’, the project came about as the clients were used to living by the water but due to work and the kids schooling found themselves spending more time in the city. As a result they decided to split their time between the city + Bondi to make the best of both worlds.
The clients hail from both New Zealand and South Africa and wanted this reflected in the design of the space. The materials were picked to create a space that was elegant, modern but most importantly relaxed. The minimal palette also came about in order to make the whole apartment feel like one whole. The cornice wraps around ‘one space’, this only being broken up by the joinery dividing the apartment into public and private spaces. A retained palette of timber combined with black and white interventions was a way of tying all the spaces together and a reflection of the client and MCK’s design sensibility.
The apartment was opened up to the north, a new sliding bi fold door opens the entire width of the kitchen up to the courtyard allowing this space to become primary living space during the summer. The new curved seating provides and entertainment + reflection space, the design of this takes its cue from the art deco building and the overall material palette. The key design element in the project was removing the walls which divided the apartment, making it feel like one large room and then inserting the joinery into the spaces to provide areas for different functions. There is storage on both sides of the joinery for the kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom + general household storage. The clients are still finding cupboards to fill!
The long kitchen bench runs the length of the space, linking the three spaces (kitchen, dining, living) together both physically and visually. Externally the new seat and extension of the laundry help to define the courtyard space and tie it back to the internal spaces. It gives the outdoor space its own identity and purpose.
