Perched on the rim of an inner city crater lake, this house enjoys views through the trees, out over the landscaped garden to the crater basin and harbour beyond. What began as a simple request from the owners to accommodate a lift in their recently purchased home, quickly erupted into a full-scale modernisation when they casually asked their architects to put together some initial concepts for a renovation. Giving the design team free reign to propose something entirely unexpected was a gamble that paid off for these happy homeowners.

During its 40-year history, this two-level family home has been subjected to several refurbishments, the previous one taking place in the early 1990’s. With this most recent upgrade, virtually the only elements that have been retained are the existing envelope of the house and the general layout. The living spaces have been more defined and designed to create a lighter, more spacious feel and to improve the connection between the ground floor living areas. The mezzanine on the upper level creates a double-height glazed gallery that runs adjacent the pool area. During the upgrade, all the interior finishes and fixtures, as well as the balustrades, doors, windows and even the glazed façade facing the pool, were replaced. Soothing neutral shades and accents of stainless steel, tensioned shipping rigging and glass feature throughout. The neutral décor provides an ideal backdrop for the owners’ striking art collection, with the formal lounge incorporating custom-designed sculptural artwork screens.

The 4m-high brushed stainless steel front door with its diagonal motif introduces the theme of diagonal lines and metallic finishes that runs throughout the design. Inside the entrance, guests are greeted by a custom-designed water sculpture made of diagonal stainless steel tubes. Internally the entrance has been separated from the living areas by the sculptural wall.

This lower level of the house contains the open-plan living spaces, including the formal lounge, dining room, kitchen and laundry, family room, two offices, a guest bathroom and a sunroom that completely opens out to the garden offering 180-degree sea and city views.

A focal point of the formal lounge is its 4m-long fireplace clad in 600mm x 600mm tiles with a dark-grey-and-gold-flecked metallic finish reminiscent of volcanic stone. This room opens out onto a gallery that takes visitors via the dining room through to the kitchen and family room. This gallery is punctuated by angled stainless steel columns that rise from the ground and pierce the mezzanine level as they extend to the ceiling creating a dynamic sculptural form.

Located near the formal lounge is a sizeable underground wine cave concealed behind a ‘secret’ wall.

The upper level contains the private areas of the home – the master bedroom with a deck and ensuite, two additional bedrooms, and a media room with a library.

As the house faces north, the exterior has been fitted with automated sun blinds. The large outdoor entertainment areas look out onto the pool surrounded by palms and bromeliads, while terraced landscaping extends down the cliff with large vegetable gardens. A sleek, custom-designed stainless steel kinetic sculpture takes pride of place at the end of the pool and continues the diagonal theme.