SWEET DREAMS: A BOLD INNER CITY WAREHOUSE TO LIVE, PLAY AND DREAM
Allen Jack+Cottier’s bold, sculptural conversion of a 1060 sqm two level inner city Sydney warehouse into a private residence cleverly uses yachting technology to createa private sleeping pod. The project is shortlisted for the prestigious World ArchitectureFestival Awards, announced in October 2015.
This project by Australian firm Allen Jack+Cottier converted an existing two-level warehouse of 1060 sqm.Sections of the building were radically altered to introduce light and spatially connect the two levels,incorporating 4 bedrooms, living space, large commercial quality kitchen, music room, a swimming pooland a terrace.
Allen Jack+Cottier’s client had been searching for an inner city warehouse type building for some time.Unlike many aspiring home owners in Sydney, the client was not obsessed by a house with a view ofthe harbour or the ocean. Rather, he wanted to create an internal realm, suited to his interests in music,entertaining and visiting friends. Inner City Warehouse started life as a food manufacturing factory in theearly 1900s, and was subsequently used as a furniture factory.
The most significant insertion in the warehouse is the sleeping pod or, cave, on the first floor. This isthe owner’s private suite that sits as a piece of sculpture in the main living space, its internal volumesbillowing between the roof trusses. The alien form to the orthogonal geometry of the old warehousecreates new spaces but does not diminish the sense of space in the warehouse.
The glass reinforced foam structure is self-supporting and stands on the original floor like a piece offurniture albeit a rather large and heavy one. The pod contains a sleeping space, with a large bedintegrated into the shell, a day wardrobe/entertainment unit and a bathroom. Its walls/ceiling are allsprayed low VOC white resin, the floor to the sleeping space is of large format leather tiles and theensuite floor is finished like a yacht deck in certified teak boarding.
The outside of the pod is also finished in white resin, reflecting the changing light of the day and atnight floats on an LED illuminated mirror skirt. The surface is used as a screen for projected images tobackdrop entertainment events.
Interiors for Inner City Warehouse are by The Gentry’s Kelly Ross.
