This project was a renovation of a Sir Roy Grounds single-level brick house to peel away an existing renovation and reinstate the integrity of the original design. Home to a family of four (including two daughters aged 9 and 14), it needed a good flow through the home, a functional solution for the kitchen and laundry-cum-study, more natural light and a greater connection to the outdoors.
Doherty Design Studio (DDS) re-orientated the kitchen to create a long, rectangular openplan living-dining-kitchen space with a walk-in pantry, a dedicated laundry and a study. To harness natural light, an existing skylight was retained and the kitchen incorporates an existing window with views to the exterior.
Yellow was used throughout the home as an accent colour to complement the built-in joinery and provide some brightness to the neutral palette. The owner’s love of quirky details, unusual material selections, specific colour preferences and natural finishes meant DDS could inject interest through a rich layering of light and dark materials – custom concrete, sheet cork flooring (cut into tile-shaped panels with rebated edges to express the joins in a herringbone pattern), terrazzo, bluestone, hoop pine ply, blackbutt, brass and perforated stainless steel. Further yellow accents were introduced in a sliding door into the living area, an amber glass pendant over the dining table and amber glass panels incorporated into the kitchen window.
Additional seating is achieved in a storage/seating area that wraps around a wall in the open-plan area. And further tailoring the home to the family is a space in the study dedicated to storing cages for rescued animals.
Sustainability statement
The client wanted to re-work the existing footprint of the house rather than extend, plus utilise natural resources for heating with slow combustion wood-fired heaters and cooling. Doherty Design Studio employed sustainable materials, including cork flooring, and utilised recycled/vintage furniture and recycled timber flooring from Urban Salvage and blackbutt veneer and ply for joinery. Natural light was maximised to lessen the need for artificial light, while LEDs were the lighting of choice where necessary.
