Yasmine Saleh Ghoniem and Katy Svalbe of Amber Road Studios designed an apartment for a modern cosmopolitan nomad in suburban Sydney.
Apartment 1906 is located in Potts Point, in a high-rise overlooking the harbor. The designers immediately decided that the spectacular landscape outside the windows would not be the only decoration of the interior. “Instead of, as is often the case, focusing solely on the breathtaking views outside, we quickly concluded that the interior would be just as expressive and layered,” they say.
The customer, an avid traveler who spends a lot of time at work, turned out to be a hospitable host. He asked to create an apartment of 80 square meters. A universal space where he would be comfortable living, as well as arranging holidays and more chamber parties, receiving guests from abroad. Space was also required for a growing art collection.
The heart of the house was the combined space of the living room-dining room -kitchen. The wall opposite the sofa is almost completely given over to the storage system, which successfully fits into the niche. The central section is occupied by a folding bed – a sleeping place for guests staying overnight. If you want to add a sense of privacy, you can separate the living area from the kitchen-dining room with a movable lattice screen.
In the dining room, a lamp with a vintage striped fabric lampshade catches the eye. Thanks to a special mounting system, its height is easy to adjust: both for the convenience of those sitting at the table and to open a view of the work hanging on the wall.
An unusual element of the hallway is three metal pipes, part of the plumbing system. Previously, they were hidden by a bulky wooden structure, but the designers got rid of it to increase the space of the hallway and make it more open. One of the pipes is wrapped with leather cords to look like a decorative element.
The interior is dominated by rather dark shades, as the customer wanted. Part of the concrete surfaces – the apartment was bought at the stage of an empty box – remained as it is. Some of the walls are painted in pale gray or dark blue. The master bedroom and bathroom have a dark gray terrazzo floor. The furniture is mostly black.
Cold restrained tones balance warmer colors: reddish marble on the kitchen backsplash and countertop, wide sandy carpet, and wood elements.
