The clients had recently purchased a ground‑floor apartment in a harbourfront block of six, tucked within a quiet and highly coveted pocket close to the city. We had worked together before on another nearby apartment, and that shared history gave us a clear foundation for how this new home could evolve.
The apartment itself offered two undeniable strengths: an extraordinary location and a wide, uninterrupted frontage to Sydney Harbour. Yet its internal organisation worked against these qualities. Spread over three levels, the main floor—arguably the most valuable spatially—had been carved into a kitchen and a bedroom, while the living room had been relegated to a partially subterranean level below. The two upper bedrooms required little intervention and were largely left untouched.
Our first move was decisive: to completely reimagine the internal arrangement. The entire main level was reclaimed as the primary living space, allowing it to fully embrace the harbour outlook. The former lower‑ground living area was transformed into a generous master suite with robe and ensuite. Achieving this within a rigid structure, beneath two other apartments, required inventive thinking and the use of specialist construction methods.
The resulting home has an openness and clarity that were previously unimaginable. Sightlines now extend freely—across rooms, through spaces, and out to the water. The living area unfolds seamlessly onto a full‑length deck, effectively doubling the usable space for most of the year and dissolving the boundary between inside and out.
Given the apartment’s inherently low ceilings and its single aspect to light and views, we chose a palette that embraced richness and depth. Materials are tactile, dark, and luxurious. A matte smoked oak veneer and a deeply pigmented, ultra‑matte paint form a continuous backdrop throughout. There is no white anywhere in the project; the lightest tone is a soft grey, equally matte, used on the ceilings to create a gentle, enveloping atmosphere.
Against this restrained canvas, key material moments bring contrast and intensity: bright brass kitchen cabinetry, a lively green marble floating cabinet suspended from a steel column, and a beautifully grained dark granite. A newly inserted wall finished in Venetian plaster becomes one of the apartment’s defining gestures, complemented by steel details subtly influenced by a recent visit to Carlo Scarpa’s work in Italy.
Sliding doors allow the apartment to shift between openness and privacy, concealing functional areas such as laundry and storage when not in use. With such a richly textured interior and low ceiling planes, lighting became a central design focus from the outset. Recessed magnetic tracks—only 20mm wide and set flush into the ceilings—provide a refined linear structure while allowing endless flexibility in the placement and adjustment of fittings.
Two large gold‑leaf disc lights in the entry hall offer a warm, sculptural welcome. They echo a gold‑leaf niche from the clients’ previous apartment while enriching the patinated brass wall behind them.
Photos by Mark Syke.