00:12This building is located in Potts Point which is close to the Sydney CBD. The
00:22apartments located below street level and to access it you have to go down
00:28almost two flights of stairs. This apartment is 49 square meters the building was
00:50originally built in the 1860s it feels quite dark as you're below a terrace
00:58above you but when you walk in the door you get a sense that this is something
01:02special. As you come down the hallway there's an angled piece of joinery which
01:07reorientates your focus to the Sydney city skyline. When we first found the
01:16apartment it looked like it had been renovated in about 30 years ago. Because
01:21the apartment was heritage listed we didn't want to interfere with any of the
01:26more classical features of it. So the idea was to touch the apartment lightly
01:32within our renovation. The apartment is primarily made up of two main rooms. When
01:38we got the apartment those rooms were divided up by some stud balls. We
01:43removed those stud walls and installed two light pieces of joinery, the wardrobe and
01:49the kitchen into the room. The living and dining room take prime position in the
02:00apartment and the focus is on the view. There's no built-in items and elements
02:10that compete with that. The kitchen which is situated in the living space is up on
02:19legs and is designed to feel like a piece of furniture. Having it up on legs does a
02:24few things. One, it doesn't feel like your normal kitchen and secondly you see the
02:31floor flowing right through underneath it and the sense of space is enhanced. We
02:38extended the marble splash back across the width of the living room so the
02:42kitchen just starts to feel part of the space. Because we didn't have overhead
02:49cupboards we needed to think differently about how we light the kitchen. Instead
02:55there's a pendant light that provides both task and ambient lighting in the space.
03:02The range hood's hidden behind a box that feels like it just folds out of the
03:06wall and accentuates the height in the space. As part of this unit we
03:14included the sink, dishwasher, cooktop and storage. We housed the guts of the
03:24kitchen in the corridor leading to the bathroom. We jigsawed the laundry fridge, oven,
03:34appliance cupboard and pantry storage into the space. Because the apartment was
03:42heritage listed we couldn't relocate the bathroom so it remained in its original
03:46position which actually meant the bathroom was one of the best positions in
03:50the apartment. The bath has a little window that pops out capturing views of
03:55the city. Just because the space is small doesn't mean we wanted to sacrifice any
04:01luxury but we were also presented with a few challenges. One being how to balance
04:07having a mirror and having the outlook from your wash basin. One of the ways that
04:12we did that was having a floating mirror propped up on a fine steel pole which
04:17reflects some of the thought behind the kitchen too.
04:22The front room is both the entrance and the bedroom so the wardrobe becomes the
04:28room divider but it doesn't go all the way to the ceiling which gives you a sense
04:33of more space while still creating privacy.
04:38We kept the bedroom open so that we could capture the view from the depth of the
04:43apartment. It also allowed for good cross ventilation through the apartment but
04:50when you need it there's a big sliding door that can close off the space.
04:56We installed wall lights in the bedroom so that the bedside tables were kept free.
05:03The bedroom has a full height curtain which creates a sense of warmth and luxury in the space
05:08but it also serves the functional purpose of providing both acoustic and visual
05:14privacy from the street. We took extra care with the elements of the apartment
05:20that you touch. The handles used in the wardrobe and the kitchen are a black and
05:25bronzed sand cast handle which give an element of luxury when you use them. We
05:31designed the apartment with longevity and sustainability in mind to give this
05:37apartment the longest life that it can have. The two floating pieces of joinery in
05:42the main spaces can be used now but they could also be removed in the future if
05:47the space turned into a shop or a commercial office. It was important to us to
05:54maintain the heritage features of this building whilst rejuvenating it with a
05:59contemporary addition. We think it's really crucial and important for our growing
06:05cities to use the housing stock that already exists.
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