Sydney Cove House
Preserving its historical essence as a late 19th-century Georgian terrace overlooking Walsh Bay, this four-storey residence was revived with practical thinking to accommodate a family with three young adult children. Indoors and out, heritage details were restored and highlighted with contemporary additions to enhance the home’s classic codes and aid functionality, including a re-shuffling of rooms.
- SCOPE
Full Interior Design, Custom Fabrication and Furnishing
- HERITAGE ARCHITECTURE
Long Blackledge Architects
- PHOTOGRAPHY
Anson Smart
Our clients, like us, wished for the design process not to be about removal and concealment, but enhancement and evolution. What resulted was a crisp mediation that frames the home. Internal walls were unified with a bright white tone, while repaired floorboards were stained a rich ganache shade to ensure light bounced across surfaces.
Pivotal to the renovation was the creation of a galley-style kitchen that neatly tucks along the courtyard’s boundary wall. Contained within a seam of glass incorporating sliding doors, it welcomes connections to outdoor dining. Deep marine blue joinery anchors the home to its neighbouring shoreline. ‘Arent&Pyke delivered beyond our expectation given the heritage limitations. They talked us through their considerations so beautifully and adroitly with a wonderful energy, and made the home feel relevant to us, adding the liveable, contemporary component.’ Homeowners, Sydney Cove House
As levels rise, furnishings take on a more minimal, lighter presence. They tonally alter from bolder saturations that play to the textural splendour of the foundational sandstone walls (including large rugs infusing the living and dining rooms with warm spice notes cooled with silvery blues) to subtle pastel shades within the bedrooms. Large white paper lanterns float notions of ascending levity and tactical mirror placements visually amplify dimensions and bounce natural light about.
We subtly referenced the nearby wharf’s trade origins while respecting the soul of the original structure. Stair treads were lined with a hardy Sisal runner, and scattered about, rope armchairs and rustic timber stools serve as reminders of how rarefied beautifully hand-crafted basic materials have become.
A main bathroom migrated to what was the dining room. Syncing in scale with the small grid pattern of the courtyard and kitchen’s newly laid cobblestones, we introduced subtle pink marble to line the floors, adding warmth, as does our custom winged mirror with its rose gold tone. It nestles a freestanding bathtub within its gracefully minimal wingspan, enabling views when bathing. ‘Now that we’re living in the home, we can appreciate it in a gestalt way – it really is more than the sum of indefatigable parts, and we have something so special.’ Homeowners, Sydney Cove House
Inside the attic, the exposed original timber beams add a lofty sense of space within the re-located primary suite. What results is a puritan sense of escapism, enhanced by the romantic window outlook where we placed a vintage timber desk recalling a poet’s corner. The room steps back in time, yet resonates a contemporary sentiment given our minimal décor selections. ‘It was amazing to fall in love with the house all over again when Arent&Pyke came on board thanks to their infusions of beauty. They really gave us a vision to work towards.’ Homeowners, Sydney Cove House.
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