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      Mid-century Melbourne apartment modernised with pistachio green kitchen

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      Architect Murray Barker and artist Esther Stewart worked together to retrofit this two-bedroom 1960s apartment in Melbourne’s Brunswick neighbourhood using colours and materials that pay homage to the original mid-century interior.When the current owners bought the walk-up apartment, it had been empty for 20 years and had its original decor including linoleum and carpet floors and salmon pink walls. The owners wanted to retain its character while updating the living spaces to suit modern life.
      Built in 1961, the 65-square-metre apartment is split into two zones with a living space and kitchen at the front on either side of the entrance and two bedrooms on either side of a bathroom at the rear.

      A skylight lets light into the kitchen

      “The apartment’s layout was typical of many apartments of this typology, with a clear division between living and private spaces and with frontage on two sides,” Barker told Dezeen.
      “We wanted to retain room divisions, but at the same time improve connections, extend sightlines and bring more natural light into the kitchen.”

      Austin Maynard Architects adds steel-and-glass extension to brick cottage in Melbourne

      The apartment’s original large windows provided ample natural light and effective cross ventilation. The owners felt that the existing kitchen, however, felt disconnected from the living room as the space was too confined to accommodate a dining table and lacked adequate natural light.
      To remedy this, Barker and Stewart reconfigured the plan to improve the connection between the living room and the kitchen.

      The Pistacho-coloured kitchen has a terrazzo floor
      The dividing walls between the two rooms were partially demolished and joinery elements were inserted to reorder circulation paths between the home’s central entrance, the reoriented kitchen and the living room.
      “We expanded the use of integrated joinery, considered existing proportions and details, and the use of high quality, robust but interesting materials,” said Murray.

      The interior of the cabinets is a rich terracotta colour
      The new kitchen layout has an L-shaped plan that is open to the living area and anchored by a custom-made steel frame table with a Rosa Alicante marble top and fixed banquette seating.
      Visible from the living room, a long kitchen countertop made from the same red marble as the table completes the L-shaped kitchen plan and incorporates a stove, oven and sink.

      Red marble was used across the work- and tabletops
      A skylight above the kitchen table lets sunlight into the space through thick glass roof tiles. The ceiling is insulated and the roof window is double-glazed to minimise additional heat gain and to retain winter warmth.
      Murray and Stewart selected the pistachio green colour for the joinery in a nod to the original 1960s-era kitchen that it replaced. Details include visible framing around doors and drawers and custom finger pulls. Sliding-pocket doors reveal a hidden appliance area in the pantry to hold a toaster, kettle and coffee machine.

      Barker and Stewart retained the apartment’s original 1960s bathroom
      The apartment’s bathroom is the 1960s original and features speckled flooring, dusty pink tiles and baby blue sanitaryware.
      “Each apartment in the block has a unique toilet, bath and sink set in contrasting colour palettes, in combination with unique terrazzo flooring in the bathroom,” Murray explained. “The interior materiality was specific and robust but enthusiastic and this was something we wished to explore and elaborate upon.”
      The terrazzo floor tiles that are used across the rest of the apartment were salvaged excess stock from a larger project and were chosen to complement the original floors.

      The apartment is housed in a typical red brick complex
      “These buildings are visually robust, but there is beauty in the material nuance of the brown brick and subtle ornamentation through the considered design of ordinary things,” he continued. “The original interior aesthetic was far from white walls and plain tiles.”
      Last year, London studio Archmongers renovated a duplex mid-century flat in one of the city’s most well-known housing estates, using shades of red, yellow and blue to complement the modernist material palette. Meanwhile in Rome, Italian architecture office La Macchina Studio renovated a 1950s apartment, revealing original terrazzo floors and adding bold colours.
      Photography is by Benjamin Hosking.

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      Casa ai Bailucchi is a two-level apartment overlooking Genoa port

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      Italian studio Llabb has combined two apartments in Genoa, creating a quirky home that combines nautical references with contemporary art.Casa ai Bailucchi is the home of a young creative couple – one is a gallery owner and music lover, the other is a freelance graphic designer.

      The L-shaped upper level contains the kitchen and living spaces
      The two-level, 135-square-metre apartment is located on the upper levels of a building overlooking the port, so the design was heavily influenced by the huge machinery that can be seen occupying the waterside.
      Locally based Llabb, led by designers Federico Robbiano and Luca Scardulla, planned the layout to take full advantage of the views and also peppered the interior with very subtle maritime references.

      Nautical details are combined with vintage furniture and contemporary artworks

      These references include a staircase with a rope handrail, a porthole window, and a colour palette featuring shades of blue and yellow.
      Other details include a mix of custom-made and vintage furniture, decorative tiles, large plants and a variety of artworks from the clients’ personal collection.

      The upper floor leads out to a 100-square-metre roof terrace
      The starting point for the design was the addition of a staircase, connecting the two previously separate apartments. With four metres of height between the two floors, it was a challenge to fit this in.

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      Robbiano and Scardulla’s solution was to create a staircase that winds up in several different sections. As well as the blue rope handrail, it features oak treads and a steel frame with open risers.

      The nautical-inspired staircase features a rope handrail and a porthole window
      “The result is pretty dynamic and allows the visitors to see the apartment from different views,” Scardulla told Dezeen.
      “It guides you, almost like the stepping stones in Japanese gardens.”

      The bedroom features plaster walls and terrazzo flooring
      Both levels have their own character. The lower level is more compartmentalised, with two bedrooms, a study room, and a bathroom.
      Original terrazzo floors have been preserved in these rooms. There are other nods to the building’s history too, for instance, the master bedroom features an arched window and exposed plaster walls.

      Patterned tiles feature in both the bathroom and the kitchen
      The upper level is mostly open-plan. The L-shaped floor plan naturally separates the lounge area from the dining space and kitchen, with the space further subdivided by cutaway walls.
      “It was a big challenge to manage the long and narrow living space on the upper floor; the risk was to have a ‘corridor effect’,” said Robbiano.
      “We used different layers of perceiving and living the space, making it more interesting to explore.”

      Studio workspaces can be found on both floors
      The apartment contains two work-from-home spaces. As well as the study room on the lower level, there is a “studiolo” on the upper floor, which the designers liken to the cockpit of a crane.
      The living space also opens out to a 100-square-metre roof terrace, which the owners have filled with even more plants.
      Photography is by Studio Campo.
      Project credits
      Design: LlabbDesign team: Luca Scardulla, Federico Robbiano, Linda Consiglieri, Laura Davite, Riccardo Gelmini, Martina Pisano, Floria BruzzoneConstruction: Zena CostruzioniCarpentry: Carlino SantoMetalwork: Metal ProjectTiles and sanitary ware: NobiliFlooring: Effebi parquet

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      Jean Verville Architecte inserts gridded steel lightwell into Montreal home

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      Canadian studio Jean Verville Architecte has created a theatrical interior inside a Montreal house by adding a large steel structure capped by a skylight that casts dramatic shadows.For the project, called MSO; Play/Pause, the studio completely reorganised the interior of the building and built a 12-metre-high steel lightwell in the centre of the three-storey house.

      Top image: the steel structure casts dramatic shadows. Above: it runs through the house
      The house belongs to a pair of actors, Sophie Cadieux and Mani Soleymanlou, so Jean Verville Architecte designed them a  home that could double as a performance venue.
      “We subtracted floor sections from the heart of the house to insert the steel structural installation, ” studio founder Jean Verville told Dezeen.
      “The rooms on the outskirts have been kept but redistributed to new versatile functions.”

      Light from the skylight is scattered across the ground-floor kitchen

      The steel installation measures five by five metres. A skylight caps the structure, turning it into a lightwell that casts theatrical shadows in the rooms.
      Its addition breaks up the shapes of the existing rooms, creating an interesting new layout for the owners as they go about their daily lives.

      The steel grids create decorative shadows
      As the structure unfolds over the three floors of the four-bedroom house, it creates what the studio describes as “pauses,” with functional spaces at the bottom of the building followed by living spaces and then bedrooms.
      “We start with the first two scenic pauses on the ground floor with the kitchen and the multifunction room,” Verville said.
      “Then the six scenic pauses of the living spaces and artistic creation to then end with the two scenic pauses of sleeping breaks. Each space has been designed to be versatile and re-modelable with a new function, nothing is permanent!”

      A greige hue was chosen to enhance the shadow play
      Metal grid screens and low walls were also added to the interior to create intriguing divisions between the spaces.
      The studio chose a monochrome greige colour for the interior to underline the shadows and light patterns created by the steel structure, and to work as a background for potential future theatre events in the house.

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      “The great calm of monochrome greige and the changing and dancing light offer as much visual spectacle as inspiring spaces for theatrical rehearsal, and even soon the possibility of performance before a small audience,” Verville said.

      Jean Verville Architecte shot a series of playful images with the owners
      To capture the final result of the renovation, the studio shot a photo series of the MSO; Play/Pause space with photographer Felix Michaud that features the owners in different staged situations inside their home.
      Jean Verville Architecte recently finished another Montreal project, a white triplex adorned with gold windows. Previous projects on Dezeen include an electropop-informed installation created with students in Quebec City.
      Photography is by Studio Jean Verville Architects and Felix Michaud.

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      Ali Budd Interiors transforms Muskoka log cabin into art-filled cottage

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      Toronto studio Ali Budd Interiors has transformed a dated wooden log cabin into a comfortable Canadian holiday home, with a wood-lined sunroom, vintage rugs and art by Andy Warhol.The studio was asked to renovate the cottage in Muskoka, Ontario and turn it into a neutral but comfortable backdrop for its owners’ extensive art collection.
      “As the clients are big art collectors, we wanted to not only design the perfect space for the family to enjoy the surrounding nature, but create the perfect canvas to showcase their artwork,” founder Ali Budd told Dezeen.

      Top: monochrome furniture in the Great Room. Above: a crumpled newspaper artwork by Paul Rousso

      In each of the cottage’s rooms, fabrics designed to withstand an “indoor-outdoor” lifestyle are chosen for their practical but chic appearance.
      Mindful of Ontario’s extreme climate and the many visitors who are invited to enjoy a family’s second home, the studio made sure to choose materials that will endure considerable wear and tear.
      “While maintaining the charm of a cottage, we modernised the space by mixing textures, incorporating custom furniture designed by Ali Budd Interiors, and adding hints of black to give it that contemporary look,” explained Budd.

      Ali Budd Interiors chose materials for their ability to withstand wear and tear
      Ali Budd Interiors’ design choices balance this practical need with its clients’ love of both white interiors and natural wood.

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      In the cottage’s Great Room, the main living room, these design elements include neutral-coloured armchairs and a sofa by Ali Budd Interiors that have been fabricated by Cooper Brothers.

      Monochrome furniture surrounds a bespoke coffee table
      A pair of plush shearling ottomans from Luxe Pour Maison sits nearby, complemented by a bespoke Ali Budd white oak coffee table topped with a white Corian surface. A newspaper artwork by Paul Rousso adds colour to the room.
      The cottage also has a Muskoka room, a type of screened-in porch that acts as a sunroom. In this instance, it acts as an open-plan living room attached to the property’s dining area.

      Patterned Moroccan poufs add colour to The Muskoka Room
      The dining area is complete with a custom-made white Ali Budd dining table, and an iconic Campbell’s soup artwork by Andy Warhol. Black and white chairs from Restoration Hardware are positioned around the monochrome table.
      The Muskoka room’s panoramic windows give guests the feeling of being outside while they lounge on a custom curved grey sofa that hugs the room’s curved walls.
      “There is so much beauty outside this property, and we wanted to ensure that all of those elements shone through,” said Budd.
      Other interior highlights in the Muskoka room include a central round coffee table by Garcia Group, and vintage rugs and colourful Moroccan pous from Mellah Rugs.

      An iconic piece by Andy Warhol hangs in the dining room
      Throughout the house, colourful accents such as these poufs add bright texture to an otherwise white and minimal backdrop.
      “As we were working with a monochromatic palette, we were able to layer different finishes and textiles to create something part eclectic and part chic,” continued Budd.

      Porcelain countertops are seen throughout the sleek kitchen
      This monochrome theme is particularly emphasised in the black and white kitchen. Perhaps the most pared-back and modern of the cottage’s rooms, exposed natural beams are the kitchen’s only hint of the former log cabin.
      Durable porcelain forms the room’s countertops, and a Sonneman pendant light is suspended over the sleek kitchen island.

      An original artwork by Douglas Copeland fits between the staircase’s wooden beams
      More exposed beams above the cottage’s wooden staircase perfectly frame an original painting by Douglas Copeland, its bright colours offsetting the plain white walls on which it hangs.

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      Upstairs in the main bedroom, a black woven bed from American brand CB2 continues the cottage’s overall monochrome theme, while wiggly Graffito-print cushions by Kelly Wearstler soften the room’s clean lines.

      Graffito-print cushions add pattern to an otherwise minimal bedroom
      A final standout feature is the cottage’s renovated powder room. Originally one of the most dated-looking parts of the property, Ali Budd Interiors redesigned the room with bespoke millwork and an elegant custom-made mirror.
      Ali Budd Interiors is a female-led Toronto-based firm founded in 2010.
      More cosy cottages include this off-grid cabin in upstate New York and another log cabin renovation for a lake house in Quebec.
      Photography is by Ali Budd Interiors.

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