Habitusliving.com

Posted: 15 Feb 2022 03:48 PM PST

Before Covid hit, the owner living in this flat would travel regularly to New York City for work. It's a place where he finds great inspiration connecting with his colleagues at company headquarters, and where he can enjoy the buzz and energy that surrounds.

With the desire to translate the vibe of a New York City hotel suite into his newly purchased HDB unit, he gave Right Angle Studio the rather tricky brief of making his flat "not look like one".

"The client wanted a haven where he could return to and relax comfortably," says Jay Liu, art director of Right Angle Studio. "The interiors are largely inspired by hotels in New York City, extending to the material palette and even the fragrance."

Currently, the home is scented with Jo Malone's Wild Fig & Cassis, which has been chosen by the owner himself. "The two most important times in a day for scents is in the morning and the evening, right before and after work. They help to set the mood and also lift his weariness on those extra long days," says Jay.

The owner is an avid food lover, and cooking and entertaining gives him great pleasure; for him, it's a means to connect with friends and family, and strengthen bonds.

As such the HDB flat has undergone a complete overhaul, with several walls removed to create a more open, fluid and comfortable space. Yet, privacy is ensured where louvre screens double as visual dividers to keep much of the unit hidden from passers-by along the common corridor.

A key feature of this residence is its elongated kitchen. Unlike most compact HDB kitchen layouts, this one stretches across the main living space, thus dissolving the divide between living, dining and cooking. "It's a full-service and integrated kitchen," shares Alex Liu, Right Angle Studio's design director.

"It is designed such that the owner can alternate swiftly between the steam oven and the hob. There's the ease of serving meals to the dining table immediately between the spaces too," he adds.

With the client in no rush to move in, the design team had many months following the main renovation works to focus on the smaller design details throughout the flat, including the sourcing and curation of furnishings.

Designers Jay and Alex describe this extra time for polishing the details to be a privilege. Elegant and timeless pieces of furniture and objects from Fritz Hansen, Louis Poulsen and more now take pride of place alongside the owner's own collectibles that include vintage clocks, a heavy rosewood cabinet (in the foyer), and artworks.

Notably, a large piece of pop art hangs in the master bedroom and playfully beckons to those in the outer quarters when the room door is open. The owner had bought it overseas on a whim in his twenties, and the designers had dissuaded him from discarding it during the move, and instead set it up as a talking point in his new home.

The full-height custom door that leads to the master room is wider than a standard HDB door, and the handle is also customised in solid wood. "This bespoke entrance suggests that the bedroom door is another 'main entrance' within the unit, leading into another space, like a unit within a unit," shares Jay.

Two out of the three rooms in the flat have been combined to create a larger master bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe and a leisure corner where the owner can enjoy some personal downtime. The bathrooms have also been extended to be more spacious.

Even the yard space has been turned into a luxurious, relaxing corner where the owner can lounge and enjoy the view out the window. Like any five-star hotel suite, the emphasis is on comfort, which this flat has plenty of.

Project details

Interiors – Right Angle Studio
Photography – Studio Periphery

We think you might like this high-rise apartment by Right Angle Studio

The post An apartment with hotel vibes appeared first on Habitusliving.com.

Elegance in a tiny package

Posted: 15 Feb 2022 03:15 PM PST

Argo by Megowan Architectural doesn’t seek to blend into its surroundings, nor should it. This compact family home is a restrained and appropriate newcomer among the dense mix of period homes in its South Yarra neighbourhood.

It also joins a number of properties in the area designed by some of the country's residential masters including Sean Godsell, Jackson Clements Burrows, Robert Simeoni, Kennedy Nolan and Robin Boyd, to name a few.

"These often elegant homes sit comfortably on narrow tree-lined streets among a dense mix of Victorian and Edwardian terrace houses which establish the grain and rhythm of the streetscapes," says project architect and founder of Megowan Architectural, Christopher Megowan.

Argo is not only sophisticated in external appearance but from a planning perspective, the home has capitalised on every inch of available space on its compact 214-square-metre inner urban site. "The design and massing carefully edit and respond to difficult planning interfaces at each boundary and organisation of the home was set up to overcome the associated challenges of a south-facing rear yard," says Megowan.

"Given the compact nature of the footprint, we employed a restrained and largely monochromatic material palette that relied on expressed refined material selections and details. Joinery rebates, plaster reveals, skirtings, and steel-framed mullions all uniformly align to create horizontal datums that create a subtle aesthetic and formal cohesion across materials, volumes and entire spaces."

When asked about the client brief and what they value in a home, Megowan talks about their desire to create an efficient city home that wouldn't sacrifice quality of life.

"The client came with many cultural requirements that centred around Feng Shui, which also helped dictate some of the early floor planning – particularly around the entry, courtyard, rear yard and master bedroom arrangements," explains Megowan. As expected, the clients were very detailed-oriented and placed a high value on execution and quality over quantity.

Argo's flow is unique in that one "goes inside around the outside.” In pinwheel fashion, a centralised, northeast-facing courtyard acts as the home's entry point and also serves to bring natural illumination deep into the primary living spaces of the home.

On the first floor, a flexible shared lounge separates the childrens’ bedroom from the north-facing master suite. A rooftop sits atop the master bedroom, offering expansive city views. Asked about the integration of outdoor space into the tight site, Megowan points to the fact that four different external rooms have been designed into the floor plan – a front garden, the central courtyard, the rear garden and a roof deck overlooking the CBD and South Yarra.

From a sustainability perspective, Argo has been designed to be fully electrified (i.e. no allowance for natural gas or any appliances that require natural gas). "We are preparing the home for a fossil-free future as we slowly but surely move towards renewable forms of generating electricity," he adds.

"The operable roof hatch over the stair allows for hot air in the summer to be exhausted directly up through the middle of the house and pulls cool air in from the south-facing yard and northeast facing courtyard."

The designer also points to the typical inclusions of 'over-standard' levels of insulation, double glazing with thermally improved frames, passive solar strategies to overcome the south facing rear yard, the maximisation of north facing glazing through the positioning of courtyards, the master bedroom and positioning of roof lights and passive ventilation throughout.

Argo's elegant interior underscores the home's intrinsic levels of sophistication. "Curved stone, plasterboard, render and tile walls pair with two highly sculptural stairs to provide soft transitions that provide the home with a spatial generosity that defies the compact footprint of the residence," Megowan says.

They create a refined canvas for the interiors that are animated by several strategically located skylights, dappled privacy screens and the electrically operated glazed roof hatch.