Apartment Healy King by Tribe Studio // Sydney, Australia.

Tribe Studio Architects (Tribe) have created a modern day cabinet of curiosities within this apartment in Elizabeth Bay, Sydney. Completed in late 2014, this absolute gem has been redesigned and transformed into a well-composed and wonderfully light-filled space. Playful, practical and purposeful; it is also the perfect backdrop for the clients’ impressive collection of postmodern art, objects, music and books.

In order to reflect the clients’ interest in collecting, food and entertaining, the apartment was completely reconfigured and turned inside out. The kitchen was repositioned to the entry while the bathroom and bedrooms were rearranged and opened up. Spaces feel expansive and connected but can be equally closed off with the clever use of sliding doors and partitioning. A charming opening in the wall mediates between the apartment’s entrance and a dazzling plant-filled sunroom.

I recently received the popular book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo as a birthday present and I’m not sure if it was a joke or not. Either way, we all have a lot of stuff these days and storing it all can be a massive pain. According to Kondo, “all storage experts are hoarders” which I think is hilariously true but I wonder how she would feel about the plywood joinery that lines every wall within this apartment? Personally, I think it’s a practical and ingenious way of containing and displaying the clients’ extensive collection. For those of us that live in the cluttered real world, the combination of open and concealed cabinets and shelves of various sizes is an excellent use of space.

Old and new elements sit side by side in the renovation of this 1930s apartment. The combined material palette is fun and fresh where untreated ply rubs up against brass and marble. Existing wall and door detailing marries beautifully with the light ply and honeyed herringbone floor. Punches of colour burst out from the bathroom and bedrooms and offset the clients’ colourful pieces of furniture, objects and art.

Tribe have created an apartment that is warm and welcoming exudes a really happy vibe. The interior comes across as highly considered, playfully whimsical and refreshingly casual. It oozes character and I would feel instantly at home there. Job well done, Tribe!

[Images courtesy of Tribe Studio Architects. Photography by Katherine Lu.]