Bridging 150 Years of Architecture & Design

1 min read
July 30, 2015
dpages

Set within the Woollahra suburb of Sydney, lies a newly renovated home who’s structure spans a century and a half of architecture and design. The project, which is otherwise known as the Orama residence, was recently completed by Smart Design Studio, and the results are already garnering accolades from the A&D community. The property itself began with a Victorian villa which Smart Design painstakingly restored right down to the original fireplaces and ceiling murals. As for the addition, it boasts contemporary expanses of concrete, glass, dark steel, and zinc – all of which were chosen to simultaneously complement and contrast with the original home.

As Smart Design Studio explains, “The new wing matches the grace and substance of the original house, but in a modern way. Where the old building is rich in detail, the new is pristine and simple. The striking double-height concrete walls, when animated by sunlight, furnish the rooms with little need of embellishment.” It’s a juxtaposition that plays out especially beautifully at the transition points between the old and the new – where dark metal doorways frame out and mark the passage between 19th century and 21st century architecture, and sleek mirrored walls and swaths of marble play off 150-year-old fireplaces and moldings…

Smart Design Studio’s sensitive and intelligent approach to the Orama residence has already won them several awards, including but not limited to The AIA Hugh and Eva Buhrich Award in Residential Architecture, and the Australian Interior Design Awards in Residential Design. Bravo! Photography by Sharrin Rees.