A Versatile Chameleon – Armadale Residence by Chris Connell Design

As a versatile chameleon of sorts, Armadale Residence takes on many guises and needed to be both flexible and multi-purpose to meld itself to a multitude of uses. Chris Connell Design focuses on functionality at the core of the design, allowing for interpretation and use to drive the many faces it takes on over time.

Located in the suburb of the same name, Armadale Residence takes occupancy in an existing Victorian-era home, among neighbours of a similar vintage and grandeur. As a kitchen addition, the new works are purpose-driven, imagined as a space that can be used for a number of resolves. Home to a professional chef, from conception the space needed to be more than the traditional residential offering: it needed to have a heightened level of technical and functional elements integrated seamlessly into the space, while also operating as a key gathering space within the home. Chris Connell Design decidedly focuses on the functionality of the space, while a streamlined and minimal aesthetic approach hides the many inner workings that lurk beneath the countless polished and sleek surfaces.

Chris Connell Design decidedly focuses on the functionality of the space, while a streamlined and minimal aesthetic approach hides the many inner workings that lurk beneath the countless polished and sleek surfaces.

While the kitchen also needed to be able to be used for television production and entertaining, it is also the family kitchen, and a scaling of intimacy (while also allowing for a production crew to have ample access) made way to the layered brief that underpins the space. Built by Prolifica Building Co, Armadale Residence is the result of a unique and, in many ways, challenging brief. As the heart of the home, as well as the beating spirit of a restaurant, the kitchen is the living and breathing hub from which nourishment is propagated and summoned. Being the kitchen of a professional chef, combined within its heritage surrounds, the approach to take on a function focussed approach then ensured its relevance was not compromised.

In the same European way of inserting new iterations into old and storied spaces, the formal approach of the space is one concentrated on refinement. Its absence of ornate detail allows the space to exist as its own sculptural addition, not competing with the preceding residence, and be the feature it was intended as. It instead conceals its detail through crafted refinement. While the kitchen does reflect a residential sensibility, there are many hidden differences internally. Unlike the popular move to conceal refrigeration, in this case they are showcased and become the centre of the space. There is an evidenced industrial feel to the space, with exposed concrete flooring, stainless steel and the feature red column, while softer oak and marble countertop elements add a warmth and connect the space to the home it sits amongst.

There is an evidenced industrial feel to the space, with exposed concrete flooring, stainless steel and the feature red column, while softer oak and marble countertop elements add a warmth and connect the space to the home it sits amongst.

Armadale Residence engages contentiously with its site, embracing the natural elements and welcoming ample light into the space. Chris Connell Design has crafted a beautiful addition to its richly layered home, conjuring the foundations for a very busy space, contrastingly balanced through its own calming and clean linear form.