Playful Simplicity – Juniper House by Dylan Farrell Design

With the bold and ambitious intent to complete the major interior renovation and decoration of a four-bedroom Sydney home in just three months, Dylan Farrell Design tackled the project by developing improvised aesthetics alongside curious clients.

With the clients hoping to have a completed home for their wedding day, a compromise was eventually negotiated that saw Dylan Farrell tier the delivery of works, so as to provide a home that was finished enough to move into at the three-month mark, yet provided an additional month for a totally transformative process. Although the existing architecture had an appeal, it was apparent that beneath the immediate surfaces, the finishes, fit out and interior structure required redressing.

The removal of superfluous walls, joinery, and structures throughout the home simplified the spaces and broadened perspectives. A major change was to the main bedroom suite. The east-facing windows that access views of the water had previously been interrupted by a series of walls and joinery – with these windows now cleared, the space becomes more open and takes full advantage of the view. Given the compressed schedule, only the concrete floors were refinished from the existing structure. Personality was instead derived from quirky shapes, colours and proportions selected in close collaboration with the clients, with elements such as expressive stone giving personality to the previously banal space.

The intention for the palette was to feel atmospheric and calm, punctuated by striking pops. Burnished, polished concrete floors sidle up neatly against the wildly-applied polished plaster walls, whilst hand-hewn brass surfaces accentuate the unusual stones utilised throughout. The furniture and fittings were mostly designed in-house, with items purchased only if they possessed a sense of lyricism or audaciousness. A number of Dylan Farrell pieces throughout the house represent the connection the designer and client, with the Wonderland Wall Sculpture at the entry a first-edition piece.

Bold and ambitious in both scope and execution, Juniper House is an engaging space for the clients to enjoy privately and with extended family. With scope left for additional renovations in years to come, there is a sense of playful simplicity inherent to the design that makes Juniper House a breath of fresh air.