A Warming Simplicity – Woollahra Residence by Tom Mark Henry

Inspired by the calming simplicity of a classical approach, Woollahra Residence draws influence from its Art Deco architecture and reinterprets a tonal approach through a contemporary lens. Tom Mark Henry combines a muted and warmed palette to create an enduring home nuanced in its detail and considered gestures.

Located in Sydney’s inner Woollahra, the same-named residence takes occupancy amongst the many heritage rich homes of the area. Within the walls of the Art Deco building the home sits within, Woollahra Residence spans a mere 70sqm and is an exploration in spatial planning within a historical context. The use of a deliberately muted palette and a sense of restraint creates a balanced sense of cohesion and ensures the resulting home respects and celebrates the previous heritage details, while still existing as a relevant contemporary home. Tom Mark Henry conjures a subtle and warm feeling through the unified expression of materiality and a measured quality, allowing a home of calming simplicity to emerge.

The subtleties are what bind each of the areas together with a shared purpose and spirit, where subtle changes in colour, materiality and finish offer a balance to one another.

Built by Pacific Projects Sydney, Woollahra Residence combines the formality of the original home with a more casual and modern feel. Inspired by nature, the palette sees soft and gentle tones combined throughout, all taken from a sliding continuum of the same neutrals. The softness is spread throughout, making each space feel as though it bleeds into the next, and where internal arched openings offer geometric gestures and soften the thresholds between zones. Offering a nod to the Art Deco period, crafted elements are integrated into each of the spaces and highlighted through highly resolved detail and intersections. The subtleties are what bind each of the areas together with a shared purpose and spirit, with subtle changes in colour, materiality and finish offering a balance to one another.

Through layered textures and added richness, each space builds up subtle cues of its occupants, their personalities and their style, while still existing within the same sense of clarity. A hierarchy is created through the intenseness of colour and added elements in each of the spaces, acting in response to their functionality and use. The kitchen and living area, being the living heart of the home, offers increased amenity and added concealed storage, with areas of expression through artwork and select objects. Meanwhile the bedroom is pared back even further with a softer approach. The bathroom sees an injection of colour, albeit muted, that references Art Deco design through the terrazzo and the handcrafted through the hand-made tiles, acting as a destination that is coloured to add a differentiated experience.

Through layered textures and added richness, each space builds up subtle cues of its occupants, their personalities and their style, while still existing within the same sense of clarity.

Woollahra Residence beautifully combines its past and present through a subtle and softening approach. Each considered element reflects the rigour with which it has been conceived, as Tom Mark Henry creates a warm and calm sanctuary.