Hub for Entertaining – Cardinal by Nexus Designs

A reimagining of an old classic, Cardinal sees an existing Victorian-era home given a new life, allowing for adaptability at its core and an expression of the owners’ love of entertaining. Nexus Designs continues the original artisanal approach, instilling newly crafted details and insertions to elevate the home, while preparing the spaces for their next chapter.

The past of any home plays an important role in proposing its future, whether considering an integration of its standing parts or a replacement of them in lieu of something more contemporary. In retaining the ornate and treasured detailing of Cardinal, Nexus Designs overlays a more modern interpretation of craft and instils a similar grandeur to the home, continuing its lineage. Originally designed and build in the 1890s, the Victorian-style home offered generous internal volumes that enhance the feeling of stature and prominence, connecting it to the surrounding residences of similar vintage and scale. Key to the reshaping of the home was allowing for entertaining as a core function, embedding flexibility of space to accommodate up to 20 people at any one time, while also feeling appropriate for its two owners amongst their daily routine.

There is an overarching sense of calm, and with the use of colour and texture inserted through a curated eye, it becomes a focus and highlight, countering the other more neutral areas within the home.

Bringing light into the interior was a key focus, and the insertion of large steel and glass doors enabled that connection. As a collaboration, Cardinal was built by Mesh Constructions, with custom joinery by Total Joinery Supplies. Given the clients’ special culinary interest, the kitchen became the heart of the home, allowing for storage of specialised equipment, preparation tools and a prized wine collection. A similar approach was taken in the bedroom spaces, with storage designed to respond to the inhabitants’ collection.

A connection to the colour red also formed an important muse for the owners, also inspiring the naming of the home. In expressing the owners and how they live, their personality has been captured in numerous ways – from the lush red tones of the custom sofa to the contrasting stillness of the retreat spaces. There is an overarching sense of calm, and with the use of colour and texture inserted through a curated eye, it becomes a focus and highlight, countering the other more neutral areas within the home.

A connection to the colour red also formed an important muse for the owners, also inspiring the naming of the home.

In retaining the original features of the home and enhancing them, Cardinal celebrates the past while making way for the present. Nexus Designs combines both a European timelessness with a connection to place that anchors the home in its address.