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Downsize Apartment by Tsai Design
A minimal palette, a host of space-enhancing features and a striking kitchen island combine to transform a small Sydney apartment into a downsizers’ dream home.
There’s downsizing, and then there’s the downsizing experience of a Sydney couple, who swapped a four-bedroom residence with a generous backyard for a 70-square-metre, two-bedroom apartment in Kirribilli, prompted by their daughter moving out of home. Acknowledging that the existing floor plan of the apartment – which they bought as a young married couple years ago – wasn’t conducive to the kind of lifestyle they wanted, they enlisted architect Jack Chen of Tsai Design to transform it.
Chen, who worked in conjunction with Amandine Simonetti Architecture and Interiors, had plenty of constraints to overcome, including the narrow nature of the residence – just three metres wide at some points – the lack of light and the fact that the block had other apartment buildings on either side, impacting privacy. “To maximise the apartment’s functionality, we divided it into two distinct sections: the front half designed for open living and the back half serving as the private quarters. In the front, our goal was to create a welcoming and sunlit, open-plan space, perfect for entertaining friends and guests,” he explains. “We achieved this by removing walls that once separated the dining area, kitchen and corridors, resulting in one continuous open area.”
The space is anchored by a spectacular piece of joinery: a kitchen island that segues into a bar that segues into the bathroom vanity. With joinery by Lee Cabinets in Melbourne and a Patagonia quartzite top from Granite & Marble Works, it’s an ingenious solution that brings a ‘wow’ factor to the zone. “As you arrive into the apartment, you look straight into the private quarters, so we needed to find a way to direct visitors into the living area, which is actually behind the arrival point,” says Chen. “The feature bench grabs your attention, and the angle directs you to move accordingly. Installing generous-size joinery in small spaces also makes the space feel bigger.”
It’s one of a multitude of clever space-saving solutions from Chen and his team. These include a step in the kitchen joinery to give access to overhead cupboards, a mirror above the kitchen benchtop to reflect the view from the window, a concealed study behind a sliding door between the bedroom and second living or guestroom, and double-sided joinery between the living and dining rooms.
The minimal neutral palette also goes a long way to enhance the sense of space. “The lighter palette – from the wall paint and light-coloured laminate to the blond timber floor and white vinyl flooring in the dining space – helps to bounce the light around better. Together with mirrors in the right locations, it all makes the space feel more generous. A minimal palette also allows space to breathe.” Frosted glass doors on the compact bathroom are not only visually striking but allow light to stream into the front area of the apartment, too.
“The rumpus room offers a serene retreat, complete with an upright piano and a cosy reading nook – the perfect space for quiet moments of relaxation.”
The back half of the apartment is dedicated to private living. “What used to be two bedrooms have now been reimagined into a single bedroom, a versatile rumpus room for personal relaxation and a well-placed study nook along the perimeter, strategically positioned along the perimeter of the private rooms, to act as buffer from neighbouring eyes. The rumpus room offers a serene retreat, complete with an upright piano and a cosy reading nook – the perfect space for quiet moments of relaxation.” Little wonder the downsizing couple are thrilled with their new, smaller space.
Architecture and interior design by Tsai Design and Amandine Simonetti Architecture and Interiors. Build by Next Level Building.
