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Finch House by SJB and Euroluce
In a home defined by art, lighting needs to be exquisitely balanced. In this Sydney residence, design studio SJB teamed with Euroluce to master an emotive, elegant and subtle lighting scheme.
Art brings a home to life – it reflects the personalities of the people who live within it through colour, humour and poignant beauty. Yet it’s often a retrofit solution, wheeled in after a home is built or renovated. Finch House in Sydney’s eastern suburbs flipped the script, with design studio SJB enlisted to undertake the renovation of the family home based around the homeowners’ extensive collection of Australian art.
The first spark of design inspiration came from a custom artwork – Zebra Finches by Sydney-based artist Anna-Wili Highfield – featuring delicate little birds, which flutter delightfully through the stairwell. With a focus on First Nations artists, the family’s collection is rich in colour and texture, inspiring an inviting palette of soft blue, purple and green. Artworks are not only displayed against this backdrop, but worked into it; for example, plinths incorporated into the custom joinery and a Joshua Yeldham artwork drilled through the lilac curtains.
Finch House itself is a living gallery of artistic inspiration. Period features from the original interwar residence, like the century-old stained-glass windows and fireplace, were respectfully restored, while contemporary additions complement the old in their showcasing of expert craftsmanship, from the arched entrance with its glazed porthole to the powder-blue polished plaster ceiling in the sitting room.
Finch House in Sydney’s eastern suburbs flipped the script, with design studio SJB enlisted to undertake the renovation of the family home based around the homeowners’ extensive collection of Australian art.
Any gallerist will attest to the emotive power of lighting, and perfecting the scheme in this home was essential to do justice to the artworks as much as for practicality and ambience. Euroluce was called to consult on the lighting plan, which strikes a balance between drama and subtlety – in some zones, the lighting steps back so far as to be almost invisible.
The kitchen already bursts with main character energy – courtesy of a slender slab of Calacatta Viola marble on the curved kitchen island – so the lighting choices here needed to spotlight the hero materials without dragging attention to themselves. The Flos Zero Track system and Find Me were the perfect solution: spotlights highlight the main features of the room, while almost-invisible Light Shadow Dots provide general illumination. The same trio was used in the living room, the spotlights highlighting key art pieces.
Euroluce was called to consult on the lighting plan, which strikes a balance between drama and subtlety – in some zones, the lighting steps back so far as to be almost invisible.
Flos Fort Knox uplights were used in several areas; in the sunroom, they draw the eye up to appreciate the exquisite texture of the striking icy-blue polished plaster ceiling, while in the stairwell, they are teamed with a Reggiani Yori 43 Spot to subtly illuminate the Anna-Wili Highfield installation. The Yori 43 Spot allows precision directed light to illuminate the little birds, creating a delightful play of light and shadow.
While the emphasis in most spaces was subtlety, there was room to be playful with lighting, too. For example, on the kitchen window seat, a Flos Taccia sits as an elegant object of interest, a work of art in itself.
Architecture by SJB. Build by Robert Plumb Build. Landscape design by Dangar Barin Smith. Artwork by Anna-Wili Highfield.
The kitchen already bursts with main character energy – courtesy of a slender slab of Calacatta Viola marble on the curved kitchen island – so the lighting choices here needed to spotlight the hero materials without dragging attention to themselves.
