Grandeur with Warmth – Stanley Residence by Williams Burton Leopardi

A significant alteration and addition, the refined elegance Williams Burton Leopardi has brought to Stanley Residence realises the grandeur of the original design vision whilst celebrating and elevating life’s everyday rituals.

Williams Burton Leopardi’s design adapts the original structure of this family home, which had been built by the clients some years earlier and comprised a three-storey building. Leveraging the generous volumes and introducing a modern sensibility, the existing classical-inspired design is heightened to a refined elegance and warmed by the lived experience of family life.

Skilful manipulations of proportion and scale, coupled with the astute introduction of design elements and sophisticated finishes, have lifted the experience of these spaces to one of elegance and understated luxury.

Balancing grandeur with comfort, Williams Burton Leopardi has created a series of spaces imbued with luxury. This is a place where their family can put down deep roots and experience the beauty of the project as moments of joy reveal themselves over time. Surrounded by garden and now flanked by two wings, the overall form of Stanley Residence is balanced and stately. Skilful manipulations of proportion and scale, coupled with the astute introduction of design elements and sophisticated finishes “have brought depth to internal volumes”, a priority outlined by David Burton, director at Williams Burton Leopardi.

The experience of these spaces is lifted to one of elegance and understated luxury.

Williams Burton Leopardi’s dedication to realising the client’s vision is experienced at all scales throughout the home. The reimagined layout has brought space, ease of flow and a connection to the exterior into key internal spaces. Natural light, luscious finishes, custom fittings and precise detailing offer daily moments of beauty and delight.

Natural light, luscious finishes, custom fittings and precise detailing offer daily moments of beauty and joy.

The refined elegance of the rear lobby, transversed on a daily basis, typifies the design intent of Stanley Residence. Flooded with light, framed by views to the surrounding garden, elegantly detailed and furnished with a baby grand piano, this intermediary room “offers a moment for repose and appreciation of space,” notes Sophia Leopardi, director at Williams Burton Leopardi. The thoughtful detailing coupled with an understated grandeur introduces the sense of balance between splendour and the simple rituals of everyday living present throughout the home.

The relocation of the kitchen and living spaces has opened up the central entry hall, affording the space with a sense of majesty. The sweep of the feature stair, finished with a stunning polished plaster, draws the eye while the view through the rear lobby reinforces the sense of expansiveness – both within the hall and through to the garden vista beyond.

The refined elegance of the rear lobby, transversed on a daily basis, typifies the design intent of Stanley Residence.

The revised plan of Stanley Residence has afforded generous volumes and broad connections between spaces, offering views through to garden vistas. Floor-to-ceiling openings, beautifully articulated with bespoke black steel window frames, bring the beauty of nature into the luxury and elegance of the interior spaces. For David, creating continuing moments of delight was a central aim in the design. In inhabiting these spaces over time, “a constant sense of joy reveals itself” as views of the surrounding gardens are framed and natural light reflects off luscious interior surfaces, heightening the experience of each space.

In this context, nuance in the application of natural materials, such as dark waxed timber flooring, luscious marble surfaces and brushed gold fittings, affords a subtle softness to the stately interiors of Stanley Residence. As a result, the grand spaces “feel settled and ready to be lived in,” explains Sophia. And by balancing the generous proportions of interior spaces, humbler design features offer moments to celebrate the rituals of daily family life.

The thoughtful placement of a family-sized banquette and dining table, framed by a feature bay window, tempers the grand volume of the new kitchen and living area.

The thoughtful placement of a family-sized banquette and dining table, framed by a feature bay window, tempers the grand volume of the new kitchen and living area. The table is a central gathering point for the family, a place of comfort and connection backgrounded by the statement marble and golden elements of the kitchen. In the bedroom suites, which comprise the first floor, plush fabrics coupled with the glossy richness of marble surfaces and generous volumes, imbue a sense of luxury and space. Here, the sumptuous textures, moody colour palette and free-standing bath in the master suite leave no doubt this is truly a place of sanctuary, a retreat to opulent seclusion.

Similarly, the existing pool and surrounding spaces of the basement are reimagined as a sacred bathing space. Lorde White marble flows from the walls into the water, the surface of which meets flush with the floor level. A feeling of the ancient is evoked as gentle arches and soft white surfaces reflect subdued light, offering an elemental sense of transcendence.

A feeling of the ancient is evoked as gentle arches and soft white surfaces reflect subdued light, offering a sense of the transcendent.

Above all, “the strength of the initial concept and the clients’ trust throughout the process shines through in the cohesiveness of this project”, reflects Sophia. Formal and familial living spaces, entrance and intermediary areas, secluded retreats and external surrounds have been transformed to create a unified set of spaces imbued with a classical elegance and warmed with the practice of daily family life. Stanley Residence offers comfort, luxury and a place of sanctuary where family can come together, grow and enjoy the everyday moments of joy, delighting in the beauty of the successful realisation of their original vision.