Unexpected Curiosities – The Marlo House by Anna Carin Design Studio
Inspired by a client’s love of English rock and roll and Russian literature, The Marlo House is a distinctly personal representation of those who reside within it. Anna Carin Design Studio combines a Scandinavian approach in planning and sensibilities with an Australian infusion of heritage and the outdoors to comprise a home of unexpected curiosities.
Over the course of life objects, artwork and memorabilia are collected – a collection that then becomes a reflection of their owner’s lives and travels. Yet it is rarer for homes themselves, as an encompassing whole, to be a representation of personal history. The Marlo House, however, aims to be just that. Built in 1905 with only two renovated iterations before its current custodians took possession, its walls and volumes were a blank shell from which to express the personalities of its owners. Inspired by a shared love of English band Radiohead and Russian literature, colours and movement are reinterpreted through geometries and finishes. Anna Carin Design Studio combines these influences with a contemporary Australian love of the outdoors, a celebration of heritage, and Scandinavian spatial sensibilities.
Located in Sydney’s Surry Hills amongst similar-era heritage terrace homes, The Marlo House was a unique opportunity to express its past and its owner’s past in a combined present. Having had little renovation since its original build, many of the existing features and details remained intact, so the focus was then on allowing these elements to be seen, together with newer interventions. The palette emerges from a combination of the lyrical moody and abstract feelings that Radiohead is known for together with the contrasting burnt oranges, moss greens and typically Russian blue of the client’s favourite Russian novelist. Furniture, artwork and objects all come together through these emotive triggers and create their own unique personality.
Inspired by a client’s love of English rock and roll and Russian literature, The Marlo House is a distinctly personal representation of those who reside within it.
The combination of modern Australian and Scandinavian styles is particular to Anna Carin Design Studio and represents founder Anna Carin’s own background. Meanwhile, taking inspiration from the original home, the idea of longevity is embedded into the new works. With a forward-focused approach, the renovations are imagined lasting for many decades to come and act as a new layer to the more traditional architecture that came before it. Spatially, dropping the whole ground floor level allowed for an effortless connection between the internal spaces and the rear landscape, as well as creating direct vehicular access from the rear lane. Large full height glazed sliding doors then encourage floods of natural light into the shared kitchen and dining area and encourages interaction between inside and out.
The Marlo House cleverly utilises the existing structural elements in place and reinvigorates the heritage detailing that came before it. By fusing key collected emotive elements together through a contemporary and considered lens, Anna Carin Design Studio brings together multiple pasts and personalities to create a series of moments both curious and unexpected.
