A Creative Intervention – Walan Apartment by Alcorn Middleton

Words by Olivia Hides
Architecture by Bureau Proberts
Photography by Toby Scott
Interior Design by Alcorn Middleton
Styling by Lee Accatino
Timber Veneer Elton Group
Furniture Supplier Space Furniture
Artwork Supplier TWFINEART

With a light touch, Alcorn Middleton imbues Walan Apartment with personality through an injection of warmth and an emphasis on both spatial and visual connection.

Set within a new development in Kangaroo Point, Walan Apartment was initially found by its owners to be lacking in character and individuality. Favouring nuanced interventions over dramatic overhaul, Alcorn Middleton used a series of gestures to create a flexible and future-focused response to both the clients’ desire for a more personal home and their considerations for health and wellbeing. Custom integrated timber joinery featuring Eveneer from Elton Group, matching the wall panelling throughout, was incorporated into Walan Apartment to improve the movement and flow of the home’s existing internal spaces, optimising accessibility while still allowing for open access to views and the natural environment beyond its built edge.

Amongst the injection of colour, Eveneer Almond by Elton Group offers a warm and tonally muted base that reinforces a sense of calm, creating an ideal backdrop for life in the elevated setting.

Walan Apartment is founded on a series of what are referred to as ‘delightful obstacles’. These joinery elements create a home that feels bright, rich in colour and dotted with elements of surprise. Internal spaces are delineated with gestures that help carve function and create subtle separation and focal points; rounding the joinery’s square edges aids circulation and projects an organic softness. As such, these so-called obstacles, which also act as sculptures within the space, become architectural elements as well. Flexibility was key, with the moveability of these elements allowing for larger entertaining options and increasing the functionality of the home. Set atop and around these key joinery components, a curated collection of bold furniture, artwork, lighting and object come together to permeate the spaces with a sense of the owners’ personalities and histories.

Amongst the injection of colour, Eveneer Almond by Elton Group offers a warm and tonally muted base that reinforces a sense of calm, creating an ideal backdrop for life in the elevated setting. This fresh introduction of Eveneer Almond – a sustainable recut wood veneer – is foundational to the character of the apartment. The innate warm colouring of the timber is brought to life through the cabinetry, bookcase, kitchen divider, dresser, bedhead, low sideboard and credenza. The clients also chose to introduce a blush and beige detailing that delicately frames the veneer, adding in greater depth and warmth to the interior spaces.

Custom integrated timber joinery featuring Eveneer from Elton Group, matching the wall panelling throughout, was incorporated into Walan Apartment to improve the movement and flow of the home’s existing internal spaces, optimising accessibility while still allowing for open access to views and the natural environment beyond its built edge.

Through an alternate approach, Walan Apartment beautifully navigates the issues of space creation without the need for more permanent or significant structural changes. The combination of the Eveneer Almond timber wall panelling and considered joinery objects presents a spacious and welcoming interior, made possible through the natural surfaces and authentic materiality. Through considered tangible interventions, Alcorn Middleton opens up the opportunities within the home, well beyond a more traditional resolve.