Continuing a Crafted Legacy – Woollahra House by AP Design House

Channelling its art deco roots, Woollahra House is the transformation of a previous gallery auction house into a home layered with nods to its past. AP Design House ensures the residence is a balanced cohesion of its old and new iterations that engages with the surrounding landscape and encourages natural light.

Settled onto a narrow site, the careful reworking of the home’s parts sees both the enhancement of the experience of the everyday and an increase in overall quality of interior spaces. Originally built in the 1930s, Woollahra House sits surrounded by a heritage-rich assortment of homes and public buildings in inner-east Sydney. Preserving a connection to the past whilst ensuring the spaces spoke to a contemporary occupation was key in preparing the home for its coming chapter. The original home was built during the art deco period, an experimental and pioneering time within design, and so weaving this style in amongst the new insertions formed the basis for the approach. In the home’s renovation, AP Design House takes a holistic angle, recrafting the architecture, interior design and landscape design through a similar lens to the existing details.

The original home was built during the art deco period, an experimental and pioneering time within design, and so weaving this style in amongst the new insertions formed the basis for the approach.

Woollahra House is an exercise in both restoration and adaptive reuse, folding in nods to the heritage of the building. In proposing a cohesive response to both place and time, the approach also subtly captures the personalities of the owners. Internally, the space was gutted and reformed, seeing newly-formed cornicing and mouldings emerge that are modern yet respectful of the building’s origins. The interior is reworked to emphasise light, whilst the existing arched windows and herringbone brick remain in place, along with other original external features.

As a counter to the size of the interior, light and reflective surfaces are employed to both capture and accentuate an enlarged sense of scale. As the heart of the home, the kitchen plays a vital role as a place of gathering and function. Stainless-steel encased units give a crisp coolness to the overall feel of the room, whilst the placement of hardware and the oversized design of drawers add individualistic elements. Furthermore, the bathrooms, bedrooms and living space then share the same neutral palette – creating a sense of flow and accentuating the overall perception of scale.

Woollahra House is an exercise in both restoration and adaptive reuse, folding in nods to the heritage of the building.

Through a careful interweaving of the home’s iterations, Woollahra House’s existing heritage achieves a newfound relevance. AP Design House focuses on the light, soft quality of the interior, creating a tranquil home that celebrates its art deco origin.