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 Aurora Place |
Melbourne designer David Hicks was hired by his Melbourne based client to renovate the interior of this three-bedroom apartment in the ritzy Renzo Piano Macquarie Apartments building on the Sydney street of the same name. The client divides his time between the two cities and sought a city pad where he could feel comfortable several days of the week. With a family in tow, the apartment also had to be spacious enough to accommodate varying numbers and age groups.
Rather than specifying any particular design direction, the brief moved more along the lines of what the client wanted to do with the space. "As he appreciates art, I think he appreciates the art of what I do," says Hicks. "I can design in a contemporary way without being sterile or uncomfortable, or boring I suppose."
Hicks uses plenty of decorative lines in his interior design work. In matching the existing floor tiles on the outside deck with the new ones on the inside ("the apartment was initially carpeted indoors, but it didn't suit a space with such light and air"), the designer went to enormous lengths to achieve a perfect complement. After months of scouring for the right size and tone, Hicks eventually found the match in Indonesia, only its delivery was halted by the tragic events that unfolded after the Boxing Day tsunami. It was worth the wait, Hicks explains, to get the match spot-on.
His client, who is accustomed to hotels, wanted to recreate that atmosphere in this apartment space. "It could be the penthouse suite in a contemporary boutique hotel," says Hicks, "it's got that feel to it." To this end, the designer concentrated upon his choice of interior furnishings, to achieve the convenience of a glamorous hotel suite with a comfortable twist.
The grid pattern of the much agonised-over flooring became the footprint for choices in furnishing. The large Kubus leather lounge chair, a classic piece by Josef Hoffman, which can also be spotted in Salvatore Ferragamo stores in Europe, echoes this grid pattern in its leather, as does the custom-made floor rug in a variety of hides. The ottoman's pattern is diamond-shaped, rather than square, yet it mirrors the linear theme that dominates the rest of the space. "I like to play subtly on lines and shapes and things of that nature," explains Hicks. "It does tie every piece in together, even though they're really quite different pieces of furniture."
This square theme extends to the fabric chosen for the Mies van der Rohe Brno chairs positioned around the dining table. They're a modern complement The hallway is lined with seagrass panels framed with metal edging. This will form the backdrop of the client's art collection.
to the antique-style table arrangement. "I like how the modernist, clean cantilevered lines on the chair contrast with the table nicely," says Hicks, "You need the chair fabric to tie back to the modern apartment," he adds. "A lot of the fabrics we've used here are conservative."
The dining table itself was a triumph over space limitations. Hicks found one table leg in an antique store and had the table designed around that leg as inspiration, with the expertise of Melbourne artisan Kim Moir who specialises in reproduction furniture. The resulting four-metre-long extravaganza ("my client entertains a lot") features an inlaid panelling design created out of a mixture of timber sources including oak, walnut and ebonisecl charcoal.
"It looks old, doesn't it?" says Hicks. To get the table into the building was another challenge altogether. Because of its length, it was necessary to remove the roof of the lift to transport it.
The long hallway forms the spine of the apartment, and gives the feeling of an exceptionally large living space. From front to back, the apartment is about 40 metres long and the one straight avenue is a dramatic feature in itself. Hicks lined the walls of what will be the client's art gallery space with Donghia seagrass panels. "Instead of putting it straight on the walls, I like to put the fabric in panels with metal or chrome edging," says Hicks. "I suppose it becomes a framed piece of art in itself - more like a screen. It's more of a feature than if it was just stuck directly onto the wall."
Although the common areas are the feature of this apartment, Hicks has cleverly accented the master bedroom with colours imported from the view outside. "People forget when they're designing in Sydney that there are these beautiful views, and they create these clinical, modern interiors that have nothing to do with the view that the space so heavily relies on." That's why he chose to bring colour and texture into the bedroom. Outside the window, you see plenty of treetops, so the designer brought that "beautiful, mossy green" into the bedroom. It does warm it up but it's minimal, streamlined and simple. "It's also sumptuous with a glamorous twist," he adds.
Glass louvres (part of the building's exterior designed by Piano) continue the effect of bringing the outdoors closer, as do the mirrored surfaces in the kitchen area. "I like mirrors," grins Hicks, adding that, particularly by night, these reflective surfaces broaden the glittering Sydney view.
In what could be a soulless city pad, David Hicks has applied his attention to colour and texture to create a living environment that you'd want to spend time in, with the added bonus of wanting to touch eveiy surface, just to see if it feels as good as it looks.
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