INALA APARTMENT
1960s domesticity is swept away in the transformation of this two-bedroom apartment, home to an architect and artist/teacher. To bring natural light and views into the living zones, the plan was redrawn and rooms re-oriented to improve both the aesthetics, functionality and light in this relatively compact home.
The kitchen was relocated from its prime northerly corner to a central spot beside the hallway, allowing the living area to occupy the sunny north corner, with inbuilt furniture to streamline its use. Sliding corner doors allow the adjoining second bedroom to open up to the living area, or be completely separated as needed. To keep the kitchen sculptural and spare, a walk-in pantry/laundry, fridge, storage and wine cellar are concealed in the hallway joinery, making functional use of a typically wasted zone.
A timeless material palette of concrete, stainless steel and blonde-wood lend effortless calm to these spaces, while in the bathroom, a lot of experimenting was done to prefect the curved raw concrete forms of the bath and handbasin. The results inspired the name Inala, an Aboriginal word meaning ‘resting place’.
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LOCATION: Cremorne, NSW
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ACCOMMODATION: 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom
PHOTOGRAPHY: Katherine Lu
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Inala Apartment responds deftly and decisively to its modern occupants’ aspirations for flexibility and dynamic social interaction. Despite its modest footprint, it exemplifies the transformative power of design and the capacity to reimagine space as a backdrop to everyday life. From arrival to relaxing, socializing and sleeping, Inala re-prioritizes spaces and surfaces to suit contemporary patterns of use. The radical re-working of the apartment’s compact plan allows for new engagement with the city, and stronger bonds for the growing family that call it home..
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- Houses Awards 2022, Jury Citation
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Employing necessary reductive methodologies, Inala Apartment wholeheartedly embraces its spatial constraints, leveraging them to craft a home derived from elements that deeply question their value, purpose and necessity. The result rewrites the rule book on domestic environments in a way that is entirely in accord with modern practices yet distilled within the sentimental shell of 1960s domesticity.
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- The Local Project, Issue 8
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Combining the shower and bath frees up space so the bathroom doesn’t feel small or tight, and the sculpted form and grey textured material has an outdoor, spa-like quality, not typical of an apartment bathroom.
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- Green Magazine, Issue 85
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