I had been on a walk in a rainforest in Queenstown
in Tasmania. Really deep green rainforest, and this idea came to me
that a green kitchen would be really nice in this space. The brief was just to introduce new contemporary joinery
that could house a more modern life. Leaving space for a little spontaneity to happen in the space. My name is Eleanor Peres I'm an architect,
and I live in this 27 meters squared studio. Ballina is a pair of heritage brick buildings. in Darlinghurst, which is an inner city Sydney suburb that has loads of shops,
pubs, cafes around the neighborhood. We're on the Gadigal Lands of the Eora nation. So I used to go to inspections
to look at architecture details, when I was studying architecture,
of these old art deco buildings. I just liked them. When this place came up for sale,
I had started to look for something to invest in and I came in here
and thought, I've been here before. This feels really familiar. And I was like, Oh yeah, I came here
years ago. And it felt good then and it still felt good. These are Art Deco buildings, so built around 1930
with special brick details at the entrances,
colored tiles in the entry floor and stained glass
windows through the stairwell. these kind of buildings I think are really typical of Sydney. It was originally built for the nuns that volunteered at the nearby hospital. I wanted to make the space
feel large and spacious, but also provide a lot of storage
and proper cooking facilities. and all the tools for everyday life. When I first saw the space, it was a simple studio
layout seating around the window that moved into a kitchen space
quite separate and there was a partition wall separating the main living, bedroom
area from the kitchen. Removing that large cupboard
allowed a continuous piece of bench height joinery to run from the back wall
all the way through into the living space and on the other wall
a longer taller joinery element that incorporated a cooking nook As you enter into the apartment, you see the original floors
which have been sanded back and re oiled above the door. All the technology like NBN and internet,
and a projector, are hidden by a special piece my friend Ed made. On the back of the door, and around the wall, are hooks to hang
your bags, coats, umbrella. Because storage space is tight, I use drawers underneath the bed
by the door to store all my shoes. The first space you enter into
is quite flexible. It's the living, working, dining corner. There's two large original windows here, which is one of my favorite parts
of the apartment. They face east
and they have this beautiful light streaming in in the morning. They have a block out
blind over both and a floor to ceiling sheer curtain
that really softens this corner. You get a great breeze
flowing through these two windows and they’re a really lovely memory
of the original design. There's a set of stacking stools that move around the apartment as need be. If more friends come over, they still plants or I use them as a stool
to get up to high cupboards I love to collect books and have them on display in the space. where the tall joinery meets with
the living space was a perfect corner
to integrate a small library. The best part of the new kitchen
is that it no longer feels like a separate space. The mirror definitely makes
the depth of the space feel greater. The bench itself is a stainless steel folded bench with the sink welded in The green, there's a laminate material
sprayed with a resene custom finish. We've built in a washer dryer mini laundry under the bench,
an integrated dishwasher. general storage On the taller side of the kitchen
there's an integrated fridge and freezer. a small wardrobe and oven, drawers
to store all the cooking equipment in the cooking nook, the same stainless
steel benchtop is used, but to mount an integrated gas burner stove. The wall tiles in the kitchen are the same Kit-Kat Japanese ceramic product. I wanted to create a special feature
so I commissioned a friend to design a series of custom inset tiles to scatter around that almost create
a small exhibition. throughout the space. The new light in the kitchen uses
the original electrical point, and eye hooks to track new lighting across
to different spaces where we needed it. So in the kitchen, it's above the sink. the bed is a king. A lot of people suggest I have a smaller
bed to make better use of the space. But the king feels palatial
and creates so much storage underneath. Most of the things I own in the apartment
are under the bed. Shoes, bags, jackets. In the middle underneath, there's a large longer space
for suitcases and larger items. The bedside table is a folded sheet
metal shelf. I needed a space to have objects by the bed that still gave access to the drawers
underneath and through to the bathroom. That rock, it's from a residency
I did in the west coast of Tassie, and one of my friends
makes artwork with rocks and he gave that to me
when he gave me a tour of the mines. The bathroom is the only space in the apartment with its own door,
which is the original door. it's almost 100 years old and we stripped back the paint off that window
to reveal this beautiful, fluted glass. The floor tiles in the bathroom are a new light terrazzo, which are a nod to features of terrazzo
throughout the building. The bath is original and has just been
sprayed with an enamel paint. I put in a floor to ceiling
white shower curtain in this space so that when you're not showering,
the space feels as big as possible. and there's a large mirror cabinet
mounted on the wall that creates this great shelf on top to store
small objects that I collect. We're lucky that the apartment is on the corner because that means the bathroom
has a window into the alleyway between the two buildings, and that brings
beautiful, fresh air into the space. The wall tiles are the same as in the kitchen, with small paintings
by Angus scattered around, when designing a small space. I think it's important
to make that space work hard so that living in
it feels a little more simple. In designing a tiny home, I was quite inspired by how Japanese people live in big cities,
especially in Tokyo. Actually, people end up spending
a lot of their time outside the apartment And I think that's a really beautiful
balance between creating a really peaceful place inside, but also places
where you have a sense of community.
