INTERIORS

GUIDING LIGHT

A harbourside terrace house has been transformed from dark and pokey to bright and contemporary with views even from the depths of the interior

MANSIONAUSTRALIA.COM.AU 47SSouth African-born architect Bruce Stafford established his first practice in Durban in 1984 and quickly built a strong international reputation for boutique resorts in remote locations, built to converse with landscapes, traditions and local materials. One of these, Singita Boulders, which clings to the banks of the Sabi Sand River in the country’s northeast, is a medley of thatched roofs, mirrored waterways, dry stone walls and rooms sunk firmly into the ground. “It became quite a hit in the travel world,” recalls the architect, who began to get commissions from Sydneysiders who had visited his South African hotels and resorts. A keen surfer who knew the Emerald City well, he decided to chase the trail of private referrals by moving his practice to Sydney’s eastern suburbs in 2001. This modus operandi has served him well. “We tend to fly under the radar a bit and let our work come through referrals,” he explains. It was through word of mouth among relatives that he was commissioned to renovate this Darling Point semi-detached terrace, Bring to Light. “We had done work for the client’s parents and we came highly recommended. It meant that this renovation was a real family affair.” But it was no ordinary renovation. The roofline, which echoes that of its attached neighbour, had to be retained due to heritage constraints. The interior, on the other hand, was almost entirely gutted and remade to open this long, narrow envelope to light and views of Rushcutters Bay below. The centrepiece is a stairwell and central void that plunges three storeys. “Relying on private referrals can be a hard journey but it means our clients tend The interior of this Darling Point semidetached terrace was gutted and remade to open the long, narrow building to light and views of Rushcutters Bay. The centrepiece is a three-storey stairwell and central void

The roofline was retained due to heritage constraints, but the interior was carved out to create voids that allow light to penetrate. The kitchen, anchored by a monolithic stone island bench, is at the dwelling’s core

to trust us from the get-go,” says Stafford. “And this project required a lot of trust. The interior was completely reformatted.” He retains an image of his foreman, a fellow South African, tearing the heart out of the old structure “without fear of anything”.

Stafford’s primary aim was to open a “dark and pokey dual occupancy” to light and aspect, transforming it into a bright contemporary home. Of almost equal importance was the orientation of the home around the owner’s favourite pastime –cooking. An expansive kitchen, anchored by a monolithic natural stone island bench, is placed at the dwelling’s core.

Architect Bronwyn Litera, who worked with Stafford on the design of the building, says the kitchen was designed to be a focal element of the house. “The client is an avid cook and spends much of her time in the kitchen, so it was important that this really was the heart of the home,” she says.

“We spent a lot of time working on the ground floor plan to include a generous dining room for big family gatherings. The 3.4mhigh ceiling helps to make the rooms feel larger and brighter and the curving edges of the ceilings lend them a sense of endlessness.”

In this way the project is about using architecture to create connections. The client and friends – one of whom is her next-door neighbour – share the life of the kitchen and dining area, while an entirely new relationship with the harbour environment is forged by an array of remade spaces and openings, vertical and horizontal; and, in the case of the skylight, set at a slant.

The building even reaches out to the semi next door with a series of visual connections apparent in the side facing the harbour.

“We’re a small boutique studio of just 12 people,” Stafford explains. “Our focus is luxury residential and we tend to take on projects that challenge us. One of the primary drivers in our philosophy is spirit of place, or genus loci. Each site has a unique spirit about it, and a unique set of opportunities and challenges, so we’re very contextually focused on different requirements of each site and the dreams of each client.”

Stafford attributes his sensitivity to the unique potential of each site and each client to a unique feature of his South African birth, education and early professional years.

“There weren’t a lot of sophisticated materials in the buildings I grew up in and the buildings I worked on. We used what was available, with an emphasis on natural materials and textures. I hope you see that on all of our projects.”

In Bring to Light he and his design team of Bronwyn Litera and Lucia Ayub use vertical timber cladding to great effect, as well as brick, stone and rough-rendered walls.

The textural quality of the interior is raised to the next level with the addition of bathrooms lined with grained ceramic tiles and natural stone on the kitchen benchtop.

While this sensitivity to texture is something Stafford attributes to his South African past, he is quick to acknowledge the inspiration of his adopted home. “There are many similarities, from the quality of light to reticence about ostentatious architectural gestures,” he says. “I feel at home with the architectural culture here. We’re not like some countries where they want to bare their chests and beat them.”

“In fact, I rate the architecture of this country as the best in the world. If I look at international directions in design, Australia is always up there.”