This Victorian period home in Melbourne is transcending design conventions
Interior designer Swee Lim is throwing out all the rules when it comes to renovating this 1800s Federation-style home.
Dating back to the 1800s, Malvern in Melbourne’s southeast has successfully managed to retain its period charm. Thanks to strict heritage overlays that uphold the neighbourhood’s historic sensibility, the streets are lined with charming, meticulously cared-for houses.
Yet venture behind their handsome facades and many have been modernised with new extensions that are, as per regulation, invisible from the street. Draped in leafy London planetrees and Callery pear, the family-friendly suburb is surrounded by cafes, boutique shopping strips, generous public gardens and private schools.
Like much of the local architecture, this Federation home has maintained its traditional features: ornate stained glass, faceted bay windows, a return veranda, red brick exterior, and a high-pitched slate roof.
Internally, the existing front rooms have only had minor adjustments, the pressed ceilings, cornices and architraves spruced up in contrasting colours and the soaring ceilings accentuated with 3m-high French doors.
Fireplaces have been revitalised, albeit gently, and framed in veined marble.
Accessed via a porch, the main entry opens into a hall, the floorplan split into older rooms on the right and the new build on the left, with a tennis court at the rear.
With its succession of chromatic evolutions, a showstopping CC-tapis rainbow Slinkie runner was positioned near the door beside a mirrored artwork to radiate and reflect colour, its kaleidoscopic energy complementing the “rich tapestry of interiors”, says interior designer and art adviser Swee Lim. “Bronze, textiles, limestone, concrete and ceramic add layers of depth and texture to the space. The result is a home that is dynamic, playful and delightfully whimsical,” Lim says.
The homeowners wanted to avoid the “concrete box” aesthetic and engaged Long Contracting to design an addition sympathetic to the original. Lim says the brief was to create an effortless transition between the two.
“The heritage part of the house feels intimate and sophisticated while the new part feels contemporary and fresh, but the movement between old and new is subtle. The light is a unifying element, the vaulted ceilings are carried through.”
On the first floor, there’s a rumpus and three bedrooms while the basement is reserved for a laundry, cellar and billiards room. The whole house has been outfitted with custom furniture and carefully selected fixtures and fittings. The vivid colour scheme features ultramarine, cobalt and mauve hues while the materials palette combines luxurious metals like bronze with marble and intricately woven textiles. Everything else, from the furnishings to the graphic pendants, has been layered over the top.
“We embraced the bold and the unexpected by using vibrant colour and creativity, transforming the home into a living canvas,” says Lim of the concept. “Each of the elements converges to create a home that transcends convention.”
Lim helped her clients build an art collection from scratch. Site-specific, large-scale sculptures were commissioned in order to fit designated spaces and the scale of the furniture. Together, they visited galleries and studios in Melbourne, procuring pieces from all over Australia in addition to a large-format textile work from Mexico.
“The process of working with my clients and visiting the artists is much more satisfying, as opposed to just saying ‘here, put this on your wall’,” she says.
However, the practical side of installation wasn’t without its challenges. In the basement courtyard, a 2m-high, 200kg bronze piece by Melbourne-based artist Sonia Payes took four men and a crane to install in such a way that it could be viewable from 360 degrees.
Lim navigated empty walls and negative space for the newly acquired pieces, finding suitable places for other Australian works by The Visuals, Emma Davies, Dean Bowen, David Ray, Lisa Roet and Peter Cole. Shipped in from country NSW, a horse sculpture by Stephen Glassborow took two people to assemble on site.
For those building their personal collections, Lim suggests that there is real value in engaging an art adviser who can provide valuable assistance and advice.
“The process can help them identify their own tastes and preferences, whether it be for investment, personal enjoyment or social status,” she says, stressing the importance of curation. “It’s essential to ensure that each piece complements the others and contributes to a cohesive whole.”
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