Behind a restored century-old façade in Bondi, a penthouse withdraws from the theatre of the beach. It looks outward — across a full 180 degrees of ocean and sky — but it does so without spectacle. Instead, this home chooses restraint., calm over display.
Designed by Lawless & Meyerson with architecture by MHNDU, the 260-square-metre apartment sits within one of Sydney’s most animated coastal neighbourhoods. Yet it feels deliberately removed from its tempo; Bondi’s crowds, colour and noise remain present, but at a distance — softened, filtered and ultimately held at bay.
What the designers pursued was quietness: a spatial tone that could absorb daily life without amplifying it. This sense of stillness is achieved not only through minimalism, but also careful layering — of materials, light and scale — and a close reading of how people actually live within a home.
Original details from the heritage structure coexist with contemporary interventions. Old and new sit side by side without hierarchy, joined by an insistence on craftsmanship and material honesty. The architecture recedes just enough to let the interior breathe.
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Timber, stone and textile form the project’s backbone, with pale woods and softly veined marbles echoing the coastal environment without mimicking it. Natural linens, wool and sisal introduce tactility and warmth, ensuring the apartment never tips into austerity. Even the marble — used generously — avoids coldness. Its oceanic undertones feel more eroded than polished, as if shaped by weather rather than machinery.
Furniture selections move fluidly between contemporary design, vintage pieces and art, resisting any singular stylistic anchor. A Savannah marble fireplace becomes a focal point not because it dominates, but because it invites pause. In winter, it draws the space inward; in summer, it remains a quiet presence, part of the room’s rhythm rather than its centrepiece.
This sensitivity to seasonal change runs throughout the apartment as large openings allow the home to expand during warmer months, while layered textiles and enclosed zones provide intimacy when the temperature drops. It is a house that adjusts, rather than performs.
The kitchen continues this language of softness and strength. Savannah marble wraps the island and benchtops, balanced by microcement finishes and finely resolved joinery. The space feels like a place designed for use rather than display, where dining, cooking and gathering bleed into one another.
The primary bedroom is pared back and grounded, its palette muted and tactile. Custom joinery and carefully chosen furnishings create an environment that encourages rest rather than retreat. In the ensuite, green-veined marble, softened lighting and sculptural fittings elevate daily rituals into moments of quiet indulgence.
Throughout the home, there is a sense of confidence in what has been left unsaid. Nothing feels overworked. Objects are placed with intention, but never insistence. The result is a penthouse that resists the idea of coastal luxury as brightness or bravado, instead proposing something more enduring.
In Bondi — a place so often defined by movement and visibility — this home offers an alternative. It is a sanctuary that does not shut the world out, but gently lowers its volume. A place where salt air meets stone, and where living unfolds at its own, unhurried pace.
