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Issue 62 - Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62

Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62 is the first issue of the year and always a great time to put our best foot forward. With Adam Goodrum, the loveliest man in design, as Guest Editor, we draw on his insights as a furniture designer, artist and educator to look at the makers shaping our design world. Sustainability has never been more important, and increasingly this is a consideration from the start with projects designed to address their immediate environment as well as the longevity of the planet. From the coldest winters to the most tropical of summers, addressing how we live in the environment is crucial to creating the perfect home.

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The Space-Making Magic Of Built In Joinery
HomesVicki Wilson

The Space-Making Magic Of Built In Joinery

Australia

Cantilever Interiors make masterful use of built in joinery to bring voluminous light and space into this townhouse in Brunswick, Melbourne.


Space can be found in even the tiniest of townhouses, if only one makes use of built in joinery – Cantilever Interiors’ renovation of this Little Gold Street warehouse conversion is a case in point.

Once upon a time, this house on Little Gold Street in the funky Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, was a brick factory. In 2004, the warehouse underwent a conversion at the hands of McCorkell Design, turning the once vast, singular space into four residences ideal for small(ish) footprint, inner-city dwelling.

Typical of the townhouse typology, the residences that became of the brick factory were long and narrow. One of the houses, home to a creative couple, has windows only on the street-facing elevation and the side back corner of the building, limiting light access to the central hub of the abode. In 2017, the couple engaged Cantilever Interiors to remedy their light-restricted home.

Working within the existing footprint, Cantilever opted to install built in joinery solutions as a means of increasing natural light exposure, while increasing the storage and enhancing the function of Little Gold Street’s living, dining, and kitchen spaces.

A white palette, with soft grey stone benchtops now bounces soft light through the space, elevating the ambience of the room. The contrast of the benchtops against the floorboards emphasises the simplicity of the design. Tasmanian Oak battens were introduced to repeat the detailing used on the stairwell, balancing the spatial aesthetic of the space.

The simplicity of build works required to transform the home is also a benefit. Working ‘within footprint’ is a challenge that Cantilever enjoy, evidencing how quality of outcome can improve through a simplification of design response. Unnecessary build works increase cost, which typically impacts quality of outcome. And that’s not to mention the unnecessary waste, consumption of materials, and neglect of the existing embodied energy.

Cantilever’s reconfiguration of this space is at once simple, subtle, and sensitive – all the while efficient and effective.

Cantilever Interiors
cantileverinteriors.com

Styling by Ruth Welsby, photography by Martina Gemmola

Dissection Information
Tex tiles by Mutina from Urban Edge Ceramics for splashback
Built in joinery by Cantilever Interiors
K3 Kitchen System in white by Cantilever Interiors
Cooktop from Miele
Integrated refrigerator from Fisher & Paykel
Oven and dishwasher from V-Zug


About the Author

Vicki Wilson

Tags

built-in joinerycantileverCantilever InteriorsFisher & Paykelkitchen designMieleMutinaUrban Edge CeramicsV-ZUG


Related Projects
Issue 62 - Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62

Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62 is the first issue of the year and always a great time to put our best foot forward. With Adam Goodrum, the loveliest man in design, as Guest Editor, we draw on his insights as a furniture designer, artist and educator to look at the makers shaping our design world. Sustainability has never been more important, and increasingly this is a consideration from the start with projects designed to address their immediate environment as well as the longevity of the planet. From the coldest winters to the most tropical of summers, addressing how we live in the environment is crucial to creating the perfect home.

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