Houzz Tour: A Finely Tuned Apartment Above a Violin Shop
Once tired and rundown, this space above a shop is now a warm, comfortable and contemporary home
Rebecca Gross
23 February 2021
Design writer and historian. I write about contemporary architecture and design, and I study cultural history through the lens of architecture, design and visual culture. I have a Masters in the History of Decorative Arts and Design from Parsons The New School for Design, New York. My latest book is called "Ornament is not a crime: Contemporary Interiors with a postmodern twist."
Design writer and historian. I write about contemporary architecture and design,... More
Specialist violin sellers and repairers Alex and Marina Grant live above their violin shop in Melbourne, Australia. While the Victorian building presents a colourful brick facade that contributes to the vibrant heritage of the neighbourhood, the interior had become tired and somewhat rundown. The Grants engaged Tsai Design to refresh and modernise their apartment with a finely tuned vision.
“It was a veritable time capsule,” says Jack Chen, director of Tsai Design. “There were few creature comforts, and midnight treks to the bathroom downstairs were gruelling in winter. Our plan was for simple, modern conveniences as well as some hidden pleasures.”
“It was a veritable time capsule,” says Jack Chen, director of Tsai Design. “There were few creature comforts, and midnight treks to the bathroom downstairs were gruelling in winter. Our plan was for simple, modern conveniences as well as some hidden pleasures.”
Apartment at a Glance
Who lives here? Alex and Marina Grant, specialist violin sellers and repairers
Location Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia
Size 106 sq m (first floor) and an 18 sq m rooftop deck
Architect Jack Chen of Tsai Design
Builder Sustainable Homes Melbourne
The terrace building is located within the Smith Street Heritage Overlay Area of Fitzroy and Collingwood, an area that’s aesthetically and historically significant as Melbourne’s most important commercial strip of Victorian and Edwardian-era shops.
The Heritage Overlay required the facade be preserved, while the rear, facing the back lane, could be extended.
Who lives here? Alex and Marina Grant, specialist violin sellers and repairers
Location Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia
Size 106 sq m (first floor) and an 18 sq m rooftop deck
Architect Jack Chen of Tsai Design
Builder Sustainable Homes Melbourne
The terrace building is located within the Smith Street Heritage Overlay Area of Fitzroy and Collingwood, an area that’s aesthetically and historically significant as Melbourne’s most important commercial strip of Victorian and Edwardian-era shops.
The Heritage Overlay required the facade be preserved, while the rear, facing the back lane, could be extended.
Typical of Victorian shopfront terraces, the building had a long and narrow floorplan (4.5m wide), which limited light and ventilation.
The owners wanted to refresh the interior, improve the use of space and make it more thermally comfortable throughout the year. “The clients’ brief was quite simple. They were looking for a dedicated bedroom (versus their previous studio space), a bathroom on the first floor, and an outdoor space,” Jack says.
But he did much better than that, reconfiguring the apartment to include two bedrooms and four outdoor spaces.
The owners wanted to refresh the interior, improve the use of space and make it more thermally comfortable throughout the year. “The clients’ brief was quite simple. They were looking for a dedicated bedroom (versus their previous studio space), a bathroom on the first floor, and an outdoor space,” Jack says.
But he did much better than that, reconfiguring the apartment to include two bedrooms and four outdoor spaces.
The violin shop, workshop and office are on the ground floor. Stairs at the centre of the building lead to the first floor, with an open-plan living area, dining space and kitchen towards the front of the house, and two bedrooms and a bathroom towards the rear.
Need ideas for reworking your space? See projects by architects and building designers in your area.
Need ideas for reworking your space? See projects by architects and building designers in your area.
The central stairwell connects and separates the Grants’ business and home. Tsai Design introduced a glazed roof to create a skylight, transforming the stairwell into a lightwell and bringing sun deep into the upstairs and downstairs plan.
The walls are painted in an olive green that, when bathed in natural light, gives an illusion of greenery to evoke a sense of the outdoors. “It feels more like a well-lit courtyard than a threshold between business and home,” Jack says.
The sense of the outdoors in the stairwell can be appreciated through the window behind the dining table, providing a backdrop to the built-in bench seat with storage.
To the left of the dining table, the stone plinth of the fireplace rises to a landing, which leads to the rooftop-terrace steps. Tsai Design used joinery like this to connect different functions together. “This approach was to give a sense of continuity to the spaces, and to make the space feel bigger,” Jack says.
Similarly, timber shelving frames the division between the living area and kitchen, which overlooks Smith Street and maintains the heritage windows.
The white-painted walls and ceiling enhance the light and sense of space, while cork floors look and feel soft underfoot, keeping the open-plan room warm and quiet.
Olive green continues in the kitchen across the splashback tiles and linoleum worktop.
Some of the cabinetry and the walls are painted in a grey-green to complement the timber joinery. Leather handles on the drawers and cupboards are textured and tactile.
The steps next to the dining table lead up to a new rooftop deck above the guest bedroom. Here, the Grants can relax and entertain, taking in skyline views of Collingwood.
A smaller deck extends off the master bedroom at the rear of the house and is enclosed by a patterned screen. “It’s the perfect sunny perch for a morning coffee,” Jack says. There’s another outdoor area next to the guest bedroom, where a courtyard doubles as a drying space for laundry.
A skylight drenches the new en suite with natural light, and brings out the colour, grain and veining of the timber-and-tile palette.
Timber-look tiles around the shower create a nature-inspired setting that, like the stairwell, evokes the feeling of being outdoors.
Timber-look tiles around the shower create a nature-inspired setting that, like the stairwell, evokes the feeling of being outdoors.
The rear extension accommodates a fourth outdoor space, which now extends from the ground-floor office with steps to the car park below.
Tell us…
What do you like about this cleverly reworked apartment? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
Tell us…
What do you like about this cleverly reworked apartment? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
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Truly stunning. A very cleverly thought out design. And I, in contrast to a comment above, do like the 'timber' tiles in the bathroom. Such a light, airy home yet unlike anything I've ever seen.
Wow! Beautiful. Gorgeous spaces - particularly love the lighting
Wow beautiful gorgeous spaces particularly love the lighting