Fashionable Sydney flat pays homage to art deco
A Sydney apartment inspired by the grande dame of fashion, Coco Chanel
Iain’s first order of business was to gut the apartment, removing one of three bedrooms and converting the lower level into two bedrooms with a library and sitting area in between. The master bedroom and en suite are linked by a mirrored dressing area. The living room, originally designed as an open-plan space, is on the top floor of the duplex and is divided into three separate spaces – living, dining and kitchen – by steel mullioned glass and mirrored screens that evoke 1930s’ architecture. Interior design-wise, Iain’s clients knew exactly what they were looking for, and used the monochrome palette and aesthetic of Chanel as a reference point. “They presented me with Chanel brochures and images of the Hôtel Costes in Paris,” he recalls. “The brief was to create something that combined the auras of a nightclub, an upmarket boutique and a luxurious hotel. It was also to be redolent of the best apartments of Paris and New York and had to be suitable for entertaining and to double as a gallery for the clients’ extensive art collection.”
The palette includes slick, lustrous materials all set in dramatic, dark hues. Limestone combines with black granite and Arabescato marble, and deep-toned Art silk carpets in indigo and aubergine add richness. Fabrics are silk and velvet, adding to this plush palette. Mirrors give sparkle and conjure the glamour of Rue Cambon. The stairwell is also lined in mirrors, much like that in the home of Mme Chanel.
