Rather than eradicate the mood of this seventies penthouse apartment perched on Queensland’s Gold Coast in Australia, Cassie James-Herrick and her team at CJH Studio found the aspects they admired and ran with them. The three-bedroom apartment had been untouched since it’s construction by the original developers, complete with eye-catching brass bathroom fittings and extravagant golden details, but the Melbourne-based interior design practice decided to pick and choose their changes, to create a more sophisticated, light-filled space that spoke to the needs of today.
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Naturally, the brass fittings are gone, along with all extraneous colours that would jar the creamy, textural palette which accentuates the structure’s original curves. Surfing the curves throughout the space, James-Herrick created an impressive arch in the double-height wall of the living space in the two storey-apartment. The circular table in the kitchen mirrors the curve’s softening effect which extends to the staircase, corridors and as far as the the walk-in shower, where the glass brick wall that originally dominated the foyer has been cannily and carefully repurposed.
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The lovingly-restored travertine floor is another example of paying tribute to the echoes of the past while finding a new voice. With custom joinery throughout and a crisp palette that envelope the space like a Roman toga, imbuing the minimalist approach with maximum visual interest, with no hint of brass and the only gold remaining on the apartment’s address.
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