Layered luxury
Doherty Design Studio
Sensual materials and layered textures imbue this home with a sense of old-world glamour.
Sensual materials, layered textures and curved forms soften the grandiose scale of this house in inner Melbourne and imbue it with a sense of oldworld glamour.
01 A sophisticated kitchen designed for entertaining features textured and contrasting materials such as matt joinery, fluted glass and honed onyx.
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When the clients of Kew Residence approached Doherty Design Studio, they knew they wanted a grand house built for entertaining. But what they needed was a vision for the interiors – a means of softening the imposing scale of an otherwise rectilinear building. They presented Mardi Doherty, director of Doherty Design Studio, with an idea of how they wanted the interiors to feel, rather than a visual brief. They needed plenty of space and interconnected zones. In particular, the living areas had to be able to accommodate far more guests than your average house: the owners regularly entertain up to eighty guests at a time. And yet the brief was also for spaces that were “delicate” and “fine” – adjectives that might feel incongruous with the scale of this vast house.
The solution was to create a U-shaped floor plan around an enormous central deck, which connects to a family room at one end and a kitchen/living/dining room at the other. Aesthetically, the Art Deco-inspired interior is rich with sumptuous decoration, glamour and geometric shapes. Textures are layered and alternate finishes create contrast, while sensual curves suggest intimacy within lofty rooms.
The sophisticated kitchen contrasts matt black and white cabinets with overhead cabinets in fluted glass and brushed brass
handles. Fine porcelain benchtops and a black steel frame on the island introduce fineness. For the splashback, green onyx has been cut into a variety of geometric shapes and then laid in alternate directions so that the veins and tones add visual intrigue.
Mardi explains that the shifts in colour, texture and finish are a deliberate move to “break up the blockiness” of such a large kitchen, creating an elegant space that is also a trick of smoke and mirrors. The mess of food preparation and piles of dirty dishes are secreted away in a vast butler’s pantry hidden behind the kitchen proper, ensuring that this space can be a workhorse for large events without compromising the bespoke finish.
The Art Deco aesthetic continues in the ensuite bathroom, where luxurious green onyx and brass handles are again paired with strong geometric lines, including a delicate, steel-framed bathtub. A bronze shower screen and brass mirrors lend the room an air of old Hollywood glamour.
The children’s bathrooms have more youthful personas. In the boys’ bathroom, wall tiles are laid in a pattern inspired by the stitching on a soccer ball and the shape of the custom blue mirrored cabinet recalls lines on a playing field, while in the girls’ bathroom, handmade wall tiles in soft grey with blush pink grout add depth to an otherwise simple bathroom.
02 The luxurious, Art Decoinspired ensuite features a curved vanity, a green onyx benchtop and brass accents.
03 A steel-framed bathtub and custom towel rail complement the black window frames and add definition to the ensuite.
04 Blush grout and grey tiles lend the shared girls’ bathroom a youthful yet sophisticated character.
05 Tiles and an electric blue cabinet in the boys’ bathroom are in keeping with the geometric details found throughout the house.
06 A band of black tiles adds texture and glamour to the downstairs powder room.
Designer
Doherty Design Studio Ground floor,
108 Power Street
Hawthorn Vic 3122
+61 3 9815 2737 info@dohertydesignstudio. com.au dohertydesignstudio.com.au
Project team
Mardi Doherty, Bianca Abonyi, Michelle Evans
Builder Barbat James
Consultants
Joinery: Howard Cook Cabinet Making Draftsperson: Nassima Design Group Kitchen products
Internal walls: Painted in Dulux ‘Natural White’ Flooring: White smoked American oak flooring from Royal Oak Floors
Joinery: Maximum Fiandre benchtop from Artedomus; Peraway Marble Light Green Onyx splashback; under-bench and island bench joinery in Dulux 2-pac ‘White Duck’; Auhaus Architecture Radius Handle in ‘Brushed Brass’ Lighting: Classic 7 Plus downlights from Lights
Lights Lights
Sinks and tapware:
Abey Lago double-bowl undermount sink; Gessi Oxygene Gooseneck mixer from Abey
Appliances: Miele XL steam combination oven, pyrolytic oven, Gourmet warming drawer, PowerFlex induction cooktop and integrated fridge and dishwasher
Furniture: Grazia and Co
Dita stools
Other: Custom fluted glass upper cabinets; custom island bench frame, powdercoated Bespoke detailing in the kitchen includes the black steel frame of the island. Bathroom products Internal walls: Inax Chocolate tiles from Artedomus (powder room); Stonetile Ind. Gubi Light tiles (main ensuite); Self Style Madelaine Grigio Cenere tiles from Urban Edge Ceramics (girls’ bathroom); National Tiles matt white tiles
(boys’ bathroom)
Flooring: Stonetile Ind. Gubi Light tiles (ensuite); Fibonacci Stone Dove Grey terrazzo tiles (powder room, boys and girls’ bathrooms)
Joinery: Peraway Marble Light Green Onyx benchtop (main ensuite); Stone Italiana Super White 13 (boys’ and girls’ bathrooms); vanities in Abet Laminati white ribbed laminate (boys’ and girls’ bathrooms); vanity in
Dulux 2-pac ‘Ghosting’
(main ensuite)
Lighting: Michael Anastassiades Bob wall light (girls’ bathroom) and Tip of the Tongue wall light (powder room) from Hub Furniture Tapware and fittings: Astra Walker Icon mixer in aged Green onyx has been cut into geometric shapes and laid in different directions to emphasize its tonal variation. brass (powder room);
Astra Walker Icon wall sets (all bathrooms) Sanitaryware: Agape Cuna bathtub (main ensuite); Cibo Design Fineline basin (main ensuite) and Cirque basin (powder room); Laufen Living basin from Reece
Other: Custom mirrored wall cabinets (powder room, main ensuite and boys’ bathroom).