Project: Under The Tree Residence
Architects: Welsh + Major
Interior Design: Arent & Pyke
Landscape: Sue Barnsley Design
Location: Annandale, NSW, Australia
Photo Credits: Anson Smart
Text by Arent & Pyke
In the home stretch of their addition designed by Welsh + Major architects, Arent&Pyke were engaged to complete the home with furniture, decorative lighting and art. “When something’s beautiful on the outside it should be beautiful on the inside too,” says the owner. “I wanted it to have warmth and interest, and I needed help working out the personality and soul of the house so we could be true to that.”
The African ‘palaver tree’ is a place where ideas are shared, stories are told, and agreements are reached. Our South African expat clients had grown up observing this, and wanted to pay tribute to it by planting a large ficus at the centre of their renovated home in Annandale. It turned out to be an appropriate metaphor for what was an unusually organic project.
We wanted to bring softness and ambient glow into the spaces, introducing various Isamu Noguchi light sculptures. Colours and textures were charged with the same task, so we selected earthy and warm hues from mustard and chartreuse to forest green, and chose abaca rugs, woollen blankets, boucle upholstery, belgian linen and cotton velvet to provide thew tactile warmth that was required.
The art selection wasn’t about filling the walls: the clients wanted to wait for the right pieces to come along, and the feeling was mutual. “It would have been such a mistake to choose everything off one page, we built it up over a period of time in a much more thoughtful way. Arent&Pyke had so much patience!”
AWARDS
Winner 2019 Australian Interior Design Awards AIDA Residential Decoration
Winner 2019 Interior Design Excellence Awards IDEA Residential Decoration
Winner 2019 Belle Coco Republic Interior Design Awards Residential and People’s Choice Award
Winner 2019 House and Garden Room of the Year
