Description

With popularity of mid-century modern houses on the rise, this renovation to a c1960 home enhances the forward-thinking design choices of the original mid-century architect Herman Sibbel, while incorporating the influences of today. The home in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs wears a beautifully refurbished interior with the same specialised quality of workmanship Sibbel Builders are renowned for.

What was the brief?

The clients got in touch with us because as empty nesters, they wanted to update their family home for a comfortable retirement.

Aware that their home is a mid-century icon, they wanted to peel back the layers that were influenced by the 70's, 80's and 90's, and reinstate the best that the 1960's had to offer. Practically, they needed their kitchen to function better for modern living, and their bathrooms to be more accessible as they had lost some mobility.

Before:

What were the key challenges?

Being from another era, the rooms were all substantially smaller than we are used to now.
This home needed to celebrate an aesthetic from the past but function for a modern lifestyle.

What were the solutions?

The home had a designated formal dining room. We find that currently these rooms are rarely used because modern day people tend to dine where they can converse with those in the kitchen and living room. So we took this space and used it to extend the tiny kitchen and the ensuite.
We carefully designed all of the joinery to emulate 1960's Scandinavian designer furniture.
The bespoke island bench in particular, is a tribute to mid century design. We curved the sides and kept the ends open so that it could sit in the centre of the kitchen/meals space without the space feeling cluttered.

After:

Check out the entire project here!

Key products used:

Black indian slate flooring from RMS Natural Stone
Terrazzo floor tile and glazed finger tiles from Perini Tiles
Timber joinery handles from Kethy
Narrow reeded glass - sandblasted
Powdercoated steel hollow section