Carter Williamson Architects

Home Improvement & Renovation Professionals , Architects
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Carter Williamson Architects
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Concrete Blonde

Sydney’s Inner West suburb of Annandale is known for its history, character and nostalgic vibes of the picturesque wide streets, beautiful parks, ornate architecture and heritage homes.

In 2014, Carter Williamson Architects were recruited to transform a narrow heritage semi into a gathering place for their clients’ family and friends, while creating a peaceful sanctuary for the residents. The home needed to block out the noise from nearby roads and planes flying overhead, and honour the kitchen as the main heartbeat where conversations take place and special connections are made.

Carter Williamson set out to transform a tight 5-metre-wide block into a home that balances practicality with a circulation sequence that sprinkles a little bit of magic.
Project Year: 2019
Project Cost: $750,001 AUD - $1,000,000 AUD
Country: Australia
Postcode: 2038
Others who worked on this project: Ben Peake
Restoration of the front facade of Concrete Blonde.
Concrete Blonde
Carter Williamson left an original arched form in the front entry hall, a shape that repeats throughout the residence.
Concrete Blonde
The spacious main bathroom (a former bedroom), joins marble, brass, and green elements. It is innovative for its use of "micro-spaces" that are subdivided and contained within the scalloping of the rear wall. They are meant to make each element feel special and separate, dividing a large room into...
Concrete Blonde
A curved slot above the living room is designed to grab the northern light and pull it all the way down through the home. The arched shape references the original shape of the hallway walls. "We used this form in a few areas: bathroom enclosures, bathroom windows, and this skylight," explains Ben...
Concrete Blonde
Carrara marble countertops and backsplash add a luxurious feel, as does the dark green leather upholstery on the bench seating which, in a space-saving move, is essentially part of the kitchen island. The Highline linear pendant light is from Archier.
Concrete Blonde
The curved void sits above the living space, filtering light from a high window deep into the plan. "We often use skylights and voids to deal with the challenges of planning and less than ideal orientations," explains the firm.
Concrete Blonde
The main bedroom features a scalloped, light green headboard lined in Porta timber moldings.
Concrete Blonde
Concrete Blonde
The scalloping appears in this space on a large deconstructed scale as well as in the curved detail of the floating vanity.
Concrete Blonde
At you enter into the additions, a steel threshold reinterprets the original archway.
Concrete Blonde
Full-height, black sliding glass doors connect the interior spaces to the rear courtyard and enable indoor/outdoor living.
Concrete Blonde
The custom table is a collaboration between Carter Williamson and Will Brennan, an Australian furniture designer from Orange, NSW. The bench seating was designed by Carter Williamson and constructed by Kraft Kabinets. The scalloped base is another theme that runs throughout the project. The...
Concrete Blonde
There are many textures at play in the living room—the board-formed concrete ceiling, the light brick wall, wood paneling, and the terrazzo floors. "The texture of the timber is reflected in the concrete," says Peake. The lightwell adds an additional internal light source and another spot to insert...
Concrete Blonde