Soft pink & concrete collide in this chic Melbourne apartment

While only 10 years old, this two-bedroom Melbourne apartment received the renovation treatment recently resulting in a much more user-friendly design and the addition of a gorgeous soft pink. Dulux ‘Monroe’ is the star of the space and unsurprisingly, it has made the project a finalist in the 2017 Dulux Colour Awards.

“The palette came about as a response to the existing materials present in the apartment shell. We chose materials that complemented the soft mottled tones of the existing concrete wall and doors. We were keen to add some warmth and refinement to the appearance of the new finishes to counterbalance the rawness of the concrete, hence the introduction of the soft pink tone,” says Holly Board of BoardGrove Architects.

“The renovation was purely an interior reconfiguration. The apartment was a very average, cheaply fitted out space with plastic timber look alike floors, lower ceilings and laminate kitchen joinery. It lacked any personality and consisted of a very standard layout,” says Holly.

BoardGrove made the space much more user-friendly and increased the penetration of natural light too. “The clients also needed a new kitchen but didn’t want a stereotypical wall of kitchen joinery cupboards and appliances to dominate the living space,” says Holly, who set about meeting the request with originality.

“We created a more ambiguous cooking area that appeared as a collection of sculptural art-like forms that added character to the living space, with the functional cooking equipment concealed within each element,” says Holly. The unusual design features two arches – an arched metal door that conceals the fridge and an arched stove reveal. These details work to offset the industrial feel of the concrete that also features heavily in the space.

Photography: Haydn Cattach

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