This stunning studio apartment, recently given an innovative transformation by tsai Design’s Jack Chen and Hidy Wong, sure proves that size isn’t everything. Its owners, who live overseas for three quarters of the year and rent it out the rest of the time, now have a beautiful Melbourne bolthole to (occasionally) call home.
The brief was to revitalise the tired St Kilda apartment into a place they could be comfortable living and working when they visit Australia, despite its small footprint. It also needed to be suitable as an Airbnb to create income while they weren’t there.
“The existing apartment was very tired and desperately needed to be worked on to give it a second life,” said Jack. “We even found a bird nest in the ceiling space!” A simple box, with a corner taken up by the bathroom, the bathroom door was right in the line of sight the moment you walk into the apartment.
Being conscious of budget, as well as the potential challenges and delays of getting big changes past the body corporate, Jack and Hidy got clever and created something nonetheless special. “The new layout is fairly similar. The biggest change was relocating the door to the bathroom, which it is now at the corner of the bathroom rather than in the middle of the studio. We wrapped the bathroom in a custom copper mirrored joinery, so it looks like a pod in the unit. It’s a statement piece and an Instagram-able moment for Airbnb customers.”
Inside the space age pod, they upgraded the bathroom, embracing the most intimate space in the apartment by using a dark terracotta colour to provide a dramatic but also cosy vibe.
They also rotated the kitchen, so the bench is now facing the window, and redesigned it so most of the appliances sit under the bench, including the fridge, dishwasher and microwave. “By deleting high units, it really helps create an illusion of a spacious bench space,” Jack says. “The side of the copper mirror pod also serves as a kitchen storage cabinet, including a place for a coffee station. We also created a full height multifunctional joinery piece, mainly as a TV unit, that also hides other essentials such as the vacuum cleaner.”
The clients found a couch with a removable back so Jack and Hidy worked it into the design (it can be used to watch TV as well as for dining seating), and added new cork flooring to add texture and warmth.
“The copper mirror pod is definitely the statement piece in the unit and it demands attention whilst hiding many practical uses, including kitchen storage, wardrobe, a fold-out study desk, and also hiding the bathroom inside,” says Jack.
“I like how there’s a place for everything. With previous apartment renovations, we’ve tended to incorporate more moving parts and flexible furniture, which is great, but it isn’t for everyone. In this project, one of the smallest apartment spaces we’ve done at 27m2, we set ourselves the challenge to have everything laid out, and I think we achieved this without overcrowding the space.”
tsai Design is a small residential architectural office based in Geelong, Victoria, focusing on small or challenging spaces.
Builder: Everline Builder | Joinery: JG Interiors | Photographer: Tess Kelly
