Checkmate | YSG Studio

OVERVIEW
Salvaging an exposed brick residence laden with heavy timber in Byron Bay, seventies inspiration flourished to convey a laid back utopia for a family of four amongst a tropical setting that backs onto the surf. The home now represents a confident, new Byron – one devoid of generic white walls and ample glass prioritising external outlooks. Its gaze is firmly fixed inwards to create sensory journeys heightened by the eccentric beats of nostalgia.
Responding to our clients’ love of deep browns plus vintage pieces, we plumped up the furnishings with an assertive kind of whimsy, adding retro chrome injections.

STRUCTURAL CHANGES

Within the expansive living area, we drew the gaze down from the pitched ceiling, concentrating timber accents upon the ground level. Providing private passage to the children’s newly enlarged bedrooms, we enclosed the upper storey’s internal balcony and also removed timber-framed clerestory windows.

A circular window now offers glimpses of the semi-enclosed balcony’s foliage lining the master suite, syncing with the lower level’s new hopper-style window that replaces sliding doors.

In response to requests for breakout spaces plus generous entertaining zones on the entry level, we constructed an angled wall beside the widow (avoiding ceiling attachment) to cosy a neglected rectangular space. It also conceals views of entry points to a bedroom and bathroom from the dining and lounge areas.

Gutting the kitchen, we doubled its size, adding a ‘front- of-house’ L-shaped counter configuration to our partially concealed galley. Striped veneer joinery lengthens the arrangement, bracketing a circular island also lined with pearlescent marble, while simultaneously extending the entrance passage. Chrome balustrades (inspired by ‘old school’ skate parks) tether the kitchen cupboards to a solid timber column, creating a casual leaning post for drinks around the island (also framing the new seventies-inspired sunken lounge).

The metallic datum extends to articulate custom chrome cupboard pulls entwined in soft brown leather with pops of pink stitching, while general brass door levers are encased in paler leather iterations. Opposite, a galvanized steel pole replaces a chunky timber support column, bouncing light about.

TIMBER FRAMING

Innovative timber framing and slatted privacy devices have become signature YSG elements. A fixed screen conceals the kitchen scullery maintaining connections to the task areas and floating island. Overhead, we added alternating timber battens to an existing beam, lightening its heavy brown mass.

Upstairs, a latticed timber screen filters light into to our enclosed corridor, adding visual interest from below. Replacing solid timber iterations, lighter white internal doors are aligned via vertical timber ‘seams’ for tonal contrast (inspired by the parallel stripes that appeared on streetwear in the seventies).

Creating more hang-out space, we added vertical timber battens to a slatted ceiling on the upper balcony, blocking exposure to prying neighbours by framing the room (also shading the lounge area from intense sunlight). A pop of terracotta red enlivens our custom powder-coated balcony rail with ribbon-like balusters, offsetting orthogonal geometries. Outdoor sconces match its tone, connecting both levels of the home externally.

PATTERN

Spaces swell and expand through pattern integration. Removing pale ceramic floor tiles, square grids of terracotta pavers bound by thick grouting ground settings in the living zones.

Connecting levels, their outlines sync in smaller scale via the main bathroom’s checkered latte and wheat-shaded porcelain tiles, flowing onto the balcony lining the parent’s retreat.

Transitioning to spongey cork underfoot in their bedroom (another seventies nod), they stimulate a sense of sanctuary.

Miniature mosaics clad the bathtub, while chunky checkered Kimberley sandstone adorns the guest bathroom downstairs.

Replacing sliding doors, we added an outdoor high seat ledge with expressive checkered tiles beyond the study/bar for morning coffees and evening drinks service for friends.

FURNISHINGS

The residence packs a voluptuous mix of vintage spanning the aesthetic breadth of fifties Italian to the seventies. Mixing ‘high’ and ‘low’ finds, we sourced key pieces from Paris and locally: a limited edition casual denim Cassina armchair, chrome dining chairs (revived with shimmery citron upholstery) and chrome cone bar stools covered in new Kvadrat silk jacquard weaves depicting exotic fronds. Against a gingerbread-hued wall sit two armchairs covered in mint and chocolate harlequin-patterned wool.

Granting the furnishings high wattage, we stained aging timbers a unifying tone and painted the slatted ceiling a reflective ganache shade to draw it downwards and bounce sunlight about. Anchoring the sunken lounge, we coated our spacious moulded L-shaped lounge with a pale sandstone-shaded micro-cement render that flows down to cover the room’s floor.

Unifying the home, this gently glistening render features on the kitchen walls and ceiling, in the master suite (via a bedhead), plus guest bathroom.

Buoyed by the intricacies of our custom pieces and finishes including bespoke timber handles animating the new front door and kitchen joinery, retro furnishings enhance the home with off-kilter elegance. Handwoven Polynesian wall hangings and bedspreads co-exist with silken French wallpaper lining wardrobe fronts in the master suite and a striped watermelon- shaded window treatment brightening the kitchen. Within the sunken lounge, embossed wallpaper adds a painterly dimension with its mural-like angled planes enhancing the ceiling’s pitch.

Before it, a vintage tiled Capron table crowns our custom wool and artsilk rug. We designed the timber dining table with two solid legs fixed at alternating angles (to be best appreciated from the lowered lounge). Their mis-matched grains sync with the kitchen island’s striped veneer pedestal base, making the halos of chrome seating surrounding both zing.

LIGHTING

Few task lights illuminate the interiors. Instead, we sourced vintage sconces and pendants to provide soft illumination and artistic pause points. Aligning perfectly with the yin and yang sconces in the sunken lounge, we suspended an enormous custom moon fibreglass sphere to fill the void instead of sourcing something off the shelf to ensure the home retained its intrinsic uniqueness. Within the main bathroom, a contemporary LED artwork by Jeremy Kay (usually hung on walls) dances on the ceiling, adding a conversational party piece with a seventies disco floor vibe given smart phones can customise its colour and pattern activation.

STYLED: FELICITY NG

BUILT: WEBBER BUILD

PHOTOGRAPHY: PRUE RUSCOE