Verdant retreat

Designed by Rob Nerlich & Kate McMahon, McMahon and Nerlich

Interior selections and styling by Chris Quirk and Kim Edwards

From the architects:

This warehouse-inspired townhouse enjoys generous connection to the street through the placement of a hidden terrace behind the parapet, an external spiral stair and a pool on the roof.

The main bedroom suite is reached via the far end of the ground floor corridor, tucked in past the feature spiral stair. 

This spiral stair, set into the curved end wall, is the hero feature joining ground to upper level, enhanced by the natural light from a linear boundary skylight. 

The stair almost conceals a beautiful arched opening which leads to the main bedroom – from there, a series of arches signify entry to the robe and to the concealed toilet space.

The owners’ requested a converted-warehouse feel for all spaces, including the main bedroom suite; generous ceiling heights were also critical. 

The main bedroom features bespoke custom textiles, and a specially commissioned artwork that takes up the end wall and complements the material and colour palette. 

Feature wall sconces were selected by the owners from vintage designer collections that speak to materiality and texture. 

The walk-in robe is finely detailed with complementing green joinery, picking up on the curved corner theme, and with a custom shaggy green bench seat created by an artist friend of the owners.

There is also a golden hanging pendant and a cheval (tall mirror).

The Spanish-inspired landscape design flows outside-to-inside, from the strikingly beautiful hanging plants above the bath, all the way through to the main bedroom terrace, anchoring a feel of expansion into the landscape within the courtyard and beyond the tall, textural walls. 

Various succulent sand cacti, Aloes and Agaves, sedums, senecios, palms and platyceriums, are planted or potted to sculptural, cascading, bulbous, or trailing effects.

The ensuite features an operable full-width steel window that separates it from the main bedroom.

The window, combined with the dramatic skylight over the bath, provides a subtle beauty and zen feel to the act of bathing. 

The skylight washes beautiful indirect light downwards, highlighting the hanging plants' verdant leaves and highlighting the patina of the aged bronze tapware and the owner’s textural tile selection to create an immersive bathing experience. 

Colour is a key aspect of this bathroom; the desaturated green featuring on all steelwork in the house is a prelude to the green that cloaks the ensuite, with remarkable Moroccan hand-made Zelige tiles lining all walls.

The bespoke bath was commissioned by the owners and works in harmony with the floor – polished concrete with a bespoke aggregate mix.

The vanity basins are hand-cut and hand-formed from a striking green stone – speaking to form, mass, and reduction of elements, this forms a cohesive complement to the ensuite space.

Spatial generosity and flow were key, and interior selections and styling by the owners reflect a narrative of their lives – of their travels, of eclectic collecting.

 Privacy to the main bedroom and bathing experience creates its own sense of retreat.

Story by: Trendsideas