2021 Gallery
Winner: Apartment or Unit
Murray Barker and Esther Stewart for Brunswick Apartment
This renovation sought to increase the functionality and flexibility of the living spaces within an original-condition, two-bedroom 60s apartment in Brunswick. Slight but significant amendments celebrate the quality, materiality and atmosphere of the original home, while adapting to meet the current needs of the owner.
Jury Citation
A frequently overlooked and neglected apartment typology in many Australian cities, the 1960s brick walk-up flat is celebrated in this joyous and elegant project. The design, a collaboration between architect Murray Barker and artist Esther Stewart, has done just enough to give the existing apartment a new life as a contemporary home. Without pastiche, the new work references the nostalgia of the 1960s with a palette of muted colours, figured stone and graphic terrazzo.
Original elements of the apartment, such as the pastel-coloured bathroom fixtures and the dairy hatch, are retained and celebrated. With a modest budget, significant improvements have been made to functionality and liveability. The reconfigured kitchen has been designed as an extra-compact living space and includes a new cleverly integrated skylight within the pitched roof space.
Acute observations and discrete, playful interventions have resulted in an alluring and sophisticated refurbishment.
