SPRING ST RESIDENCE

FURNITURE ART & OBJECT
Simone Haag 

PHOTOGRAPHY
Tom Blachford

2024 IDEA AWARDS
Shortlisted - Residential Interior Curation

Unfolding from an expansive and intrepid curation of collectable art, Spring Street harnesses a visual language of elegant poise. Amidst a blank architectural canvas of soaring ceilings, abundant natural light and expansive spatial volumes, the pied-à-terre relies on loose ornamentation and a bespoke classicism to instil storied character.

Within an interior of clean precision, it is Spring Street’s decorative elements that carry and impart meaning. Selected for their capacity to capture the eye, evoke the senses, introduce characterful flair and shape an elevated sanctuary, furniture, lighting, art and objects are the guiding stars of this residence and the elements that ensure its sense of place is retained between stretches of habitation.

Central to Spring Street’s styling is a piece that reconciles a diversity of decorative intents that served as a brief for this residence - the SOLE coffee table by Milan-based architect Hannes Peer. With a solid brushed steel and wood base and a hand-cut mosaic top, the table is divided into four pieces of varying heights. Individually those pieces can act as individual side tables, binding other vignettes to form a strong sense of aesthetic cohesion and defining an invisible thread between the apartment’s visual qualities as they are noted and its programming navigated. Mosaic has been used to compose lines, signs and colours in which a mysterious visual memory is hidden, coaxing closer inspection which then extends to a similar engagement with other pieces peppered throughout the residence. This one piece, with its striking and considered design, sets the scene. It is the metric by which all else takes material, compositional and functional cues to establish Spring Street as a receptacle of outstanding design. An alchemy of influences entangles intriguing finds from obscure Parisian flea markets and the seductive allure of globally iconic pieces emphasises the shared threshold between travel and indomitable design.  

Complimenting the SOLE table's gilded mosaic qualities and unexpected form are other pieces that converse with it. The serpentine curves of a Tryst Three chandelier by Paul Matter in the snug; the arced symmetry of a Pietro Franceschini console in the entryway; the ethereal cast of a Jeremy Blincoe wall light; roughcast bronze Barbera architectural hardware; the elemental luminosity of a brass and crystal Abacus pendant by Christopher Boots cutting the dining area in horizontal halves to bathe the surface of a dramatic black stone Daniel Barbera table in ambient light; the monolithic natural gravitas of a custom Morphiuous console by Dimitri Vargas in the master bedroom. The sumptuous curves of a midnight blue Baxter sofa and rich tones of the Life Sofa by Acerbis atop hand-tufted silk and wool rugs have counterbalanced the archaic resoluteness of these pieces, forging an aesthetic alliance throughout the entire 10th-floor apartment.

Spring Street is the result of a carefully constructed trilogy, a reconciliatory pact between architecture, decorative expression and narrative to elicit a stirring design scheme that leaves a primal impression, something that the body recognises on habitation as being deeply familiar and intoxicatingly luxe.