Stephen Collins Interior Design

A redesign of a house that once stood on the site, Palm Beach House is where the client had spent summers as a child. The previous house was unable to be saved, but provided an excellent template for the new-build. Memories influence the new design, from the building plan through to the decoration.

Overall, the Palm Beach House strongly refers to mid-century modernism, and the bold optimism of the era.

Described as a viewing deck with a house attached, the cantilevered veranda shelters rooms below, grounding the building into the native landscape, with the Pacific beyond.

Copper clad walls throughout are designed to age the house, blending it with the landscape.

The strong sense of natural materials, texture and bright colour add to its Australian beauty. 

Published:
- Architectural Digest, Italy
- Monument Magazine, Australia

Within one of Sydney’s most famous apartment complexes, the Garden Apartment was subtly re-planned altering its practicality, significantly. 

At its core the concept uses four significant materials of the Art Deco era; terrazzo, marble, stainless steel, and leather. 

These materials defines a room each, with the complete room finished in that single material only; the kitchen is stainless steel, the central vestibule is leather clad with secret doors to rooms beyond, the ensuite in slab Calcutta Marble and the second bathroom in terrazzo.  

The contemporary take on the Art Deco era provides a simple, masculine, luxurious backdrop for a collection of art and history. 

Taking in breath-taking views of Sydney's CBS, The Darlinghurst penthouse is like a next on the edge of the city.

The scale of the apartment was transformed by matching interior floor finishes to the external bluestone paving, linking the interior and exterior with the view beyond.

Bluestone, antique brass and timbers add a savvy contrast to the penthouse’s dark painted backdrop, providing a cool enclave from the bright Sydney sky.

Co-designing the architecture with Total Project Group meant from the outset, detailed interior planning could be incorporated into project. In turn this determined the form and its connection to the site.

Of course, the extraordinary site, a virtual bird nest above the ocean, including a tropical climate meant connection to the outdoors was essential.

Concealed cyclone shutters and frameless glass sliders open the interior to extraordinary views, while externally, the structure dominates, a podium grounded into the hill top, and a cantilever suspended above a cliff, ready for cyclones.

The interior design uses tropical vernacular principles, common South East Asia and essential in this location. Ventilation and sun protection are key. The house unfolds with secret doors linking rooms, allowing the house to breathe. Free-standing screens allow ventilation throughout and set the tone for an Asian antique collection.  The interior architecture juxtaposes delicate timber details creating a gallery space dominated by the spiral staircase, linking the three storeys and the inter to the architecture.

Dating back to the 19th century the Surry Hills Warehouse was originally a tractor showroom, later the Labor Club of South Sydney, and eventually even a night club.

The re-use of the warehouse into a single residence provided many creative opportunities. Often a site’s disadvantages become its features, as necessity is the mother of invention.  

The design is a building within a building. Courtyard voids provide light and ventilation throughout, separating the buildings but linked by bridges and platforms.

Upstairs, a series of split levels resolve the plan connecting the living spaces to outside and the view.

Below, the gallery, the cinema, bedroom wing and studies maintain the original warehouse surrounds, with exposed brick, beams, steel and concrete, all grounding this home in its history.

Awards
The Australian Interior Design Awards 2013, Residential Design Category; Commendation.
The Australian Interior Design Awards 2013, Residential Design Category; Best of State, NSW.

Published in Vogue Living
Published in Elle Decor Italia
Published in Wish Magazine, Financial Review

The Castlecrag House is the company’s first entirely new building.  

Fort-like, overlooking Sydney’s Middle Harbour, the house shelters a private garden and Koi-pond from the Southerly winds.  

The living space is pavilion-like, opening to both sides. Large glazed panel-sliders disappear into walls, opening the spaces and connecting them. On one side, it opens to the podium with views beyond, on the other, the private garden and Koi-pond.

The glass & steel upper level is devoted entirely to the master suite, providing absolute privacy while overlooking Sydney’s waterways. The structure is simple, the materials are calm, as nature and the view fill the room.

Below level is occupied by a separate apartment for extended family, mechanical services, garage and storage.

The client also commissioned the studio to design a collection of furniture for the house. The collection includes the dining table, a desk, coffee tables, bed suites, and sofas. The designs are manufactured by Beclau Furniture.  

Published in Vogue Living
Published in Monument Magazine
Published in the book “Tropical Minimal”

Often good solutions evolve as the brief does. 

The initial cosmetic alterations of the warehouse really came to fruition when a bathroom was added to the brief. The new plan addition disentangled the service rooms plan improving many aspects of the space, such as ventilation, privacy, comfort, and amenity.

Black & white contrast highlight the fine structural detail and are repeated within the art and furniture.

Published in Belle Magazine

Designed in 1948 by renowned architect, Harold Smith, the house is a classic piece of early modern simplicity.  With only minor changes to the plan, and a small addition downstairs, the house was reinvented as a contemporary home without losing its historical character. 

The additional materials and details are simple and befitting, without replicating the mid-century era, while furniture, texture and colours add the punch and whimsy of the Modern era. 

Published in Belle Magazine
Published in Monument Magazine

Alterations and additions best describes the Mosman House project. Previous additions had never taken into account the original house nor the full site, resulting in a disorganised plan and two dilapidated buildings; the original, and the previous addition.

Amalgamating was the key objective of the project, whilst maintaining the provenience of the original house. The work included overhauling and re-planning previous additions, into a parent’s master suite, , additional bathrooms, landscape, below level garage, facilities and a pool .

At the same time, minor alterations were achieved relocating the kitchen back into to the original house, central to the new plan, and opening up to the verandahs and new courtyard. The original character is maintained.

In the living and dining area , timber sliding doors and louvres feature on both sides of the room. These open to opening provide cross-ventilation, weather protection, privacy and sunlight control. They connect the the Northern courtyard to the gardens , pool and view to the South, with living room at centre.

Built in 1942, this restrained, classic house was rejuvenated taking into account the era it was built. A small addition upstairs and a number of small alterations to the plan downstairs was achieved without impact to the existing style. At the same time, the new interior components pay respect to the existing house, and also add a contemporary feel.

Published in Belle Magazine

Curtis Jones & Brown is an agency specialising in healthcare advertising. Their interior reflect their ethos; open, welcoming and modest. A central light well provides natural light throughout with stone and timber creating the relaxed, natural feel to the office. Timber screens providing privacy, add detail and calm the open plan office environment.

Published in Belle Corporate Magazine

Good planning is the key to all design. Yowie Bay House evolved from design & decoration into architecture when the planning solution was presented.

That solution involved re-assessing the whole site including the separate double brick garage further up the site.

The new building is placed between the two existing, as a new entry facade connecting the house to the garage and rumpus via a gallery. The extension contains the entry, staircases, corridors, and bedrooms including a bridge to the bedroom wing.  Being able to remove the passage constraints within the original house in turn allowed it to be enlarged without changing the house’s character.

The house now has excellent privacy, filled with natural light surrounding a terraced garden courtyard.

Co-designed with Bligh Voller Nield Architects, the brief required a re-thinking of the company’s office environment, which in turn would re-fresh the culture of the agency.

Cutting open the floors and adding staircases within the multi-storey tenancy improved employee communication, face to face connection in an open plan.

Published in Indesign Magazine

Awards
Commercial Interior Design Award - Australian Institute of Architects, NSW Chapter

The lofty warehouse space for branding & communications experts, Emery Vincent Design, known today as Frost*Collective, required elements of architectural scale, or small “buildings” to be built with in the interior.

One of those buildings, the conference room, juxtaposes its surrounds as a sculptural shell like structure. Inside the interior is dark and sound proof. The room is both cave-like and sci-fi.

Published in Indesign Magazine

The Abu Desk was designed as a centre piece to a large study. The brief was to construct in timber to add warmth at the request of the client.

Built in solid American Walnut, the desk’s angular detailing visually lightens the desk, conceals deep drawers, cable gunnels, for a fully cable free centre desk.

LHO Console is a salute to the history of television. Very wide and low, the console is designed for large digital televisions, and is inspired by one of history’s most famous of TV moments, the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas.  The console’s proportion and low line are inspired by JFK’s 1961 Lincoln Continental 4-door convertible. The bright chrome legs and detailing remembers the elegance of mid-century automobiles.

The Leggy Stereo Console is designed to store and conceal stereo equipment, namely the speakers. This re-think of this stereo console is inspired by mid-century radio-grams and record players. With tapering leg frame and concealed speakers left and right, the details celebrate audio history, with the sharp detail adding contemporary gusto.

Low Slung Console The console is a drawer unit designed for bedrooms. The chromium structural frame cuts through the front face of the cabinet, revealing recessed drawer pulls for 6 drawers. At each end the folded cabinetry detail reveals more drawer pulls, large secret drawers are revealed.

Shaft Coffee Table The shaft coffee table is inspired by European automobiles.

A light weight polished stainless steel frame cradles the table top, a hollow timber shaft. The shaft is open at each end and provides space for books. The interior is finished in coloured lacquer with timber grain texture, while the exterior is book-matched Macassar Ebony in high-gloss lacquer.