A Maxalto Intoto table by Antonio Citterio lies before a travertine-topped island and countertops, emboldened under a skylight. Warm oak cabinetry is contrasted by a hot dip galvanized and chrome-plated Step stool by Bel Williams with ceramic vases by Astrid Salomon.
Full of life and fielding light, this Mediterranean-inspired home is etched with charismatic ease by an oft-overlooked ingredient: restraint.
Idling in Melbourne’s Bayside, Sussex Residence was the “perfect blank canvas,” says Shareen Joel, founder of her eponymous multi-disciplinary design practice. With strong architectural foundations, the task for Joel and collaborator, Joyce Architects founder Tarryn Joyce, was to inject textural warmth and soul. A light-filled family home, the redesign draws on the clients’ Mediterranean heritage and travels, specifically “Mediterranean-inspired principles of light and deep connection to landscape,” Joel explains.
Joel’s approach “centres on essentialism, and subtraction—human-centered design achieved through simplicity,” she explains. This seed of restraint was planted early during automotive and industrial design training. Her Ford Motor Company mentors emphasised, “Good design is not about what you add in but what you leave out.” An admirer of Le Corbusier and Achille Castiglioni, Joel’s unique lens and expertise now spans architecture, interior, landscape and furniture design. “Restraint and ‘simple’ design are hard to achieve and require incredible detail and discipline,” Joel says.
Inside Sussex Residence, the fruits of Joel’s design ethos beam through classic proportions and craftsmanship. A museum-like entrance and a gestural, ribboning staircase, announce that light itself is a core design material of this home. Tadao Ando-inspired, light is considered a “soft, living presence,” Joel notes. Skylights were added, with the aperture of those existing increased to illuminate new angles and complement glazing. On the staircase, Carlo Scarpa-inspired, custom-made blackened-steel handrail spigots nod to Joel’s industrial design nous.
A Cassina Sengu timber and marble table by Patricia Urquiola centres the dining space alongside Molteni&C Glove chairs by Patricia Urquiola, Limb chair by Billie Civello and Fold table by Bel Williams. A seascape by Aaron Kinnane adds natural motion to the industrially-designed pieces.
A modular B&B Italia Tufty-Time sofa by Patricia Urquiola softens the living space around a Cassina Rio coffee table by Charlotte Perriand. Shareen Joel-designed stainless-steel shelving and mirrored cabinet houses a Belem Lett artwork.
Natural oak blankets the interiors, making a single, coherent surface of cabinetry, walls and furnishings. Travertine bathrooms and limestone floors provide the tactility, the natural landscape underfoot and hand. “What has always interested me in projects is seamless integration and design, even whilst using such contrasting materials,” Joel says. These broad, yet precise strokes of materiality contextualise characterful art and collectible design pieces.
Oak translates from the communal kitchen to the quiet study where a hand-carved and brushed desk illustrates detailing shaped into the broader material vision. Outdoors, the renovation comprises the pool house bathroom, an outdoor commercial-style kitchen befitting the clients’ culinary love, alfresco dining and thematic landscaping: wisteria, thyme, olive and citrus trees.
As Sussex Residence brings the bliss of holidays home, Joel reflects, “What emerges is a house of quiet order and subtle richness.” It’s a design that speaks to the depth of personality and ease achieved through the rigours of design integration and the discerning merits of restraint.
A bespoke desk is accompanied by a vintage Vitra Wiggle chair by Frank Gehry beneath a David Serisier artwork, a B&B Italia La Bambole leather chair by Mario Bellini and a Moroso Shanghai Tip table by Patricia Urquiola.
Black, custom-made shelving allows glimpses of oak panelling behind a De Padova Vidun table by Vico Magistretti and Cassina Cab chairs in cognac by Mario Bellini. The clients’ own coffee table is beside a Molteni&C Panna Cotta side table by Ron Gilad.
Through an immense Joel-designed oak door, with a custom handle, a Jasper Knight artwork is spot-lit by a large skylight above the Heavy chair and lamp, repurposed as a sidetable, both by Brud Studia.
The custom-designed walk-in-robe of mirrors is a playful, boundary-less addition. “A luminous place of reflection,” Joel describes.
