A+H Apartment

A+H Apartment is a minimalist reworking of a compact Sydney apartment for a young family who wanted to stay in the heart of Rhodes rather than move to the suburbs as their household grew. The brief called for a controlled, elegant interior that celebrated the lasting beauty of natural materials while remaining flexible enough to suit everyday family life.

Working within roughly 100 square metres across a single level, buck&simple maximised the small footprint so the rooms can shift between private retreat and sociable entertaining space. Living room joinery opens to reveal his-and-hers home offices that can be concealed or left open without disrupting the rest of the room, and the kitchen bench hides an expandable dining table that scales from casual family meals to larger gatherings.

The material palette was chosen for its resilience and for the way it ages. Raw brass mesh screens allow ventilation, with matching solid brass integrated into the joinery, balanced against richly stained American Oak solid timber and veneers. Corian was selected for the kitchen, pantry and vanity benches for its longevity. Completed in 2019, the result is a calm, tactile interior whose finishes are intended to improve with time, giving the family the functionality and comfort they wanted without leaving the neighbourhood they love.

Architecture by Peter Ahern of buck&simple. Photography by Simon Whitbread.