Fashion House

Words Rowena Mary
Photography Brett Boardman

An owner’s fashionable eye for design helped turn this tiny heritage cottage into an utterly contemporary family home.

It’s safe to assume that, as the owner of several Hugo Boss franchises, Eric Fink knows a thing or two about style. When it came to his new family home in Sydney’s Woollahra, he knew he wanted a showcase property that would reflect his aesthetic sensibility, while at the same time providing a functional and welcoming family home. Enter New Zealand-born, Sydney/Noosa-based architect Ian Moore, whom the Fink family had worked with before. “They asked me to have a look at the house before they signed on the dotted line, and asked me; ‘Can you make this work’?” recalls Moore. “And I said, ‘I think so,’ crossing my fingers!”

There was a lot to ‘make work’. As Moore explains, the primary challenge was to take the 1840s sandstone cottage – “an unusual home, with heritage issues associated with the front” – and convert what had previously been a two-bedroom cottage with an ‘80s renovation, into a contemporary three-bedroom, two-bathroom residence to house Fink and his wife, their three young children and two dogs. “We had to somehow get an extra, significantly sized bedroom and ensuite somewhere onto the piece of land… and that was hard,” admits Moore. Yet his solution, when it came, was nothing short of inspired.

Nestled between two popular retail outlets on a busy street in Woollahra, the quaint façade of the building possesses all the charm one might expect of a cottage its age. But open the door, and what lies inside is, in the architect’s words, “a completely secret and unexpected interior.” From the doorway, the eye is drawn through the entire home, right through to the back of the garage. The overriding effect is one of stark white space, dotted with splashes of vivid colour, and a seemingly endless line of vision. Fink wanted the clean, precise, ordered feel of his Hugo Boss stores recreated in his home – indeed, the couch in the lounge and the outdoor set were purchased from the company in Germany that fits out his stores.

“It was all about dealing with relatively small spaces but using the central courtyard to allow everything to feel much more generous, and also maintain a sense of privacy,” Moore explains. “It was one of those standard exercises of taking a very small inner-city house and trying to make it not only physically bigger but make it visually feel much, much larger than it really is.” Externally, in keeping with heritage guidelines, the front of the cottage was faithfully restored. Inside, however, the only sign of the home’s ‘true identity’ is the front door. Everything else is preternaturally slick and of-the-moment. Like a hidden treasure, the entire sandstone cottage remains, completely intact, beneath the plaster of the modern renovation.

In the front room, the sandstone wall was lined. A column was removed and the lowered ceiling pushed up. A plasma TV and almost invisible Ecosmart ethanol-fuelled fireplace now sit underneath an abundance of storage cupboards – the first of many such cupboards hidden away within the house. Fatboys (which the dogs enjoy lounging on), a hairy ottoman and an Eames chaise lounge complete the picture.

Now, the spacious kitchen operates as a family room, with direct connection to the stunning courtyard and, in a clever extrapolation of the living space, beyond to the garage. A Smeg cooktop sets up the language of a deep, chunky, high gloss white Hi-Macs resin benchtop. To the extreme left is an integrated fridge; to the right, a pantry. The benchtop is repeated in the island, again in all-white resin (even the sinks), which has a ‘fading away’ effect, again maximising the sense of space.

In the midst of all this stylish minimalism, there are some impressive focal points of décor. Owners Eric and Jackie first found the kauri dining table “covered in black grease” – it had been an old Telecom worker’s bench. Scrubbed up, it now sits in splendid juxtaposition against the Philippe Starck Louis Ghost chairs and a French chandelier dating from the 1820s that Eric appropriated from his father’s antique shop. A striking Adelta Bubble Chair fills a corner of the room specifically designed to accommodate it. From this expansive kitchen, you can see through to the courtyard. “We re-did the landscaping and built in a concrete bench. Eventually the creeper will grow over, and become a ‘green wall’,” says Moore.

It is from the courtyard, perhaps, that one can best appreciate the most stunning and innovative aspect of the house – its ‘bridge’. This extraordinary metal-and-glass span is Moore’s visionary solution to the ‘extra bedroom and bathroom’ issue. As he laughingly admits: “There aren’t too many houses in Paddington or Woollahra with a bridge across their courtyard!” Unwilling to lose any of the usable space downstairs, Moore knocked off the top of the garage to create a parent’s retreat and ensuite. The plan did not go off without any hitches – the council intervened, with the result being a slightly oddly shaped Dutch gable in the roof.

The bridge provides some shade from the sun and gives a sense of enclosure to the dining area, as well as providing natural light and ventilation, and a sense of privacy. “There is a degree of separation for the parents, but at the same time a direct link – and it’s a bit of fun for the kids to run across!” says Moore. What do the owners think of this bold addition? “It is one of my favourite features,” smiles Jackie Fink. “I love the play of light. The children call it the Harbour Bridge.” In keeping with the attention to detail throughout the house, Moore installed stainless steel mesh and lighting to the underside of the bridge: “It gives a little sparkle; the light does interesting things.”

The upstairs section of the house mirrors the mood downstairs, with vast expanses of white space, plenty of light, and design features to maximise the use of space. An example is the boys’ bedroom, which has a sliding wall rather than simply a door, allowing a flexible arrangement. Directly outside it sits a ‘gathering place’ in the corridor. A single long white resin benchtop provides a common area and link between the bedrooms – this family study provides a space where the children can do their homework in years to come.

The Fink’s showpiece house is stark, without being cold. “The owners wanted it to be clinical but still have warmth,” explains Moore. To that end, wide Vistorian Ash floorboards run throughout. As well, favourite artworks hang on walls adding splashes of colour and a glimpse into the inhabitants’ personalities. “The quirky furniture and art and use of pink offsets the space,” offers Moore. “They’re the ideal clients; there were no disappointments. Whatever they do seems to be right. We were in sync from day one.”

Style, vision and detail intersect at every juncture in this impressive renovation. From the Belgian Kreon light fittings to the airy breezeways and exact positioning of the louvres, nothing has been overlooked. The proof, as always, is in the living. So how does it feel to live here? The Finks smile when the question is posed. “It’s joyous,” says Jackie softly. But the last word ought to be given to the master of understatement, Moore: “It’s not a big one. But it’s a nice one.”