Art, expressed

Occupying a triangular corner block with a sunny northern aspect, this roomy Victorian terrace was in need of a sympathetic restoration when Paddington-based architects Pohio Adams took it on. 

But there was an added consideration: the owners were creatives — one a well-exhibited artist — and the house needed a gallery-like feel to comfortably display the couple’s large collection of pieces, including the artist’s own work.

“The house was definitely a bit tatty and in need of an overhaul,” says Bianca Pohio, who runs Pohio Adams with her husband Christopher Adams. “But it’s a great house with a lot of light, in fact an unusual amount of light that you don’t see in many Paddington terraces. It has a really beautiful feel.”

Pohio was initially tasked with creating a carport for the rear entrance, but the work on the 1890s terrace soon expanded into an “extensive renovation including re-planning and refit of all the key spaces”.

“The key aspects of the brief were to create a much more functional lower ground floor that relocated the kitchen, reset the split-level floor and drew the exterior spaces into the house,” she says. In particular, the stairs to the lower ground level “required a limbo dance”. 

“If you were taller than five foot-five you had to duck your head to get down the stairs without hitting your head. So that had to be fixed.”
The reconfiguration work saw the property reemerge as a four-bedroom home with studio and study over three large wedge-shaped levels. The space maximises the unusual shape of the property, with several interesting living spaces including two living rooms and an open-plan kitchen and dining area coexisting harmoniously on the lower floor.

Two rooms particularly emerged as stars of the home — the kitchen with its black tones and the upstairs bathroom, given a glam makeover.

Positioned at the north-facing rear of the terrace, the kitchen, Pohio says, was the “pivotal space, with direct access through full-height steel-glazed doors to a sunny terrace and courtyard beyond. As the block is wedge-shaped, the kitchen’s irregular form plays on this. 

“We put in a deep bench containing the sink which runs between angled blade walls. The cooking hub is directly behind, with refrigeration and storage integrated in dark, ceiling-height joinery featuring vertical grooves.

 “The materiality is robust, rich and dynamic, with natural stone the hero. Benchtops and splashbacks are Black Forest granite, with a textured leather finish. The custom-designed cupboards are finished in a satin black lacquer and the extractor bulkhead has been wrapped in powder-coated metal and treated to a high-gloss car lacquer finish. Mirrored fronts on the under-bench drawers are equally impactful.

“The kitchen’s dark glamour contrasts with white walls and ceilings and the light-tinted polished concrete flooring — a minimalist, monochrome palette continued throughout the home. The stone selection and highly polished metal are a reflection of the creativity, beauty and unique qualities of our client.” 

The upstairs bathroom, too, provided an extra splash of glamour.

“We set out to give this bathroom movie-star quality,” Pohio says. “What was an awkward, poky room with a low ceiling is now a glamorous bathing retreat, informed by 1950s-style references and transformed through rigorous spatial planning.”

Pohio says the renovation brought out some exceptional elements of the original house.

“Precious overhead space was gained when the original curved ceiling was uncovered (in the bathroom). The arched doorway, also original, was re-positioned at the top of the stairs and fitted with a custom steel door to return landing space to the bathroom.

 “A blade divides the shower from the bathtub, which enjoys views over Paddington rooftops to the city. Floating off the opposite wall is a marble hob trimmed with polished chrome, anchoring the mirrored cabinet, toilet and basin.”

Materials used include New York stone, Venetian plaster, chrome elements and Gio Ponti-esque concrete floor tiles to give the bathroom a mid-century feel.

“Revealing the gently curving existing ceiling allowed the room to become a glamorous and more open, space,” Pohio says.

Most importantly, the house now has ample white walls to display the couple’s collection of art and objects.

“The house is minimalist gallery neutral in feel. Spotlights were also fixed to intersecting overhead steel beams to pinpoint the owner’s artwork. Plus, the stone selection and highly polished metal are a reflection of the creativity, beauty and unique qualities of our client, and the sub-tropical plants were selected to reference both her Samoan heritage and exotic glamour,” Pohio says. 

Gallery-worthy, indeed.

Glenmore Rd House

Architect: Pohio Adams

Builder: Superior Interiors

Landscape designer: Dangar Barin Smith

Photography: Anson Smart