The Duplex by Luigi Rosselli Architects

Based in Australia, the Luigi Rosselli Architects is a design studio that aims to create humane architecture that develops kinships while inspiring good design that appeals. With Ar. Rosselli’s three decades of international experience spanning in Milano, Switzerland, New York and Sydney, his team is known for residential architecture, adaptive re-use and heritage conservation with a portfolio boasting of a variety of projects. The design studio is a carbon neutral practice that develops ecologically sustainable solutions; a practice that has attracted various clients belonging to diverse backgrounds.

Situated in the Potts Point locality in Sydney, this interwar duplex, reminiscent of the New York brownstones, was originally a 1920s era two-storey flats. The structure now has been altered into a four-storey block with a basement car park and cellar, a ground floor garden apartment and a twostorey penthouse. The design is a human scale solution to the issue of housing in the outskirts of the city.

Most of the existing structure was retained, with only about forty per cent of it was demolished. The redundant rooms at the back of the property were dismantled and were supplanted with a modern four-storey building.

In order to maintain the building’s uniformity with the prevailing appearance of the street, the original Queen Anne leadlight windows, liver toned brickwork and timber shingles were left untouched. It is astonishing that behind the façade of the polished front rooms the apartment transforms in contemporary, unrestricted living spaces with expansive terraces. These open areas let the residents to appreciate the many vistas of the city, inhabited by sky scrapers designed by stalwarts such as Renzo Piano, Sir Norman Foster and Igenhoven Architects as also adore the glimpses of the Sydney Harbour beyond

The complex personalities of the residents are portrayed by the dichotomy of the design; a modern, urbane attitude balanced with old world culture and family history, enthusiastic about contemporary art, architecture and cosmopolitan living. In this scenario, an important role is played by the interior décor than in a more capacious suburban setting.

“Mirror mirror… who in this realm is the fairest of them all?” Jane McNeill’s masterful joinery is hard to beat with its dark American oak timber veneers, carara marble benchtop, polished chrome framed mirror, ottoman by Eileen Grey and frosted glass wall between the dressing room and ensuite bathroom to provide defused natural light for this otherwise landlocked space. © Justin Alexander