Fraternal Twin Bondi Home by Carter Williamson

Sector
Residential
Location
Gadigal Land / Bondi, Sydney
Completed
2021
Designer
Carter Williamson
Photographer
Katherine Lu

The Fraternal Twin project is on Gadigal land in Bondi. This carefully crafted home was designed by Carter Williamson Architects and built by SFN Constructions in collaboration with the client and artist Cathe Stack. The concept was around 'Fraternal Twins' and how these townhouse builds could look similar from the outside, but have unique elements on the inside.

Carter Williamson is an award-winning architecture firm which believes that design quality can make a real difference to the way we live, work and move throughout world. This is clear through the way these homes cleverly transition between generous living areas and cosy nooks.

Cathe Stack is an established artist who specialises in abstract sculptures. Her strong understanding of natural materials and creative flair mixed with the talented architects at Carter Williamson resulted in a unique build, filled with character and charm.

Many townhouse style homes are faced with the challenge of integrating natural light throughout the heart of the home. Carter Williamson architects cleverly tackled this through a high-level clerestory over the stairwell, flooding the dining areas with a warm glow.

The space has a minimal aesthetic and heroes the warm timber features and polished concrete flooring. To compliment this, our resident Interior Consultant Harriet created a sense of comfort through soft textiles and furnishings which mirror the tactile elements of the home.

We spoke to Julie Niass, Associate of Interiors at Carter Williamson who generously shared her insights on factoring in the dining experience in the design process.

“We see the dining experience as something which brings the whole household together, and the dining table is integral in facilitating that. It's important that the table is inviting, comfortable and generous.

Our approach/consideration of the dining experience tends to depend on our clients/brief... for some it's important to have a connection to the other living spaces i.e. kitchen and living room, in a complete open plan space, while others prefer the dining room to be separate for a more intimate dining experience. When the project permits, we try and give the clients both."

Julie Niass, Associate of Interiors at Carter Williamson

Are there particular limitations that you need to consider? How do you combat these?

"Spatial limitations are definitely the biggest one, particularly when working with existing rooms. It's important to consider how the table responses to the space both in its form i.e. does the room lend to a round table or rectangle table, as well as its size i.e. it's important to have something just right, something that doesn't feel too small in the space and equally not too tight.

You could say that materially comes with its own limitations, you need to ensure the material of the table fits in with the rest of the house."

How important is the dining experience to you personally?

Very! Some of my fondest memories of both childhood and adulthood have been the laughs and conversations had around the dining room table. I grew up in a family of seven around one very small round dining table, there was no TV allowed while a meal was being served, so it was all about the food and conversations.