The luxurious home of Bear Agushi and family is the brilliant result of collaborations from some of the very best in the business! This project combined Bear’s development and construction expertise with architecture and interiors by Workroom Design, and the exacting eye of stylist Simone Haag. The result is a richly layered home, which unfolds to tell an evolving story across the three storey façade, sunken garden and snaking sculptural staircase. (Seriously, that staircase!!)
As a builder and developer, Bear describes how he often comes across sites for sale, but this location sang out with the potential to develop ‘something very beautiful’. Bear jumped at the chance to build his own family home here, and immediately contacted John Bornas, (director of Workroom) – and architect with whom he has a long-standing relationship. For Bear and wife Popi, this pre-existing connection with Workroom meant that ‘the design process was really efficient and super quick.’ From design through to planning, building and finally, move-in day, the completion of this extraordinary project took just 24 months.
Bear provided architect John Bornas with a brief to design a house ‘with a lot of detail, that was masculine in nature but with a feminine undertone to balance it.’ This was realised through considered layering of spaces, materials and spatial arrangements. The unfolding story of the house ‘begins at the front entry, with a fantastic steel stair, and works its way through the hierarchy of spaces revealing them as you walk through’ John describes.
Bear highlights the dual nature of the house, which balances a robust, hard-edged aesthetic with softer, refined finishes and details. When it came to the interior design, the clients’ hoped to achieve an ‘eclectic feel with hints of French influence’ and Bear enthuses, ‘what we would say is Workroom basically read our minds at the beginning of the project and nailed it!’ This is a house with a bold and complex materials palette – combining rich and luxurious finishes with industrial steel, dark panelled walls, raw concrete, bronze time and stone, resulting in a striking contrast.
John particularly highlights the importance of incorporating designer and stylist Simone Haag early on in the process, to give further depth to the layered home. ‘You will see that the language of the objects chosen by Simone sit perfectly within each space. It results in a totally considered home.’
For Bear and Popi, the collaboration between developer, architect and builder has resulted in a dream outcome. Bear cheerfully explains ‘the knowledge and experience that we each have, meant that a process which sometimes can be challenging was seamless, and ended up providing us with a home that is a joy to live in.’ We can only imagine!
