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This Surry Hills terrace had been stripped of its Victorian charm after years of ad-hoc renovations.
Among its flaws, the residence hid a dangerously rickety staircase, a front balcony that threatened at any moment to collapse, and a collection of cobwebs and grime had gathered on almost every external surface.
Tasked with bringing a sense of identity back to the run-down home, design studio Akin Atelier found an unlikely source of inspiration in the house’s mismatched interiors.
‘Rather than pursue a literal restoration, we used its fragmented state to as the basis for a new narrative,’ Akin Atelier director Kelvin Ho says.
‘We imagined the house as if it had once belonged to a series of creative occupants — artists, ceramicists, musicians — each leaving traces if their craft behind. That speculative history became our reference point, shaping interiors that feel crafted, layered, and imbued with memory.’
While hypothetical, it was an especially appropriate backstory given Surry Hills’ reputation as a creative and industrial hub, located on the fringe of the suburb’s old garment manufacturing district.
This set the tone for the robust yet refined materials that now feature across the renovation.
At the front of the house, solid timbers floors line the cosy street-facing living room, beside a new sculptural staircase, with detailed joinery by Cranbrook Workshop turning what was once a structural disaster into a statement feature.
The rest of the ground floor is also reserved for the reconfigured communal living spaces. Designed around a sunken leather lounge, the kitchen and dining reveal ceramic floor tiles, cast concrete forms, and exposed ceiling joists — adding personality through these rich textures.
‘Another challenge was resisting the standard terrace model of maximising light. Instead, we sought a moody and atmospheric quality, layering window treatments and carefully calibrating light to create nuance and depth,’ Kelvin says.
The upper floors maximise every inch of space across the bedrooms and bathrooms, embracing the sloping rooflines as part of the interiors with coloured microcement finishes.
‘Every change was made to restore liveability while reintroducing a sense of tactility and character,’ Kelvin says.
The resulting iteration is now a soulful homage to the terrace’s roots and the suburb’s past. With abundant handmade qualities and lived-in details, there’s no shortage of character anymore.
