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When Field Office Architecture director Nic Gutierrez and his partner Jen moved into this Melbourne warehouse apartment in 2019, they knew it would require a renovation of some kind.
The home was located inside a 100-year-old textile manufacturing facility, which had been converted into residences in the early 2000s.
The fit-out had remained unchanged in the years since, leaving it as a bit of a patchwork of different styles, with remnants of the industrial shell, exposed brick walls and pillars, and curved walls made from white plasterboard.
‘[As a] typical architect, the design process started the moment we bought the place,’ Nic says — who took the opportunity not only to design the project, but to serve as the owner-builder too.
‘The intention was to live there for 12 months while we refined the design and got all things ready to renovate. However, not long after we moved, Covid hit, then we had [our son] Leo, and before we knew it almost five years had passed.’
Then, the stars finally aligned late last year, and in just five months, the 115-square-metre space was completely transformed into a home fit for his young family.
‘Every room was altered, some more than others,’ Nic says.
The redesign set out to enhance the apartment’s warehouse character and bold features, while unlocking under-utilised spaces hidden behind the sculptural walls.
Reconfiguring the entry and kitchen helped streamline the floor plan, as the four-metre-high ceilings were leveraged for vertical storage, with new Laminex Kalamata joinery nestled into the original curves.
This widened the living and dining room, where brick details, a bright red pipe, and spectacular steel-framed windows hold reminders of the building’s industrial past.
Now layered with natural materials like pink Fascino Marble accents and American oak timber floors, the refreshed interiors feel elevated yet unfussy.
Relocating the laundry to some new linen cupboards also made way for a significantly larger bathroom, while the kid’s bedroom now features a handy mezzanine level accessed via a ladder — providing clever spatial flexibility that will adapt as the family grows.
‘Having designed and built this project, I feel a deeper satisfaction than the usual thrill of seeing design realised. Working closely with every trade and subcontractor on site, we solved problems in real time to stay true to the vision,’ Nic adds.
The end result is equal parts playful and practical. Everything is fit for purpose, from the storage to the spatial flow, making the apartment a true urban sanctuary right in the hustle and bustle of Richmond.
