HERO PENTHOUSE APARTMENT
Hero Penthouse is an interior renovation of a two-level penthouse apartment located in Melbourne’s Hero Building: the 1954 telephone exchange building converted to apartments by Nonda Katsalidis in Russell Street in 2001. The clients originally purchased a set of Flea Chairs from us, and returned to engage us as Architects – wanting to lean on our furniture making experience to introduce considered details to the design of their new penthouse apartment.
The clients expressed the desire that this refurbishment met a “Paul Smith Aesthetic”: considered, mature, minimal, displaying an artisan’s understanding of materials, but with controlled flourishes of bright detail. Working within the constraints of the original floor plan, the key requirement was opening up the spaces so that they felt more generous. With a tight budget for its brief and a desire to achieve a high level of finish, the architectural moves had to be limited, non-structural, and have maximum spatial, aesthetic and experiential impact.
The considered timber detailing which confers the apartment its quiet elegance was a collaborative effort between the cabinet makers, the builder and the architects. Some of the finer details required trips to our furniture workshop to hand-make elements such as the complex corner junctions, cover-plates, and the “Assegai” pendant light which hangs over the island bench.


Collaborating Architect / Stavrias Architecture
Project Architect / Nicole Henderson
Builder / Damien O'Neill, DGO Developments
Cabinet Maker / Evolve
Photography / Martina Gemmola
Stylist / Ruth Wellsby