Located in a prime Sydney waterfront position within the 1960s apartment building, Oceana, this two-bedroom, north-facing apartment enjoys 270 views over Rushcutters Bay to the city.

The clients had lived in Tokyo for some years and wanted the space streamlined to take advantage of their 8th-floor elevated position. Their brief was to convert the 80 square-metre, two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment into a one-bedroom apartment with two bathrooms plus a guest space. And to somehow enlarge the living area, opening it more fully to the views.

While stripping out the worn interiors and plaster ceilings, we uncovered pre-cast concrete ceiling beams, hidden for over 60 years. This deeply informed a new direction in the fit out. We cleaned up the beams, in all their beautiful imperfection and removed all internal walls, devising a suite of finely engineered joinery to map the new interior plan, where we applied a pared-back palette of concrete, oak and stone.

Utility spaces, bathrooms and study/guest are now aligned to the building core, while the kitchen and living room open completely to the harbour. Now it’s a space that dances between the modernism of the original building, and the age-old Japanese philosophy of Wabi Sabi.