A 1980s home in Melbourne, Australia, designed by local interior design Studio CoLab Studio. Celebrating its main design features and the modernist movement, CoLab Studio combines a keen understanding of the environment with a response to contemporary needs.

Defying tradition, CoLab design studio's response to this original 80's home is to embrace the original charm. In order to preserve the main design features and unique features of the house, many existing elements such as staircases, mirrored ceilings and interior garden elements were retained and restored.New layers of joinery, fixtures and materiality then add a contemporary touch and texture, contributing elements of interest and supporting ancillary and enhanced storage capabilities. 

The extensive use of cedar in the original home was extended to continue the feeling of the familiar and known throughout each of the internal spaces, all radiating from the central walnut and brass kitchen. Further layering of terrazzo, handmade ceramic tiles and velvet drapery all add additional depth and delve deep into the home’s original aesthetic framework.

Highbury Grove embodies the 1980s Australian home, a typology that symbolised change, optimism and connection. CoLAB Design Studio has boldly embraced this style and expressed its comprising parts with a playful confidence, extending both the life of the original, and the ideologies of its time.