Located within Sydney’s iconic Monument Building, the sense of arrival at HSP Residence establishes a notion of discovery from the outset. Entered from the 11th floor, yet located on the 10th, the 1990s apartment with views of the Opera House and Paramatta River is a deviation from the norm and required a design language that would articulate and celebrate its eccentricities.

Interior designer Nickolas Gurtler was engaged by the apartment new owners, a professional couple, in late 2020. His Melbourne-based studio has established a reputation for seamlessly integrating a curation of ’20s, ’30s & ’70s furniture, art and design icons within contemporary spaces. This application perfectly negotiates between the timelessly linear architecture at HSP Residence.

Iconic pieces from the late 1960s and 1970s bring suave sophistication in the living room. A Gubi Pacha chair by Pierre Paulin in a pale ivory Milanese boucle add new shape and form. At the same time, a highly sculptural lamp by Atelier Areti anchors the corner of the room and is adorned by a glamorous polished brass table from Minotti.

HSP Residence draws inspiration from contemporary and historic artists residences in St Germain des Pres, alongside the client’s predilection for notes of glamour. It features a distilled backdrop of natural stone, dark timber joinery and the retained ’90s geometry of grey walls, darker grey bulkheads and black steel frame windows.Nickolas Gurtler has cultivated a visually meticulous residence in playing with form, colour, and composition. For example, the sculptural quality of a floor lamp in the living room fills that particular space with intention, punctuating it both with form and function. Likewise, a collection of surface textures walk the same threshold between look and feel – leather, velvet, boucle, glass and gold, marble – all ultimately conceding to the colour and narrative of artworks.