Alongside the main World Architecture Festival, the World Festival of Interiors has also recently taken place in Singapore. The event's judges have declared 19 Waterloo Street in Sydney, by SJB, as the winner of the World Interior of the Year for its clever installation of a multipurpose corner terraced house onto a compact site.
Completed this year, 19 Waterloo Street is located in a busy area that's dominated by surrounding houses, warehouses and other buildings that once served Sydney's textile trade, and the project also included the refurbishment of an adjacent existing terrace.
Its exterior is enlivened with reclaimed brick that was left over from another nearby project, plus a decorative gate, and it's topped by a rooftop terrace with lush greenery.
SJB has put a lot of effort into ensuring the compact 69 sq m (742 sq ft) residence can host a shop, a self-contained apartment and a main home. The rooms are quite small and the ceilings low, so to mitigate this, natural light and ventilation were both major focuses of the project.
The decor also uses warm materials like brick and wood to great effect, creating an inviting home. The bathroom is well done and includes a large skylight and some lush greenery, while in another nice touch, a new painting by Nicholas Harding was commissioned for the living room and has been hung so that it is visible from the street to passersby.
"From the street the facade is punched with a random set of openings, but once inside, these reveal a highly tuned stack of rooms," said the WAF's press release. "Judges felt that 'these generated a satisfying alignment and play of light.' There are unique furniture pieces and a work of art that was commissioned as a catalyst for the project.
"Craft and detail are everywhere, partly as a result of using materials salvaged from other projects. Judges described this winning interior project as 'not only a building or an interior, but a pocket-sized tour de force.'"