Let there be light: The Surry Hills apartment with feature windows to the soul

Art deco meets industrial style in this dramatic black-and-white pied-a-terre in a former machinery factory in Sydney’s Surry Hills.

The client, who is Singapore-based, bought the apartment as a place to stay during visits to the harbour city, but wanted to be able to rent the property to short-stay guests.

The interior designer, Michelle Macarounas, principal of Infinite Design Studio, responded with a palette of luxurious but hard-wearing materials, most notably the dramatic burgundy, violet and brown veined Calacatta Viola marble.

“It needed to be high-end, beautiful finishes that could then be rented out,” she says. “With that in mind, we went with a really industrial look.”

• Related: Decor and design: How to decorate and style the main bedroom in your home
• Related: Melbourne investors buying Ballarat houses without even seeing them
• Related: Huntingdale: A tiny pocket of Melbourne that’s a culinary surprise

The property is in a complex that occupies two industrial buildings on Cleveland Street: the New York and Brooklyn Tobacco Factory, built in 1889, and the Demco Machinery Company Building, added in 1938. (The apartment, one of 38 in the three-level development, occupies the art deco section of the site.)

Macarounas chose a simple monochromatic palette to showcase the original architectural features of the project, such as the expansive steel-framed windows, curved feature walls and columns.

The ceiling paint was extended on to the walls, its white, pigment-free composition and flat, non-refractive character enhancing the idea of a blank canvas that sits behind the furniture, artwork and objects.

“It was a raw space – the project was about coming in and creating a property that really reflected its past and making the art deco a contemporary style throughout.”

Sheer, full-height curtains soften the overall scheme, while the black wall sconces and pendant lights from Cult Furniture accentuate the industrial nature of the building.

Large, black-and-white images from Amsterdam-based photographer Elmar Dam dominate the space. Nods to the art deco era include the hexagonal concrete floor tiles in the open-plan kitchen, living and dining area and carefully selected vintage pieces sourced from the US and Sydney-based vintage retailer Vampt Vintage Design.

These include a floor lamp in the living room that was originally used on a French film set in the 1940s, the Kofod Larsen shell chair in the main bedroom, and the Scandinavian sideboard – a one-of-a-kind prototype piece.

In the bathroom, chocolate-coloured mosaic tiles reflect tones from the veining in the marble.