The Design Files: Inside the home of architectural photographer Derek Swalwell

Who:  Photographer Derek Swalwell and stylist Georgia Young

Where: Elsternwick, Victoria

What: Modernised and extended 1960s home

With a career spanning 20 years, Derek Swalwell is one of Australia’s best-known and most respected architectural photographers. Known for capturing some of the world’s most spectacular architecturally designed buildings, Swalwell is fascinated by architecture and the built environment, both in Australia and abroad.

It follows, then, that he would collaborate with a celebrated Australian architecture firm (and long-standing clients) to renovate and update his own home in Melbourne.

Swalwell and his partner, stylist Georgia Young, enlisted Rachel Nolan and Patrick Kennedy, of architecture studio Kennedy Nolan, to significantly rework and extend their 1960s bungalow in Elsternwick, after buying it four years ago.

After bidding on a neighbouring property, and missing out, Swalwell and Young were approached by a resident with a home a few doors up. Disappointment quickly faded as Swalwell and Young negotiated a private sale, buying this home only two days later.

Originally an “orange brick veneer” house, they were keen to modernise the home, which had belonged to an elderly owner and was in need of a contemporary update.

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A new concrete slab was poured to extend the footprint of the home, with the addition of an expansive modern kitchen and dining space.

With a versatile L-shaped layout, the new floor plan envelopes the garden, ensuring leafy views from every room. From beginning to end, the renovation process took roughly 12 months in planning, and six months build.

Their home balances robust, solid materials – bricks, concrete and solid timber – with a playful, bright colour palette. “It feels cosy but solid,” Swalwell says.

“I guess it’s a representation of us and our tastes – retro, as well as modern, and very functional for our family.”

The Design Files guide to injecting colour

Painting is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to update a space. Try these tips to inject a little extra colour at home:

• An internal door is the safest place to add a bold new colour – mask up the frame, sand the surface and away you go.
• Consider painting cupboard doors or internal shelves in a bright hue for a quick project with maximum impact.
• Always use a sample pot to assess how a colour might look – as a general rule, paint colour appears lighter on a large area so, if in doubt, go one shade darker than you think.
• Don’t get hung up on “getting it right” – painting a door, cabinet or even a feature wall is easy to change.