Buying the apartment

After travelling I returned to Sydney in September to start working full time. I started looking for a place to rent, but found it difficult to find a nice apartment. Whenever I found a nice place, that was reasonably priced, there would numerous other renters also putting in offers.

I did some math and figured out that buying a place wouldn't be that much more expensive than renting, and also the first home buyers grant and stamp duty waiver were enough to entice me to start looking. I had spent a lot of time in old cities such as Paris, and New York and grew very fond of the character of the old apartments in these cities. I was looking for an apartment with character, and something close to the city.

I spent about two months scanning online for properties, during which time I narrowed down my target suburbs to: Darlinghurst, Elizabeth Bay, and Surry Hills. I came very close to buying a property in Elizabeth Bay, I was only a a few thousand shy of the final settlement price. As soon as I saw the Surry Hills apartment, I really liked it. Mostly because of the old building, the large windows and the high ceilings. I purchased the property at Auction in November and received the keys in February.

Planning:

Most 48 sqm apartments in the area were one bedroom apartments, and this being a studio is why I was able to afford the apartment. I had lived in very small apartments in Paris and New York, and knew how people in these cities still created very liveable spaces. From the outset the biggest thing I needed to do was to separate the bedroom area from the main apartment. I read a lot of books and magazines to gain some understanding of interior design and to seek inspiration. I really wanted to keep the place feeling as open as possible, rather than creating proper walls, I decided that something more lightweight was necessary. I decided to use an interior designer since I wanted to really maximise the potential of the apartment, and decided that designing the place myself and making a mistake was too much of a risk to take. After speaking to a few designers, I eventually chose Arthur, who works in the building. It was good that I chose Arthur, since he knew the building back to front, and also was convenient being able to share ideas since he was in the building.

Designing:

The design phase was broken down into an initial consultation and three stages. Initially I briefed Arthur about my ideas and sent him lots of pictures that I had scanned from books and magazines. Having lots of examples of what you are looking for saves times, since it is very difficult to explain small details and much easier to show a designer an image. My brief to Arthur was that I wanted to make the apartment feel like a warehouse, but I want a very clean and sharp look.

In the first stage Arthur showed me four possible designs, all following the brief I had given him. The main idea was that we would use glass to create a bedroom, allowing the bedroom to feel connected to the main apartment, but also giving privacy and separation. We decided that building a loft was a good idea, trying to increase the amount of space in the apartment, taking advantage of the high ceilings. I had finally made a choice and decided on a design.

The second stage involved taking the rough design and deciding on all the details. We went through many options and decided to really emphasis that warehouse look by removing render form the beams, stripping the floors back to their original concrete, and stripping one of the walls to expose the heritage brick. The materials to construct the loft would be glass and steel, creating a industrial but sharp look.

The final stage involved Arthur preparing the final measured drawings and specification to that would be used for builders to quote. I contacted builders that I found both online and through referrals. I am glad that I choose a designer, and also one that was familiar with the designing for small spaces. The design used a modular construction, so that bringing materials into the apartment was possible.

I also used 3D visualisation tools to create a computer generated image of what the apartment would like after the renovation. This was mostly to reassure myself that I had made the right decisions. I was quite happy with the design, but also wanted to make sure that it would be a design that other people would like, since at some point I might need to sell the apartment. I showed my friends and the reactions were very positive, so was confident that the design was a good one.

It was quite difficult to find the right builder. One of the big problems with my apartment is the location and the access. Finding parking, and finding somewhere to store a skip, for example, make the location a problem for the builder. Being an old apartment with a small lift and narrow staircase, getting materials into the apartment would be a nightmare. If a builder is just working on a house, they simply need to park in the driveway and carrying things in and out of the house. Working in an apartment would mean many trips up and down the lift. Most of the builders I found on the Internet were more interested in the larger jobs and all quoted a very large amount, which was above my budget. I found that builders that you get a referral from, who work on smaller jobs, and who find work just through word of mouth are more suited for this type of renovation. The problem with smaller builders is that they most likely will not have sufficient insurance and public liability to work on such an apartment building, which can slow down work waiting for these things.

Anindha Parthy