The project takes the second floor of one unit of a row of terrace houses, tucked within the Newton neighbourhood. From the outside, the quiet 1960s’ neighbourhood remains undisturbed; wrought iron gates swing open to private potted gardens surrounded by chain-linked fences. The only hint of the new resident is a see-through main door of one of such units, marked by the diagonals of the unit numbers, and leading to a flight of steps. This is the entrance to the House Upstairs.

Up the stairs and into the house, the space dramatically opens up from stairway corridor into a seamless volume with its high pitched ceiling, flowing from the kitchen to dining, and then to living room. The materiality of new timber floors and white walls of the reconfigured rooms (as well as the black kitchen tops and wooden shelving) is juxtaposed against the backdrop of exposed brickwork and remnant black-painted wood beams and joists. The characteristic unfinished brick walls run consistently throughout the design of the home, wherever possible; a key feature of the interior. A three-metre long dining ‘tray-display’ table with wood surface and black (also gold) painted steel legs and its accompanying benches and barstools was designed to grace the dining and living spaces. In the living room, a diagonal of white cuts across the brickwork wall, drawing attention to a mezzanine study and private loft hovering up above, reached by a set of spiraling stairs. The bedroom with walk-in wardrobe and adjoining bathroom is located behind the kitchen.

In the evenings, fairy lights are switched on in the ‘courtyard’ – or what was originally the light well that ventilates the unit downstairs. The owners worked very hard with their neighbours downstairs to build a suspended serviceable platform of grilles so they could utilize the light well as a courtyard while still allowing for light to come through below. They can have a barbecue party out in 'mid-air’.