Interiors

A Home At The King's Arms Hotel

Compact yet efficient, bold but not overbearing, bright and clean with just a touch of rustic charm – doesn’t sound like your average 150-year-old pub, right? Well, that’s because it’s not anymore!

Amy Bracks and Miles Ritzmann-Williams of emerging design practice IOA Studio take us through their hands-on transformation of a sterile office space, into an inviting and personalised apartment.

Written
by
Elle Murrell

Inside the residential project by IOA Studio. Photo – Tom Ross.

The emerging design practice transformed sterile office space into a personalised home. Photo – Tom Ross.

Dining space details. Photo – Tom Ross.

Curved walls made clever use of the awkward existing floorplan. Photo – Tom Ross.

The clients wanted Australian bush-inspired colour palettes and textures to be used throughout the space. Photo – Tom Ross.

The building gave IOA the chance to revive parts of the old pub that had sadly been covered up. Photo – Tom Ross.

Throughout the project, they uncovered many relics, from old candle holders to massive bluestone lintels. Photo – Tom Ross.

We like to bring a sense of warmth and playfulness to our projects that are also able to reflect the personality of the client,’ says Amy. Photo – Tom Ross.

Many small nooks were also created to exhibit the clients’ covetable collections. Photo – Tom Ross.

‘Photo – Tom Ross.

‘The experimenting with materials and colours and learning through building was the most enjoyable,’ tells Miles. Photo – Tom Ross.

IOA studio’s Miles Ritzmann-Williams and Amy Bracks. Photo – courtesy of IOA Studio.

Writer
Elle Murrell
31st of May 2018

When Melbourne design practice IOA Studio began work on this Queensberry Street site, they soon discovered that the 150-year-old Kings Arms Hotel ‘didn’t have a straight bone in it,’ as Miles Ritzmann-Williams emphasises.

He and uni pal Amy Bracks started IOA Studio back in 2016 after they’d both gained experience as architectural drafters. Their respective backgrounds in furniture making and design research have so far served them well when working on challenging spaces such as this one – a site with crumbling bricks and downpipes running straight through the future bedrooms!

No longer a pub when they arrived on the scene, IOA enlisted friends and family to help rip everything out of what was a dull, clinical office space to reveal the bare bones… and potential. ‘We found all sorts of surprises that we fell in love with, from old bricks and cracking hardened plaster, to the Oregon rafters and gable roof,’ details Amy. ‘We realised that by exposing as much of the original, the new home would revive aspects of the old pub/hotel it once was.’

After many design iterations, they came up with a concept featuring curved walls to optimise the awkward existing title. ‘The curves were the key when dividing the space, and we found that they also connected perfectly to the existing archway that once connected the old pub to the boarding house,’ details Miles. ‘Removing the ceiling lining and structure from upstairs allowed us to create a double-height space that connects the upper level to the open mezzanine.’

Their clients had unique colour and texture palettes in mind. This pushed the design duo to use the small space to advantage, creating warmer, cosier living spaces and introducing hues reminiscent of the Australian bush to transform, from sterile to exciting. Many small nooks were also created to exhibit the clients’ covetable collection of mid-century furniture and personal relics.

Due to the nature of the old building, their builder was reluctant to sign a fixed contract, yet the chosen contract enabled IOA to be quite hands-on and complete some of the on-site work themselves. ‘As hard as it was, it was the experimenting with materials and colours and learning through building, which was most enjoyable,’ tells Miles. ‘By constantly being on-site, we’ve developed a deeper understanding of space and material behaviour that is impossible to learn through the computer screen,’ adds Amy. This experimental approach led to unexpected inclusions, like the pull-out kitchen island bench and hidden mezzanine reading area.

As is often the case in fulfilling work, Miles concludes, ‘the constraints made us work harder to find interesting solutions, which actually made the most challenging aspects the most enjoyable!’

Recent Interiors