Comfort in Tall Storey

The Sunday Times, Home Magazine, 1st March 2009

Max Sardi is used to having specific demands from owners when designing their homes, but this request took him by surprise.

It was a tall order for Dale Alcock Home Improvements design consultant Max Sardi. The owners of this Ocean Reef property had an unusual request for him when they wanted their single-storey home transformed into a modern dwelling.

The ceilings in the home, Max was told, had to be of extra height - because all members of the family moving in were six-footers.

"The owners are from South Africa and were used to living in an imposing home with many rich features in terms of timber and extra-high ceilings," Max says. "So they needed wide open spaces.

"They also wanted the home to look sensational from the street, which is why we designed the turret-style balcony to the second storey we added."

Besides creating a totally fresh look, the addition of an upper storey maximized the ocean views the property had on offer.

"They've got excellent view up there, especially as the home is at the top of a cul-de-sac," Max says.

Upstairs, the family now enjoys the use of a spacious living area with raked ceilings leading to a sizable balcony.

The new master suite also has raked ceilings and double doors opening to the balcony.

The stone-clad feature wall on the outside was added to run from the upper level to the ground floor, incorporating the original home's fireplace.

This feature wall makes the addition of the second storey appear seamless.

"It is easy to put a shoebox on a roof and make it look like a second storey," Max says.

"The important thing when adding an upper level is to make it work, so that when someone sees it, it seems as though it has always been there."

There were significant changes made downstairs as well. The living rooms at the front of the home along with the portico, the main entrance, the alfresco area and swimming pool at the back were all updated.

"We had to repitch the roof to make the alfresco area blend with the second storey in a seamless fashion," Max says. "The owners wanted it not only as another room but as a convenient area when using the pool. It had to be like an indoor area but outdoors."

To give the family some of the comforts they were used to in South Africa, Max decided to use a materials palette of stone and wood.

The pool area is decked and the stairwell, window and door frames and balcony are all timber-lined.

"We incorporated materials like stone-cladding and a new acrylic render upstairs to make it a bit more funky," Max says.

"The home now looks vastly different to the original '70s and '80s-style it sported before."