Brute Force

Referencing the industrial architecture of Chicago and New York, the stylish design of a Sydney home offsets raw, Brutalist surfaces and hardware with softer, seductive furnishings

-  MARTIN JACOBS

“I think a well-designed house means that every room is used every day.” So believes American entrepreneur Ethan Oberman, who, when immigrating to Sydney from the US with his Australian wife Lauren and their two children, purchased a dilapidated Federation Era brick house in the harbour-side suburb of Double Bay, mere kilometres from the city’s centre.

What was to become their new home had little going for it by way of its architecture. Decades’ worth of careless renovations meant that by Ethan’s estimation, the existing house wasn’t well designed. In contrast, however, the property offered a sought-after position. The site, straddling a hilltop and with a jaw-dropping change in elevation from street entrance to rear, was northwest-facing with impressive leafy views towards Sydney’s skyline. It was this outlook, coupled with the Obermans’ desire to reference the industrial architecture of the stateside cities they left behind that shaped their vision of an ‘urban oasis’ family home.