Balancing Art Deco heritage with everyday ease, this Bondi apartment has been reimagined for family life by the sea.
Long before they opened the front door, Amalia Mayor and Barnaby Bennett knew they wanted to live closer to the coast — and soon found themselves the owners of a Bondi apartment in a beautifully preserved Art Deco block. With a shared appreciation for good bones, they knew the value of taking a considered approach to its renovation.
The couple had been living in Sydney’s inner west. Expecting their first child, they were drawn to Bondi by the promise of parks, sea breezes and a slower pace. What they discovered was a block of four apartments, rich in detail and remarkably intact.
Built in the ’30s, their home had had only two owners across its near century-long life. “It was love at first sight,” says Amalia. “It still had its original timberwork, Bakelite handles, stained-glass windows and three-metre ceilings. The proportions were generous and the layout felt contemporary. We could see ourselves raising a family here.”
Although the kitchen and bathroom had last been updated in the ’50s, the apartment’s layout remained untouched — something they were keen to preserve. “We didn’t want to open it all up or change the bones,” says Barnaby. “The separate rooms, connected by a beautiful hallway, worked really well for our day-to-day life, allowing us to be together and apart.”
Living in the home for more than a year before embarking on the renovation gave Amalia and Barnaby time to understand its rhythms. Ready to make the apartment more functional and reflective of their lifestyle, they engaged Studio Pulp to lead the redesign. Architect Ben Selke, director of the practice, worked closely with interior architect Ryan McGregor to reimagine the space, respecting its Art Deco character while layering in contemporary refinement.
Having both trained in architecture themselves, Amalia and Barnaby had a clear vision and plenty of input, but recognised the value of handing over the reins. “Life was busy. We were working, parenting and planning for another baby,” says Amalia. “Ben and Ryan brought the design expertise and momentum to see it through.” Their brief to the Studio Pulp team was simple: retain the apartment’s original charm while enhancing everyday liveability. Ben and Ryan responded with updates that honoured the home’s heritage while introducing a refined material palette. The layout remained untouched, but each space was enriched with custom joinery, warm textures and a coastal-inspired colour story. Key interventions — including a blue-painted hallway spine and curved joinery — reoriented the apartment’s tone and tied each room together with softness and cohesion.
At its core, the apartment is arranged around an L-shaped corridor linking the rooms. A portal leads from the hall into the living room while, further along, the hallway connects the kitchen and dining spaces. Two bedrooms and a sunroom complete the plan — offering just enough space for the family.
Original features were carefully preserved and celebrated, from the coffered ceilings and ornate cornices to the solid-timber skirtings and steel-framed windows. “Amalia and Barnaby’s home had this beautiful sense of place,” says Ben. “It wasn’t about dramatic change, it was about elevating what was already there. The Art Deco details provided the perfect framework to layer in colour, form and personality.”
Inspired by the curved steel windows of the sunroom, Studio Pulp developed a design language grounded in rounded forms and soft geometry. A palette of sandy beiges, soft blues and terracotta tones draws from the local landscape, with sunrise photos taken by Amalia and Barnaby at nearby Bronte Beach guiding the choice of tiles, timbers and upholstery.
“We wanted to create something humble but playful,” says Ryan. “A space that felt at home in its Bondi context, but also completely personal to Amalia and Barnaby.”
In the bathroom, Japanese mosaic tiles meet a light terrazzo floor and burl veneer detailing — a nod to the stairwell’s original balustrade. Although modest in scale, the room delivers a rich sensory experience: calm, cocooning and quietly luxurious, and often described as the “jewel of the home.” Lighting across the apartment adds warmth and drama, from a sculptural Le Corbusier wall light in the kitchen to a handmade pendant in the hallway that reflects Amalia and Barnaby’s passion for design provenance and collecting. New fixtures, fittings and furniture elevate the interior while preserving the historical envelope. The designers worked closely with the couple to ensure their art and objects felt integrated, not styled in after the fact, but central to the storytelling from the outset. “They had such an incredible collection already,” says Ben. “Rather than designing around blank walls, we curated the interiors as a backdrop for pieces with texture, colour and memory.” The result is a home where art isn’t just decoration, but a continuation of the family’s lived experience.
Personal meaning is embedded in the architecture and carefully considered contents of each room. Barnaby, who grew up in Whangārei and studied architecture in Wellington, brought a connection to Aotearoa that’s subtly threaded through the space, including art by his mother and pieces made by friends back home. “It’s important that our children grow up surrounded by things that tell our story,” says Amalia. “These are the pieces we’ve collected over time, and they continue to remind us of where we’ve been.”
Living in a compact space was a conscious and sustainable choice. The apartment’s generous proportions and access to local amenities — parks, shops and public transport — mean the family doesn’t feel limited by their footprint. “Culturally, apartment living still isn’t the default here,” says Barnaby. “But we believe it can be. Especially when the space has been so thoughtfully designed.”
Even though their renovation timeline was ambitious, the results have made the upheaval worthwhile. The once-dated kitchen now anchors the home with its warm, functional layout. The bathroom offers a moment of retreat and the spatial clarity of the original floorplan remains, enriched by colour, character and craftsmanship.
It’s a home shaped by thoughtfulness rather than scale, where considered design supports daily life and small moments feel elevated. For Amalia and Barnaby, this renovation marks more than a change in layout: it’s a quiet evolution — a place that reflects their values and everyday rituals, celebrating where they’re from and where they are now.
Words Alice Lines
Photography Jacqui Turk
Styling Jono Fleming