West Meets East
This South Perth home crosses timeless Japanese design with a contemporary Western ethos.
ARCHITECTURE + BUILD Riverstone Custom Homes • INTERIOR DESIGN Nadia de Cerff • INTERIOR STYLING + FURNISHINGS Andrew Thornton Hick
PHOTOGRAPHY Jody D’Arcy • STORY Elizabeth Clarke
Japanese design, committed to its centuries-old tradition and ceremony, significantly influences contemporary homes where Eastern and Western aesthetics culminate in beautifully layered materials, textures, and intriguing shapes and geometry.
For Riverstone Custom Homes and interior designer Andrew Thornton Hick, such was the tenet of the design process for this South Perth residence. A beacon of creative expression, it celebrates the serenity of Japanese design meshed with a meditative design ethos.
"Tapping into the owner's deep affection for the cultural aspects of Japan, we blended social, traditional and habitual concepts into a contemporary setting," says Nadia De Cerff, Riverstone's interior architect. "Honouring quality and craftsmanship was a priority, as was integrating traditional Japanese elements such as shoji screens into the interior language."
The home's layered facade gives a hint of what lies inside. A koi pond wrapping the perimeter of the porch inspired the fish icon in the polished plaster wall above. Decking, paving and stone cladding connect the exterior to the interior, creating a sense that the house has stood here for many years.
A feeling of purity and simplicity of order are evident as you step inside, where herringbone flooring guides you through to a double-volume stairwell.
"Important to the client was the design and construction of this staircase, as was the zen garden, which symbolises the ancient Japanese aesthetic belief that aspires to inner peace through simplicity and minimalism: austerity (koko), simplicity (kanso), naturalness (shinzen), asymmetry (fukinsei) and stillness (seijaku)," Nadia says.
Handcrafted shoji screens provide a visual partition to the main living area, where a striking blackbutt timber ceiling lines the kitchen. The considered placement of a skylight illuminates black-stained oak joinery and Caesarstone Black Temple benchtops, bringing them to life. The nearby scullery and laundry feature similar finishes and their timber battens continue to the living room, where open shelving displays precious Japanese artifacts and books.
Bedrooms and a bathroom are accessed down an adjoining passage, and the second floor is dedicated to the owners. Their private lounge room has serene finishes such as black-stained oak custom joinery, blackbutt batten lining, salmon-coloured shelving, and swathes of grey-tinted mirrors. Large glazed stacking doors open to a private terrace bound by laser-cut screens.
Treading a line between past and present, the master suite draws on the traditional tatami room, with sliding shoji screens concealing its windows. There is a comfortable sense of wellbeing with the tatami-mat-inspired walls and ceilings, and feature inlays of veneer and Cole & Son's Nuvolette wallpaper. A low built-in bed is grounded by luxurious parquetry floors. Concealed behind it is an elegant wardrobe and a master ensuite entered through a shoji screen-style cavity slider. Ancient bathing rituals and a connection to nature inspired the space with its timber batten ceilings, artisan Japanese tiles, handcrafted blackbutt bathtub, bespoke oak vanity and hidden shower enclosure. Shoji screens connect to a private garden terrace beyond.
The kitchen, wrapped in dramatic terrazzo tempered by warm timber batten, includes a teppanyaki bar and caters for all five authentic cooking methods: raw, simmered, steamed, grilled, and fried. Meals are often carried out to the alfresco area, which includes a pool terrace and pizza oven. Clad in stone, it is minimal yet feels cosy thanks to the dramatic curved metal spines that embrace it.
A sense of serenity, tradition and contemporaneity encapsulate the overall spirit of the home poetically. Inner sanctums may provide personal refuge, but this entire home is the ultimate retreat.
East meets West in the family lounge room, with handcrafted Tasmanian Oak shoji screens offering a visual partition between the open-plan spaces. Rolf Benz’s Onda sofa, Wittmann Paradise Bird armchairs, and Meridiani Vittorio coffee table, are all from Ultimo Interiors. The Timeless mirrored clock is by Tonin Casa from Ultimo Interiors, and the Kokeshi dolls were sourced from Japanese Flea Market in Subiaco.
The Janeiro dining table by Bartoli Design for Lago and Full Moon tray by Elisa Ossino for Paola C are from Ultimo Interiors. The Ubon dining banquette is designed by Andrew Thornton Hick and made by Artifex Australia and Melbon. Ingo Maurer’s Floatation pendant is from Space, the 0414 dining chair by Gallotti & Radice from Ultimo Interiors is covered in Métaphores Bauhaus fabric from Decor Design.
A classic treasure, the Sheraton sideboard from Ultimo Interiors was designed in 1977 by Giotto Stoppino and Lodovico Acerbis. LEFT to RIGHT on the sideboard. Still Life by John Olsen and Four Blacks by Terri Brooks, both from Linton & Kay Galleries. The Paola C Flame tea set was designed by Neri & Hu for Paola C from Ultimo Interiors. Seedpod No. 53 is by Sarah Keirle from Linton & Kay Galleries. The Belly Enorm vase by Guaxs is from Ultimo Interiors and the L’Objet Terra vase is from editeur.
A Velux skylight in the custom square-line timber battened ceiling punctuates the dramatic kitchen space. The Wolf Pro Style Gas Range, Sub-Zero Classic fridge-freezer, and Gessi Officine Kitchen Mixer are all from Winning Appliances. The kitchen cabinetry was custom-designed by Nadia De Cerff at Riverstone and made by International Cabinets.
Dramatic terrazzo Supreme wall tiles from Myaree Ceramics and Azuma floor tiles from Premier Tile Gallery make a strong statement in the kitchen. The benchtop is Caesarstone Black Temple; the interplay between dark and light materials and the red accents on the appliances are used to create visual stimulation.
The living space sits alongside the kitchen for easy entertaining. The teppanyaki bar top is solid blackbutt and provides a canvas for the Japanese art of food presentation. The Sting side tables and Dumbo barstools, both by Cattelan Italia, are from Ultimo Interiors.
A thread of salmon hues carries through to the study nook. The floating shelf design is a common element throughout the home, referencing the traditional tatami rooms of Japan. Kate Elsey’s Dragon Fly Jar and Matthew Wright’s Largesse artworks are from Linton & Kay Galleries.
The floating staircase was custom-designed with a striking black steel spine and timber treads by Byfinesse. A timber veneer feature wall provides the backdrop in the stairwell, another nod to the Japanese Tatami room. In the zen garden beneath are granite rocks from Magic Garden Supplies and a zen custom rake designed by Andrew Thornton Hick and made by Marshall Wood.
Timber square style cladding is repeated, juxtaposed with custom joinery in black stain oak and salmon-coloured floating shelves against a grey-tinted mirror. The Uroko floor rug designed by Andrew Thornton Hick for Brintons gives weight to a set of Livre armchairs by Gallotti & Radice and a Vittorio coffee table by Meridiani from Ultimo Interiors.
Comfort and style, luxury and utility combine in essential spaces such as the master suite. Tasmanian Oak shoji screens conceal the windows, and the walls and ceilings are visual representations of tatami mats with oak segments and borders, with inlays of wallpaper from Cole & Son. The bed is designed by Andrew Thornton Hick and made by Artifex Australia. The Cassia floor rug is by The Rug Establishment. Opposite the bed is a Paradise Bird desk designed by Luca Nichetto and Grain Cut side table designed by Jaime Hayon, both for Wittmann. The Planeta floor lamp and Emilia chair are from Ultimo Interiors.
Bookending the custom bed are Kana bedside tables designed by Andrew Thornton Hick and crafted by Marshall Wood. The Guaxs Gobi and Tube vases are from a selection at Ultimo Interiors. The Elk & Bare blanket and Hale Mercantile Co. Basix Ayrton coverlet are from editeur. The cushion in Casamance Garbo is from Ultimo Interiors and Nuvole Fornasetti wallpaper by Cole & Son from Decor Design.
Wall-to-wall Moretti walk-in robes, in a Rovere Fiamma finish with smoked glass doors and champagne metal, are from European Concepts. The traditional Japanese haori is from Japanese Flea Market.
Daily rituals are elevated in the main ensuite thanks to Doric basins from Meek Bathware and Milli Pure tapware from Reece. Custom-designed reeded glass shower screens, and feature stone square tiles from Artedomus, conceal the shower and WC. The Guaxs Tube vase is from Ultimo Interiors and the MAD et LEN Amber Rock Figue Noire potpourri-fragranced crystals are from editeur.
Looking back to the outdoor entertaining area are custom-made steel arches with a sleek angled roof line above and black joinery. The large pizza oven and garden beds are encased in Eco Outdoor’s Baw Baw cladding, a continuation of materiality from the front exterior. The tiled pool deck and alfresco flooring match the interior flooring, creating a resolved aesthetic.
Small yet concise, the alfresco area embraces Tea Time coffee tables designed by Kris Van Puyvelde for Royal Botania from Ultimo Interiors. The Vida outdoor rug is from The Rug Establishment and The Others floor lantern is by Stephen Burks for Dedon from Cosh Living.
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