Interior designer Edwina Glenn takes est through a renovated 1970s extension in Melbourne’s Toorak, where she carved out a unique design resolution for a family that loves to entertain.
To understand the Aggregate House by Edwina Glenn, you need to start from the ground up. More specifically, the striking Palladiana floor where marble and terrazzo have been laid through an ancient Roman technique. And while an incredibly time-consuming process in collaboration with the client and builder, the client’s two young children were invited to lay down small aggregate pieces before the pour – inscribing their personal history into the home.
The floor captures Edwina Glenn’s approach to the Aggregate House; bespoke, intuitive and playful. While the home’s formal zones had seen intervention by interior designer David Hicks some time ago, Edwina Glenn was asked to now bring the extension into a new era. Calling on the late-70s when the home was originally built, Edwina’s response embraces the established tropical garden, creating a naturally-lit family zone with “state of the art appliances” and “varied dining experiences”.
We speak with Edwina Glenn on how her interiors capture the renewed spirit of the home and how she catered to the kitchen’s different requirements – including just the right tools for entertaining.
A Wolf Dual Fuel Range (122cm) is the kitchen’s centrepiece, ensuring the kitchen is equipped for entertaining guests. The benchtop is carved from Calacatta Superlative honed marble, set against American oak cabinetry painted in Dulux Natural White. Edwina Glenn designed custom timber handles and aged brass finger pulls for the joinery.
Elegant metallic accents call on the home’s bygone era, including the aged brass Astra Walker tapware and vintage chandeliers.
Sika Design Salsa bar stools are a nostalgic nod to the 70s era, together with the Kristina Dam Opal bowl.
“Sub Zero and Wolf have models that suit my aesthetic desires and the capacity required for large family entertaining zones. It was an easy choice for this project.”
– Edwina Glenn
The formal dining space beyond the kitchen features a custom American oak and brass table by Edwina Glenn with SP01 Michelle chairs, under a vintage brass chandelier.
Edwina specified a Sub Zero integrated fridge concealed behind American oak joinery to play to the entertainer’s theme. Two Articolo Scandal wall sconces appear on either side of the rangehood.
Edwina Glenn knew the extension needed to work hard – as both a family and entertaining zone. The designer first reviewed the existing formal dining room, blocking the kitchen and family living zones from the garden. “More than anything, the client wanted the house to be a place for their young family, so architecturally, the formal dining room had to be demolished.” Edwina then mapped out multiple dining options and a scullery, concealed bar, and family room.
When considering the look and feel of the overlapping spaces, Edwina was asked to create family-friendly interiors that reflected the 1970s architecture and surrounding Miami-inspired garden. “While not surprising, the level of natural light in the finished project has certainly been a highlight,” Edwina says, achieved by changing the kitchen’s orientation and selecting finishes that reflected the light. This meant out with the dark volcanic floors and tired timber veneer and in with the custom aggregated floor, mirrored joinery and textured wire-brushed two-pack painted veneer.
“The brief was to create a family friendly interior that better reflected the late 1970s architecture and surrounding Miami-inspired garden.”
– Edwina Glenn
The Palladiana floor, which Edwina describes as a “very special undertaking”, is a conceptual interpretation of the existing Arabescato stone stairs in the home designed by David Hicks. “As the new family zone sat between this stair and the pool, I felt it was important that the Arabescato was referenced,” Edwina says. The floor features three different types of marble, a white concrete base and two terrazzo variations which Edwina sourced from three different suppliers. The terrazzo was then introduced around the pool to improve the strengthen the connection between the interiors and the garden.
With a statement-making floor, Edwina decided on a quieter kitchen palette that focused more on texture than colour. Cue: wire-brushed timber veneer in Dulux Natural White and Calacutta Superlative honed marble benchtops, with patinated brass kitchen fixtures “to give warmth and textural variation”. Vintage pieces, including the brass chandeliers above the kitchen island and formal dining table and the Sika Design Salsa bar stools, invite tasteful, recognisable threads of 1970s design into the revived interiors.
The bar features Signorino Calacatta Gold honed marble, a custom plaster Tigmi Trading table and Møbel Copenhagen Font Light bar stools.
Edwina says she specified Sub Zero and Wolf appliances to reflect a level of quality, precision and sophistication inherently expected from a home of this calibre. Both hailing from the US, Sub Zero and Wolf appliances are kitchen companions for the discerning home cook; Sub Zero is known for its pioneering home refrigeration and Wolf is known for its commercial-grade range cookers, cooktops and grills. The appliance brands share a long heritage of performance, design and dependability. “Sub Zero and Wolf have models that suit my aesthetic desires and the capacity required for large family entertaining zones,” Edwina says. “It was an easy choice for this project.” The kitchen’s centrepiece is a Wolf Dual fuel range (122cm). Designed for entertaining, the Wolf dual fuel range features a gas cooktop and electric convection oven with ten different cooking modes.
A Sub-Zero Designer Series all-refrigerator column also features behind the American oak joinery, specified for how it stores and preserves food. With a magnetic door seal system to lock in precise temperatures, the refrigerator’s NASA-inspired air purification ensures it’s also free of odour and ethylene gas. For Edwina, selecting quality fixtures, fittings, and appliances follows her philosophy of “choosing well and wisely”. “Environmentally, it is essential that we invest in the best quality of fixtures and finishes that our budget allows ensuring longevity,” she adds.
Edwina says reworking the Aggregate House reaffirmed the importance of using visual clues from the architecture or interior. The result: a culmination of ancient techniques and materials used in new ways, supported by long-lasting fixtures, fittings and appliances that reflect the needs of the family that lives there.
First specified in commercial kitchens, Sub Zero and Wolf appliances are designed to meet the demands of entertaining. Explore Sub Zero’s premium refrigeration range and Wolf‘s range cookers, cooktops and grills.
“Environmentally, it is essential that we invest in the best quality of fixtures and finishes that our budget allows ensuring longevity.”
– Edwina Glenn
