SJB's Cleveland Rooftop

Feature Article

Redfern, NSW, Australia

Once a year the globes foremost interior designers and architects ascend on Berlin for the prestigious INSIDE World Festival of Interiors. The festival is unique in the way it combines awards, live judging of projects and conferences. With numerous design studios from around the world vying for critical acclaim at the awards ceremony, the competition was especially fierce in 2017. The strength of the field at the 2017 festival made it even more astonishing when Sydney based design firm SJB took home first prize in the residential category for their critically acclaimed Cleveland Rooftop in the Inner-city Sydney suburb of Redfern.

The award was justified recognition for the extraordinary beauty and architectural precision of SJBs Cleveland Rooftop. For this project SJB was presented with a modern inner-city home set on the rooftop of a former factory in one of Sydney’s most urbanely revived suburbs. It represents a perfect example of the power of architecture and landscape to combine harmoniously to enhance biodiversity within the often-suffocating environment created by the everyday pressures of modern city life.

The Cleveland Rooftop’s first prize at the INSIDE World Festival of Interiors continued to build the critical momentum for a project which earlier in the year took home the 2017 Best Design Award for Repurposed Spaces. The second major award received by Cleveland Rooftop ensures that the project and its creator SJB remain turning heads around the world.

Let’s take a closer look at the project that has caused such a critical stir in the world of interior design.

Cleveland Rooftop by SJB is in essence a modern rooftop addition to the what was originally a machine factory in an extremely industrial area of Sydney. The new design incorporated numerous elements of the original building including the lift enclosure being converted into a master bedroom plus study and the emergency escape stair transforming into a bedroom.

Biodiversity is the key to many of SJBs signature designs. Therefore, the approach architecturally was the create a garden for the owner to live their life in, rather than simply an inner-city apartment featuring elements of greenery.

In order to achieve this ultimate goal SJB made sure that the rooftops private garden would complement the adjoining communal garden, whilst at the same time delivering the desired private oasis dwelling for an escape from the pressures of modern life.

The private garden is comprised of predominately native flora and fauna. This creates a uniquely Australian feel to the Cleveland Rooftop as it become a small piece of Australiana dominating the skyline on a hot Sydney afternoon in late January.

The interior of the apartment was designed around the building’s connection to the Sydney skyline. An abundance of natural light created by numerous skylights creates an interface where the interior simply dissolves into the exterior and the occupants are consumed by their natural surroundings.

The interior of the apartment is defined by open plan living in order to create a dramatic sense of exposure whilst at the same time the living quarters can be easily compartmentalised to ensure that privacy can be created when multiple generations are housed within the walls.

Ultimately the Cleveland Rooftop is SJBs defining project of 2017 and the critical recognition it has received is justified for a design that beautifully reconnects humans with our natural state of existence.