McGrath, Byron Bay

The owners of this Byron Bay beach house wanted a modern seaside getaway; relaxed and sophisticated yet robust enough for family and friends to enjoy two to three months of the year. The brief was to design a kitchen, three bathrooms and joinery for two living spaces as well as customized furniture; it also extended to the coordination of a hand over mid-construction and the sourcing of furniture from around the country and implementing its installation. Yes this brief was a challenge and it had to be done by Christmas but luckily the client (a developer inter-state) knew what they wanted and was adept at making serious design decisions quickly.

Inheriting finely detailed architecture and a crisp palette of white Matthew set to adding body to the structure through the use of stone, timber and linen. This brought with it an inherent colour palette that didn’t require the use of paint for sculpting or decorating. A palette of four stones (three marble and one composite), were used sequentially throughout the house creating light and dark, depth and interest where required; sitting comfortably along side one another they set the tone for an interesting conversation. The crafting of each space was unique and had it’s own personality, yet each personality complimented the next. This demonstrated Matthew’s ability to bring a variety of elements together, tell a story and craft an experience at every turn from the front gate to the back fence.