By Greg Natale
A striking modernist design, this three-storey, five-bedroom house on the Georges River features mid-century touches and bold colour choices.
Inspired by the Brazilian brutalist style of modernist architect Paulo Mendes Da Rocha, Greg Natale Design has crafted a house strong in materiality, where concrete plays a decorative as well as structural role. Off-form concrete slabs present an attractive grid at the entrance, their tie holes filled with brass. Formed beams create a woven look on the ceilings of the stairwell and a long bridge connecting rooms, while in a sunken living room they make a crisscross pattern on the ceiling, echoed in the rug below to dramatic effect.
Rosewood brings balance and warmth to ceilings and furniture, such as the Cubist-style kitchen cabinets and the hand-cut panels on the island, arrayed in a mid-century-inspired starburst pattern that complements the furniture.
Clashes of colour occur throughout, as blush plays with dark green, burgundy, teal and citrus tones. Patterned tiles, floor-to-ceiling windows and open-plan levels ensure that interior and exterior spaces interact in this robust layering of material and form.
Greg Natale, founder and director of Greg Natale, is a multi-award-winning Australian designer known for his innovative approach to creating highly detailed and uniquely curated spaces. His designs have featured in numerous local and international publications, including Architectural Digest, Elle Decoration, Vanity Fair, Vogue Living and Belle. Among the many awards to his name are Belle Interior Designer of the Year for both 2011 and 2014, and the 2021 Australian House & Garden Room of the Year. He has been named one of The World's Most Influential Designers by AD Mexico and a Design Visionary by Harper's Bazaar Interiors Middle East.
At the core of Greg Natale's intricately layered approach is tailoring to his client's individual tastes and needs. His passion for materiality, colour, pattern, and geometry motivates the designer to consistently explore new avenues and design genres through his work, weaving various references from classic to contemporary into his designs.
Greg has released three books on interior design showcasing his unique style: The Tailored Interior (published by Hardie Grant Books Australia in 2014), The Patterned Interior (published by Rizzoli NY in 2018) and The Layered Interior (published by Rizzoli NY in 2022). He continues to expand his business and currently has his own line of products available online and at the Greg Natale flagship store in Sydney, as well as leading homewares stockists in Australia, North America, Europe and Asia.