Skip To Main Content
Issue 61 - Vintage Modern Issue

Issue 61

Vintage Modern Issue

The breadth and scope of Habitus has always been extraordinary. With how we live at heart of every issue, we have stepped it up with Guest Editor David Flack of Flack Studio shaking the ‘how’ and looking at new ways to make a house a home. With Vintage Modern as the issues theme, we look at the way iconic design has stayed with us, how daring pieces from the past can add the wow factor and how architecture and good design defy the pigeon hole of their era.

Order Issue

A Product of

The many lives of The Hat Factory
HomesBranko Miletic

The many lives of The Hat Factory

Australia

The Hat Factory is a warehouse with a sordid past, and Welsh + Major has turned it into two new dwellings without forgetting the history that makes it special.


Despite many a tribulation, The Hat Factory embarks on a new chapter that has been guided by Welsh + Major. The residence maintains much of its warehouse character and aesthetic, while ensuring it is fit for living with the wise addition of contemporary elements.

The factory has survived fire, police invasion, and a stack of warehouse parties to now become a pair of residential dwellings. The main floor includes a kitchen, laundry, living and dining room, with the bedrooms and bathrooms located above and a workstation situated on the bottom floor.

A lightwell implemented towards the north of the building ensures an influx of natural light, with a former lightwell repurposed as a courtyard.

The textural palette fuses old and new to create an intriguing juxtaposition of elements and materials. Exposed sandstone blocks contrast with timber floorboards and cabinetry, with many walls left deliberately untouched.

The timeless concrete floors and contemporary light fittings and furniture pieces make for an interior that is beautifully unpredictable at every turn. 

A former site for squatters in Sydney, The Hat Factory shows a way forward in terms of repurposing old industrial spaces into residential dwellings.

The architectural nous of Welsh + Major has resulted in two homes that feature a number of coarse existing textural elements that have been heightened by the implementation of contemporary aesthetic throughout. 

Project details

Architecture – Welsh + Major
Photography – Anthony Basheer

We think you might like this project with a garden courtyard, also designed by Welsh + Major. This article originally appeared on Architecture & Design.


About the Author

Branko Miletic

Tags

Adaptive Re-UseFactorySydney Architecturewarehouse conversionwelsh + major


Related Projects
Issue 61 - Vintage Modern Issue

Issue 61

Vintage Modern Issue

The breadth and scope of Habitus has always been extraordinary. With how we live at heart of every issue, we have stepped it up with Guest Editor David Flack of Flack Studio shaking the ‘how’ and looking at new ways to make a house a home. With Vintage Modern as the issues theme, we look at the way iconic design has stayed with us, how daring pieces from the past can add the wow factor and how architecture and good design defy the pigeon hole of their era.

Order Issue