Portrait – Short Lane

Working from home has meant that we have needed to adapt our space to try and create some boundaries between our ‘home life’ and our ‘work life’. Fortunately the space is really flexible and open so we have been able to create different zones for different times of the day. Personally, I have really noticed that since I moved my desk to have a view out towards the lush balcony planters it has made a substantial improvement to my mood and general wellbeing. It makes me forget that we are several stories in the sky and feel a bit more grounded.

It’s the small details that are actually the most impactful for visitors to our apartment. It starts with the concrete finish of the walls in the hallway, and from then our visitors always notice the small details and finishes that make the apartment stand out, like the ceiling finishes, the under cabinet lighting. The ability to open up the balcony flush to the living room immediately expands the entertaining space and makes the whole apartment feel much larger and practical for having visitors.

We love the location of the location of Short Lane, and the ability to pop literally downstairs for a coffee at Veneziano at any time. It’s great to see the same faces around the building and the surrounding streets, at the café, and downstairs at Brix Distillery. For how close we live to the City, a busy character was always expected but it was a delight to find community as well.

It is always easy to describe to people where I live. If they know the street at all, chances are they know the building, you know the one with all the concrete balconies and all the greenery flowing over them. ‘Oh, I love that building’ they say to me. From its presence on Bourke Street the building conveys feelings of wilderness, sustainability, heritage interpretation, and animation. Ok so that sounds like a dump of buzz words but that’s what comes to mind when thinking of the contribution the building has to the Bourke Street streetscape.