Art & Design Combine in Jade House

In turning an original 1920s Toorak home into Jade House, a comfortable yet elegant family home, designer and art consultant Swee Lim of Swee Design used rich colours, sculptural furniture pieces and commissioned artworks throughout

Design Anthology: Can you tell us about the clients and their lifestyle?

Swee Lim: I met the clients through a mutual friend. They’re a young family that travels regularly between Australia, New York and Shanghai. They wanted an elegant home that reflected their international taste in art and design, and it needed to be both comfortable for the family and sophisticated for hosting international business clients.

What was the brief to you for the project?

This project was a full fit out, so all furnishings, finishes and furniture, for a double-storey 1920’s Toorak home, with four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a pool.

Can you tell us what is unique about the building and the location?

The two-storey home feels like a stately manor. It has beautiful bones — high ceilings, stained glass windows and period cornices — but it was outdated. We wanted to transform it with a contemporary twist while respecting these original architectural features.

How did you approach the project — what design references did you try to incorporate into the space?

Jade House evolved from a hybrid of cultures and styles. We were interested in combining styles drawn from the client’s travels and cultural heritage, as well as exploring the intersection between fine art and design. The concept of jade stone as a precious, harmonious and unique material became the central concept, and the colour scheme evolved around emerald green and moody colours like teals and smoky grey. 

The furniture and lighting were chosen from a sculptural point of view. Oversized pendants, reminiscent of Chinese lanterns and fans, create a sense of movement in the air, while floor lamps were treated like freestanding sculptures with distinctive forms.

We went with a base of elegant Italian furniture pieces, which we then layered with key pieces that have sculptural forms and a contemporary edge, like the Arc table, designed by Foster + Partners for Molteni&C, and the Moroso Longwave armchair, for example. Artworks, largely commissioned, played an important role in adding vibrancy and creating the mood of the interiors.

Please tell us a little about the material choices for the space. 

We wanted to create a sense of luxury, so we selected furnishings with lustre, like glass, silks and velvets, and brass highlights. Dark timber like smoked oak works alongside classic black, white and jade marble tables. We even used marble wallpaper in the bedrooms to create a hotel-like experience.

Please tell us about some of the custom pieces for the space.

As both a designer and art consultant, I felt a strong commitment to working with artists to create unique works for the space. Glass artist Mark Douglass created a series of iridescent glass sculptures for the wall niches, and Marisa Purcell created several artworks, a standout being the large-scale work that brings the myriad green tones of the garden into the living and dining area.

Do you have a favourite element or design detail in the architecture or interiors?

I love the interplay between the sculptural forms of the lighting alongside the artworks.

Images / Shannon McGrath