Brings back memories of PAC
Grand top floor house-sized apartment in exclusive boutique building
Gracing the top floor of the exquisite c1926 `Maranoa' building in an exclusive cul-de-sac, this grand house-sized apartment delivers harbourside elegance at its finest within footsteps of Redleaf Pool and Seven Shillings Beach.
Offering a wonderful sense of space and privacy with an extra-wide entrance foyer and peaceful leafy outlooks, it reveals an incredible layout with beautifully appointed interiors enhanced by polished timber flooring, high ornate ceilings and extensive custom joinery.
Generous living and dining rooms offer plenty of space to relax and entertain, while a gourmet stone kitchen features premium Ilve gas appliances. Accommodation comprises three well-proportioned bedrooms, the main is appointed with a built-in wardrobe and enjoys access to a sizeable sunroom/terrace balcony.
6/1 Gladswood Gardens, Double Bay, NSW 2028
These are not your average estate agents
Michelle Nicol and Rudolf Schürmann have always had a taste for exceptional architecture.
The Swiss couple, who are currently based in Basel, are partners in both work and life and have spent decades seeking out distinct and unique properties to call home. They have lived in a concrete abode built and owned by Brutalist architect Hans Demarmels, a diminutive split-level unit in a housing co-op known as Kraftwerk1, and a remarkable 1970s mountainside property that followed an entirely octagonal theme, from the floor plan to the door handles, to the enormous black Bisazza mosaic bathtub.
“Since I was a child, I’ve had very good memories of spaces,” says Schürmann. “They are my fantasies. I always made it possible to live in wonderful architectural spaces: owned houses, apartments and even a co-operative.”
When we meet, in the Serpentine Pavilion designed by Minsuk Cho, the pair has just returned from a trip to Mallorca, where they have been scoping out new possibilities for property development on the island. This nascent venture is part of their new business, Poeticwalls, which focuses on brokering the buying and selling of architecturally distinguished homes, consulting on renovations (they prefer the term “transformations”) and collaborating with architects to conceive small-scale, well-considered new builds.
People have always known that we’re into special architecture,” says Nicol. “So over the years friends and acquaintances began seeking our advice and recommendations.” But in shifting gear to handling real estate, the jump from friendly suggestion to professional expert guidance was significant, to say the least.
Before building a career in advertising with the likes of Saatchi & Saatchi and Euro RSCG, Schürmann trained in painting and sculpture at the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts under the tutelage of renowned artists including Gerhard Richter — an experience he draws from when conceiving concepts for properties. Nicol, meanwhile, studied art history with the architectural theorist and Le Corbusier specialist Stanislaus von Moos, before working as a journalist and curator.
In 2001 they set up their own creative agency, the Zurich-based Neutral, which they still oversee. “We began by bringing together great minds from across architecture, art, fashion and design,” says Nicol. Schürmann adds, “It was quite a new concept at the time, and people didn’t really understand what we were doing.”
The company has since worked with clients including Credit Suisse, Cartier and Art Basel, while seeking out the expertise of thought leaders including architect Rem Koolhaas and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist. Among their most distinctive projects was a collaboration between Ai Weiwei and the DIY retailer Hornbach, which featured a series of downloadable instructions so customers could buy everyday materials and construct their own Ai-approved work of art. In a somewhat prophetic move, the agency also produced the launch campaign for Switzerland’s major online property portal, Homegate.
The pair had some practical experience in advance of embarking on their new venture. “Before we even had the idea for Poeticwalls, we sold a house for the artist Ugo Rondinone,” Nicol recalls. “He had built a beautiful property just outside Zurich and I suggested we take care of the process.” This astonishing property, known as House No.1, was designed by Fuhrimann Hächler Architekten. It is based on traditional Japanese principles, complete with interconnected rooms that stretch out on to elevated terraces. References to the artist’s work are peppered throughout, including a functioning replica of the sculpture “Still.Life. (John’s Fireplace)” and elegant lattice windows, a recurring motif in his practice.
The gesamtkunstwerk was originally sold to a Parisian fashion designer. When they decided to move on, Nicol and Schürmann once again handled the sale. The new owner, Marcela Velez, was delighted with the way they described the house to her, through storytelling. “They are brokers with taste and style, with a very curated list that makes buyers like me trust their offering, as they will only be selling special houses,” she says.
Spending time with owners and their families, to learn about the many iterations a property might have taken and the memories it holds, is an important part of the selling process. “It is always emotional to sell a home, particularly if you have lived there a long time and even more so if your family built it,” Nicol says. “Our clients want someone who understands and recognises great architecture.”
In the UK, one need only consider the success of The Modern House and its sister platform Inigo (as well as more recent contenders such as Aucoot) to understand the appeal. Sellers are hungry for agents who understand the value of their design decisions, while employing architectural editorial and high-spec photography to secure a sale. Prospective buyers are equally keen to deal with a well-informed and judicious broker (while occasionally finding they need to sell themselves as the perfect new owners in order to sweeten the appeal of their bid).
Such companies celebrate discernment. Poeticwalls enlists an expert jury, consisting of architects Santiago Espitia Berndt (of Herzog & de Meuron), Mia Hägg (of Habiter Autrement) and conceptual artist Rosemarie Trockel, which decides whether a home or prospective development lives up to the company’s core principles.
These tenets revolve around the rather expansive Swiss concept of Baukultur, which is ultimately concerned with a symbiotic relationship between people, the built environment and nature. Poeticwalls breaks it down into three fundamentals: does the building fulfil its purpose? Does it contribute to the wellbeing of its residents and neighbours? And — rather more intangibly — does it hold that “poetic” factor?
While the company undoubtedly has its roots in Swiss Modernism, it will consider any property with a profound architectural personality, anywhere in the world. Enormous, banal and boxy buildings, referred to as “non-architecture” by Schürmann (and with a nod from Nicol to the portfolio presented on Netflix’s hit reality show Selling Sunset) are absolute anathema.
Perusing the current offerings, it is easy to see how high the bar is set. The recently listed home of Italian architect Carlo Cocco, built in 1973 in the lakeside city of Lugano, is an amalgam of Modernist formalism and curvaceous, sculptural lines. Raw, linear concrete is softened by elegant wood panelling, handmade Florentine terracotta tiles, and a delightfully unexpected rose-pink kitchen.
In bringing this home to market — thanks to another personal recommendation, from architect Nicola Navone — the couple hopes to not only find new owners but help share Cocco’s legacy. “He was a very private person, but we have some amazing photographs of the property throughout the years,” says Nicol. “It is so wonderful to shed light on a complete[ly] unknown [space],” Schürmann adds.
Given the pair’s experience with brokering high-end, highly individual homes, it might come as a surprise to hear that their earliest ventures into development include more collective forms of living. Plans for two buildings that encompass a series of duplex apartments in the Swiss mountain village of Isenfluh have been conceived with the Basel-based architecture practice Christ & Gantenbein. There is also the possibility to rent.
“The standalone, single-family home is not the future. The more densely we live together, the better we need the architectural quality to be,” says Schürmann. “It needs to be resilient for future generations and it needs to work with nature, too. Architecture can even enhance the quality of the landscape. It’s rare, but it is plannable.”
This is the hope for another development envisaged for the sparsely populated hamlet of Mittel Arni. Designed by Valerio Olgiati, it consists of three properties intended to blend into the black pine forest beyond. Sweeping pyramid structures offer alpine views, once again fulfilling an alliance of building and nature, favoured by Baukultur.
According to Olgiati, Nicol and Schürmann’s collaborative attitude has been a distinct asset. “In the most common case, the developer explains the wishes of his clients to the architect and in this way forms a work as a customer service,” he says. “With Poeticwalls it is different. They look for architects with visions and then communicate them to clients.”
Following our conversation, Nicol and Schürmann will travel to Scotland to visit a friend’s private estate near Dundee, which is undergoing renovation. They have been working with contemporary sculptor Martin Boyce to create a “contemplation structure” that will be embedded in the grounds, serving as a prototype for possible future editions.
This foray into a more conceptual form of architecture has echoes of James Turrell’s meditative “Skyspaces”, of which there are more than 80 throughout the world. In the same vein, this project will be as much about introspection as it is about convening with nature.
“You can lose yourself in the ancient trees and the vista is astonishing. The space will serve as a place to look outward, but also inward,” Schürmann says. Ultimately, this is the balance the pair are always looking for. “Good architecture makes you happier, more open — it’s good for your mental health and your creativity, too,” Nicol adds. “It has the power to inspire. That’s what Poeticwalls is all about.”
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