The loft is located in what was once a dressmakers shop, and comes with a charming collection of original architectural features; high ceilings solid timber storehouse doors and arched and industrial wired windows. This slice of historic real estate was thoroughly considered in the design intent, to “distill the original character” while maximising the living spaces.

Well versed in spatial literacy, Meme Design have evolved this one-bedroom apartment into an efficient and comfortable floor plan that feels far from tightly packed. The master bedroom, built-in wardrobe and bathroom are closed off behind the full-height glass screen with adjoining sliders. The ribbed glass encourages “dynamic levels of lighting and movement” between the two spaces, while blending with the industrial windows. Perhaps most crucially, the windows and doors can now open up the apartment onto the adjacent laneway, letting the owners “welcome the inner-city atmosphere whenever they choose”.

With a penchant for New York loft conversions, we at est certainly support taking creative hints from the city that never sleeps. Meme Design pay homage to a signature loft sensibility by exposing raw materials and white washed brick, allowing the tactile SurfaceX Mineral Paint on the bathroom walls, knotted rug and bedroom linen to feel at home. The home’s furnishings are well-matched in style and colour, showcasing midcentury finds from Angelucci Furniture amid subtle drops of greenery, art by Andrew Ashton and sculpture by Annette Saker. Space saver solutions are fulfilled in the expansive custom joinery, in a soft matte finish.

Benefiting from the closeness of the city buzz but as doubling as an escape from its stimulation, the Dressmaker Loft is an important exercise in restraint and refinement. Meme Design have taken an old gem into a new era of apartment living, dabbling in equal parts of classic, considered and contemporary.