For its latest project, a full renovation and extension of a Victorian weatherboard residence in Melbourne, Australia, the team at YSG Studio — based in Sydney and founded in 2020 by Yasmine Saleh Ghoniem —was tasked with a distinct challenge. At the head of the client’s family were two spouses with divergent styles: one Egyptian-Australian and drawn to the pattern, color, and shapes of Middle Eastern design; the other Danish and partial to Scandinavian minimalism. Even more? Both partners have a kind of color-blindness that makes neutral tones appear washed out. In addition to melding these two aesthetic tastes, YSG needed to make an older house complement and connect with a newer addition — the first built project to be completed by YSG’s in-house architectural team since its addition to the team in 2022.

The new plan maintains the Victorian exterior, timber moldings, and decorative ceilings of the original part of the house ­— the gingerbread façade out front got a new creamy coat of paint — while replacing and reworking an open-plan extension on the rear of the structure. In solving the problem of how to go from old to new, boldly but not jarringly, YSG more broadly addresses transformation as a concept: Things aren’t necessarily what you expect. Rugs — like the Rabari by Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien for Nanimarquina and a custom one from YSG — look like paintings, the furniture has a sculptural quality, and floors have the appearance of mosaic murals; vitrified tiles (popular in the Victorian era) form a kind of carpet of pixelated patterns inspired by Persian rugs.

The design is really a love letter to tile as a material, and to the variety of shades, textures, and patterns it offers. Custom configurations on the floors don’t just stop underfoot but extend a bit, up walls, surfaces, and outside. New bathrooms are inspired by hammams, including a curving, raised tub lined with a light blue Wyldefel Mosaic tile from Onsite, a rust-colored basin floor, and capped with a border of Inax Triangle tiles from Artedomus. And decorative, protruding bowtie tiles by Popham Design add depth and color along the top of the walls in the principal bathroom and bedroom.

Throughout the space, shades of terracotta and turmeric mix with deeper and darker garnets and browns and pale greens and blues: turquoise granite in kitchen, jewel tone glass lighting by In Common With, Rosso Verona and Verde Riviera marbles in the bathroom. The neutral white walls in the older part of the home transition to gingery lime-washed walls in the extension, whose ceilings match those of the original house but appear taller and more spacious through the strategic placement of glass doors, clerestory windows, and bands of colored glass, which tie into new colored glass panes around the front door. The curving dining alcove and semi-enclosed courtyard walls were inspired by the mud brick buildings of Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy.

Nordic touches find their way into the design with furnishings like Fritz Hansen tables in the original living room, a Saarinen Womb chair and the EJ315 sofa by Erik Ole Jørgensen in the new lounge area, along with a Poul Henningsen pendant from Louis Poulsen in the dining nook. There are custom pieces throughout, as well. It’s all in the mix and the result is airy and open, yet warm and inviting — a winning combination.

PHOTOS BY ANSON SMART