Lawless & Meyerson co-founder Jo Lawless says the studio aims to expand perceptions of what apartment living can be by creating sanctuaries for people to "live in, work in and enjoy". Lawless says her guiding principles when it comes to designing contemporary spaces is that they should accommodate our basic needs as well as be visually pleasing.

"I like my interiors to be serene, a little bit bold, a little bit glamorous, very elegant and thoughtful. I like to use natural materials and I want things to be detailed in a pared-back way. I don't like spaces to look too precious," Lawless says.

Lawless began collaborating with architect Brian Meyerson five years ago when she set up an interiors studio under the umbrella of his award-winning architectural practice MHN Design Union (founded by principals Meyerson, Michael Hay and Kevin Ng).

Vaucluse House kitchen and dining area. Photo: Justin Alexander

The collaboration was so successful the pair established interior design studio, Lawless & Meyerson, also aimed at the luxury end of the market.

"Brian is an architect. I am a designer. When I set up an interiors studio within MHNDU, it was very successful. In fact it was so successful that it began to take on its own personality and that personality was slightly different to MHNDU, which is why we set up the studio," says Lawless, who has worked as an interior designer for the past two decades.

"Brian has designed more than 40 residential properties and looks after the big-picture stuff and has a contemporary, clean sense of design and I'm more the touchy-feely person. Although we still collaborate with MHNDU, the Lawless & Meyerson brand is a stand-alone company that allows us to collaborate with a wide range of architects and private clients," she says.

Be it a private residence in Vaucluse or a multi-residential development in Double Bay, Lawless & Meyerson has quickly earned a reputation for delivering designs that Lawless says go beyond pure aesthetics.

Vaucluse House bedroom. Photo: Justin Alexander???

Lawless says she shares an attention to detail with Meyerson that is underpinned by a passion for quality design.

"Brian and I work very well together. We have a shared sense of style - which is contemporary and luxurious but relaxed - and we really enjoy creating places that are beautiful to live in," Lawless says.

Lawless says she loves curating tactile, textured spaces that feel open and light. "We always feel less is more and we don't like things to feel over-designed. The aim is to make it feel effortless," she says.

This approach to design won the studio the House & Garden Top 50 Rooms "room of the year" in 2016, just 12 months after Lawless & Meyerson was born.

Lawless says one of the projects she remains most proud of was a two-bedroom renovation on an apartment in Bondi.

(Left) Vaucluse House desk space. Photo: Justin Alexander??? (right) Bondi House kitchen space. Photo: Justin Alexander

"I like rooms to be carefully planned but my design has to align with what the clients want. In this project - which involved gutting a unit with beach views and starting again - we were all on the same page from the beginning and that's when the magic happens.

???"We are incredibly fortunate that many of our clients come to us because they like what we do. We don't want to design stage sets. We want to create beautiful spaces that feel comfortable and fit with whoever is using the space."

While Lawless & Meyerson are currently working on a number of large private residential projects, the design studio has been engaged by the Cadmium Property Group to design the interiors for a new multi-residential development called The Surry.

Designed by architects Candalepas Associates, Lawless says The Surry is all about celebrating the grit and glam of the urban environment. She also believes The Surry will reinvent the idea of suburban living by making apartments more urbanised and elegant.

Bondi House living space. Photo: Justin Alexander

"All of the multi-residential projects we've been involved in so far celebrate the harbour views and aim to bring the outside in. But The Surry is on Elizabeth Street and we don't want unimpeded views of the street. Instead, we took our IQ from the architecture, which includes balconies behind big fixed blades that act as a filter between the apartments and the lively streets below," Lawless says.

"We wanted each apartment to feel private and like a place of refuge and provide a seamless transition from those private balconies into a peaceful sanctuary."

Lawless says the design brief for The Surry was to create apartments that present like an "oasis of calm", and the 444 Elizabeth Street location - next to a laneway and streets lined with bars, cafes, boutiques and galleries - gave her the freedom to be a bit edgy with the designs. This edginess will be one of The Surry's major selling points.???

As well as the open kitchens with quality cabinetry and Miele appliances, the apartments feature brushed-nickel fixtures and fittings in the bathrooms, and an inter-play of materials and natural light.
Exterior of The Surry. Photo: CBRE

City views of The Surry. Photo: CBRE

Kitchen design of The Surry. Photo: CBRE