Central Element Breaks Ground On $150 Million Pearl Bondi Central Element Breaks Ground On $150m Pearl Bondi

Central Element has officially commenced construction on Pearl Bondi, its highly anticipated $150 million luxury residential project in the heart of Bondi Beach.

The development at 20–22 Sandridge Street will comprise just seven residences: two houses and five apartments. That tightly limited collection gives Pearl a markedly different character from the larger apartment projects reshaping other parts of Sydney.

Architecture has been entrusted to MHN Design Union, while Madeleine Blanchfield Architects is responsible for the interiors. Together, the two practices have been tasked with creating homes that respond to Bondi’s coastal setting while delivering the privacy, space and refinement expected at the premium end of the eastern suburbs market.

Central Element is acting as both developer and builder, giving the company direct oversight of the project from design through to construction and completion. Kinkora is the joint venture partner, with MA Financial providing project funding.

The official groundbreaking on Friday brought together senior representatives from the development, design, construction, finance and sales teams.

Attendees included Central Element general manager Dean Chivas and CE head of construction Adrian Banks, alongside Madeleine Blanchfield, founder and director of Madeleine Blanchfield Architects, and Amanda Stollery, director at MHN Design Union.

They were joined by Kinkora investment manager Tony Massaro, MA Financial investment manager Heath Grundy and Ray White Projects managing partner Eddie Mansour.

Nathan Chivas, Managing Director of Central Element, spoke to the vision behind Pearl and the significance of bringing such an ambitious, design-led project to market in Bondi.

“With Pearl, we set out to create something truly exceptional – a legacy project in every sense,” Chivas says.

“We’ve brought together a team of acclaimed local design talent who understand Bondi intimately and share our passion for crafting something extraordinary that honours its setting.”

The collection comprises of five house-like proportioned apartments that cascade towards the shoreline with access to Wilga Street, while the two Torrens titled houses are perched at the site’s peak. Nearly 500sqm of lush landscaping by Dangar Barin Smith enhances the setting, while Madeleine Blanchfield Architects delivers interiors defined by quiet luxury. timeless, natural and deeply connected to Bondi’s coastal soul.

For Central Element, the start of work at Pearl represents another step in the company’s growing eastern suburbs pipeline.

The milestone follows the recent completion of Ballamac House in Coogee, where Central Element sensitively restored and transformed a historic residence dating from the 1860s into a collection of eight luxury homes.

Pearl carries that focus on tightly held locations and limited residential collections into Bondi Beach, although with an entirely new architectural proposition. Its combination of five apartments and two houses also gives the development a broader mix than a conventional boutique apartment building.

With construction now under way, attention will turn to how the project’s architectural and interior concepts are translated into the completed residences.

In one of Australia’s most closely watched property markets, the small number of homes, experienced project team and central Bondi location make Pearl a significant addition to the suburb’s next generation of premium residences.

Project details

Project: Pearl Bondi
Address: 20–22 Sandridge Street, Bondi Beach, NSW
Development value: $150 million
Residences: Seven—two houses and five apartments
Developer and builder: Central Element
Joint venture partner: Kinkora
Funding partner: MA Financial
Architecture: MHN Design Union
Interior design: Madeleine Blanchfield Architects
Sales: Ray White Projects Eddie Mansour
Listing: Pearl Bondi

The most convincing luxury interiors rarely need to announce their value.

Their appeal is revealed more gradually: in the weight of a door, the texture of a natural material, the proportion of the furniture or the way lighting changes the mood of a room after dark.

It is this quieter expression of luxury that has shaped the work of Charlie Rizk, founder and design director of Sydney studio Edge Design Consultants.

Established in 2006, the boutique practice works across residential and commercial interiors, offering services that range from architectural interior design and material selection to bespoke furniture, furnishing and final styling.

Its portfolio spans family homes, waterfront retreats, commercial workplaces and apartments within some of Sydney’s most prominent residential buildings. But according to the studio’s philosophy, the common thread is not a readily identifiable aesthetic.

Instead, it is an emphasis on longevity, personalisation and a close relationship between designer and client.

From the salon to the design studio

Rizk’s route into interior design was unconventional.

Before establishing Edge Design Consultants, he founded the Sydney hair salon Escapadehfb. While the two businesses operate in different creative fields, Rizk’s early career gave him experience in interpreting highly personal client briefs.

That ability to listen — and to distinguish between what a client initially requests and how they ultimately want to feel — became central to his work in interiors.

A client may arrive with a collection of reference images, favourite colours or individual pieces of furniture. The designer’s role is not simply to assemble those elements. It is to identify the underlying preference connecting them and translate it into a coherent environment.

That distinction becomes particularly important in bespoke residential design, where the success of a room is determined by more than its appearance in photographs.

The interior must accommodate routines, collections, entertaining, children, pets, privacy and storage. Materials must also be selected according to how they will perform after years of use.

A deliberately boutique model

Edge Design Consultants has remained a relatively small studio, allowing Rizk to maintain personal involvement across its projects.

For clients, that structure offers continuity. Architectural detailing, fixtures, finishes, furniture and styling can be developed as parts of the same design narrative rather than commissioned as disconnected stages.

The studio’s full-service model can begin with spatial planning and architectural interiors before progressing through mood boards, material selections, custom furniture and the final installation.

This continuity is particularly valuable on complex homes involving architects, builders, specialist trades, suppliers and landscape designers. Decisions made at the beginning of a project can affect everything that follows, from the dimensions of a custom sofa to the placement of lighting, power and joinery.

Bringing the interior designer into the process early can help prevent decorative decisions from being imposed on a largely completed building.

It also creates opportunities for furniture, art and objects to inform the architecture itself.

The case against a signature look

Many successful designers become associated with a recognisable palette or recurring visual device. Edge takes a less prescriptive position.

The studio’s work includes warm, layered family interiors as well as more restrained contemporary apartments and sharper commercial spaces. Its stated priorities are durability, considered materials and an understanding of the way each space will be occupied.

This does not mean abandoning a point of view. Rather, the designer’s sensibility is expressed through proportion, editing and consistency instead of a formula repeated from one project to another.

For affluent homeowners, this can be an important distinction. A heavily trend-driven interior may look current when completed but quickly reveal the moment in which it was designed.

An enduring home needs enough character to feel individual without becoming hostage to a short-lived fashion.

Natural stone, timber, metalwork and well-made furniture can provide that foundation, but material expense alone does not create permanence. The detailing, installation and relationship between the materials matter just as much.

Designing from the building out

Edge’s published portfolio includes residential projects in Pymble, Epping, North Rocks, Strathfield, Pyrmont and Wagstaffe, along with the furnishing and styling of a residence in Crown Sydney. A Pymble residence (below) was featured on Channel Nine’s Australia’s Best House in 2023.

The scope varies between projects.

Some commissions involve complete architectural interior design, furniture and styling. Others focus on furnishing an existing residence, where the challenge is to introduce identity without altering the underlying architecture.

A penthouse, for example, may already possess exceptional views, finishes and proportions. The designer’s task is then to create intimacy, establish visual rhythm and ensure the furniture remains appropriately scaled to the volume of the rooms.

A freestanding family home presents different considerations. Storage, circulation, durability and the relationship between indoor and outdoor areas may take precedence over creating a formal sense of arrival.

The best result is not necessarily the most dramatic. It is the one in which the architecture, finishes, furniture and objects feel as though they were always intended to coexist.

Luxury as a personal experience

After 20 years, Edge Design Consultants sits within a design market transformed by social media and unprecedented access to international references.

Clients can now identify furniture, stone, lighting and interiors from around the world before their first conversation with a designer. That access can broaden a brief, but it can also produce an overwhelming collection of competing ideas.

The designer’s role is increasingly one of curation: deciding what belongs, what should be removed and which references can be translated convincingly into an Australian home.

For Rizk, the boutique scale of Edge allows that process to remain personal.

The studio’s version of luxury is therefore not defined by a single material, brand or visual signature. It lies in the time spent understanding a client, the care with which each element is selected and the sense that the completed space belongs specifically to the people living within it.

Fact box

Designer: Charlie Rizk
Role: Founder and design director
Studio: Edge Design Consultants
Established: 2006
Location: Sydney, NSW
Services: Architectural interior design, spatial planning, mood boards, fixtures and finishes, bespoke furniture, furnishing and styling
Project types: Luxury residences, apartments, penthouses and boutique commercial interiors
Selected locations: Pymble, Epping, North Rocks, Strathfield, Pyrmont, Wagstaffe, Macquarie Park and Crown Sydney
Selected media: Australia’s Best House, Kanebridge Quarterly and Robb Report Australia
Website: edgedesignconsultants.com.au
Instagram: @edge_design_consultants