Mt Eliza House
by MRTN Architects
Mid-century modernism and Scandinavian design influences coalesce in an understated home in bayside Melbourne.
There can be no doubt that architect Antony Martin has an affinity for mid-century modern architecture.
His practice, MRTN Architects, won the John and Phyllis Murphy Award for residential alterations and additions at the Victorian Architecture Awards in 2020 for Frankston Mid Century Modern, a sympathetic renovation to a 1960s home in Melbourne’s bayside region. Antony doesn’t claim to be a scholar of history, however; as he puts it, he simply has “a good memory for images.” It so happens that his astute eye has memorized many modernist precedents that he draws on when “building a brief” with clients, the first step in any new project for MRTN Architects. The clients of this new house in Mount Eliza – the neighbouring suburb to Frankston – were keen to acknowledge the bayside area’s rich history of mid-century design. But they also had a particular attachment to Scandinavian design (one of the couple has Scandinavian heritage) and they wanted to see how this element could be brought to bear on their house. “We looked at work by Utzon and Aalto, of course, but I also showed them McGlashan and Everist’s Fern Tree House near Hobart [see Houses 92], and Harry Seidler’s Gissing House [see Houses 91] in Sydney,” says Antony. These Australian examples have Scandinavian sensibilities, but they also negotiate sloping sites by employing the tactic of a single overarching skillion roof, an element that would become a key feature of Mt Eliza House.
Along with modernist architectural principles, the 1950s and 60s period was characterized by postwar material shortages and budget constraints, which limited both the scale of spaces and level of finishes. These aspects are mirrored in this economical four-bedroom family home, but here the level of design modesty wasn’t due only to cost control. Antony and his clients made a conscious effort to intervene sensitively in what was then a greenfield site in a recent subdivision of an old estate. This decision was supported by the local council development guidelines, which encouraged single-storey developments with low-reflective external materials that blended with the coastal landscape. As a result, MRTN’s design didn’t require a planning permit, unlike its bulky neighbours.
As with the best mid-century work, there is no contortion of form for form’s sake here. The chamfered geometry is derived logically – the walls follow three axes, one aligned with the eastern site boundary and the other two orienting internal spaces toward views and light. The crystalline polygonal roof plan is simply the result of joining the dots between the ends of the protruding blade walls, with the extent of the overhangs carefully calculated for passive solar shading or to provide rain cover to terraces. Above the entry at the southern edge of the house, the overhanging roof subtly integrates the function of a carport. The crisp triangular eaves line, in section, is a bespoke detail made cost-effective by its repetition across the whole of the roof edge – the builder could even afford to test a full-scale prototype.
The entry to the house leads directly from the carport. “It’s never ideal to be faced with a corridor when you open the front door,” admits Antony. But in
this case, MRTN has made the spatial arrangement a highlight of the house. Pairs of honed concrete steps lead you down past a series of timber-lined entry vestibules, creating a rhythmic play of light and shadow, the recesses hiding what would otherwise be a row of doors to kids’ bedrooms and utility spaces. “One of the key issues in the planning was how to transition from the entry at one end of the site to the views at the other end,” says Antony. This is where the blinker-like blade walls of concrete block come in, deflecting sightlines and delaying the big reveal. As the continuous roof plane sails overhead, the staggered floor levels create different degrees of cosiness with changes in ceiling height and ensure variations in outlook to the garden and the bay.
The basic construction is quite rational. A single five-degree pitched roof that approximates the natural slope of the ground is simply “draped across the blade walls, with a single gutter at the back,” Antony explains. Even moments of apparent design whimsy turn out to have emerged for pragmatic reasons. Take, for example, the asymmetric shape of the kitchen island bench: its form negotiates the intersection of the plan’s three axes, with MRTN working closely with the cabinetmaker and builder to ensure an elegant resolution to the geometrical conundrum, including artfully arranging the joint lines between the stone slabs.
A limited palette of prosaic, inexpensive materials is elevated in aesthetic effect by being allowed full expression – expansive planes of material are left uninterrupted by light fittings or fixtures of any kind. Even the painted plasterboard ceiling is treated like a precious material: rather than having downlights puncture the ceiling, MRTN has opted for pendants that cast light upward, offering a diffuse, reflected glow. Simple functional moves are given power through purity in another echo of mid-century modernism.
“Zeitgeist” was a popular term among modernists, who claimed to be doing what the “spirit of the age” demanded. Antony doesn’t talk that way about his work. It’s as if the present moment simply demands an economy of means, and a quiet, zen-like appreciation of material textures and natural colours. There is beauty in MRTN’s construction details, but no overt expressiveness. The message seems to be “do less and do it beautifully.” Antony himself is a humble and understated character, but the work of his practice demonstrates bold confidence in the (modern) power of simplicity.
Products
Roofing: Stramit Speed Deck
Ultra in Colorbond ‘Monument’ External walls: Austral Masonry GB Smooth concrete block in ‘Nickel’; vertical shiplap cladding in ‘Silvertop Ash’ from Bowens Internal walls: Austral Masonry GB honed concrete block in ‘Porcelain’; vertical linear cladding in ‘Silvertop Ash’ from Bowens; plasterboard in Dulux ‘Antique White U.S.A.’ Windows and doors: Miglas AliClad windows and doors Flooring: Burnished conrete flooring; Tretford carpet;
American Oak flooring
Lighting: Concerto pendant from Ambience Lighting; Hermera desk lamp from Ross Gardam Kitchen: Fisher and Paykel integrated refrigerator and freezer, ovens, dishwasher and induction cooktop; Vola tapware Bathroom: Concrete Nation
Como Basin in ‘Dusty Pink’;
Sussex tapware
Heating and cooling: Ekco heat pump and boiler; Comfort
Heating and Cooling in-slab hydronic heating
External elements: Eco Outdoor Porphyry crazy paving
Architect
MRTN Architects
+61 3 8548 4638
office@MRTN.com.au
www.mrtn.com.au
Project team Antony Martin, Cameron Suisted Builder Saltwater Builders Engineer Deery Consulting Pool consultant Laurie Jacobson Pools