McIntyre River Residence

Last updated

The McIntyre River Residence (1955) is one of the most notable and well known buildings by architect Peter McIntyre. Built during a post World War II period that was defined architecturally by the International Style, it stands as a testament to the architectural whims and intentions of Melbourne in the 1950s. The McIntyre River Residence quintessentially embodies Peter McIntyre's striking style as well as the Post-War Melbourne Regional style. The June 1956 issue of Vogue in the US commented that the house was "like some exotic bird of paradise perched high on the densely wooded bank." [1]

Contents

Location

The McIntyre River Residence is located at 2 Hodgson Street in Kew, Victoria, Australia approximately 4 km from the Melbourne CBD. The property had a high propensity for flooding from the Yarra River to the south of the site, and this, combined with plans at the time to extend a boulevard road directly through the site, meant that McIntyre only had to pay £200 for the 9 acres (3.6 ha) property. He was 19 years old when he purchased the land in 1947. Soon after he bought the land, the plans for the boulevard had been scrapped. The 9 acres (3.6 ha) property featured a variety of landforms. A steep cliff in the middle of the south side of the property, a river that formed the title boundary along the entire south side of the site, and a general smattering of trees and thick scrub across the whole property all made for what McIntyre thought of as "a bit of a paradise".

Appearance

Given the difficult terrain and the consequently limited means of construction that could be employed, it is no surprise that the McIntyre River Residence is a largely extruded, removed form, from the surface of the ground. McIntyre chose to have his house "stand" on the site. This would reduce the amount of excavation and alteration to the site's natural contours and ultimately reduce the cost of the project.

With the knowledge that he had to cantilever his house in some way and that he would be limited in his materials and constructional methods, McIntyre designed a rigidly geometric house that featured shallow triangular living quarters perched atop a far more vertically elongated triangle that formed the access stairwell. The house was thus cantilevered either side of the "access" triangle.

In Plan, the house is an 80-foot (24 m) long by 14-foot (4.3 m) wide rectangle, with a mezzanine centred over the central cantilever point. Given that the house is accessed from below and that the individual enters the house in the middle, the dimensions and features within the residence are mirrored either side of the cantilever point. With no member of the 80-foot (24 m) long truss bigger than 2.5 in (64 mm), the house is very lightweight and even bounces at either end, some 40 ft (12 m) from the cantilever point.

Inside, the house featured a number of small facilities and an extraordinarily garish palette. Tomato red, hortensia, white, black and yellow paint covered the strawboard panels that clad the house. An enormous amount of light filled the house, a result of the numerous skylights that punctuated the inclined roof. Internally, the steel framing of the house and the rafters and joists were all exposed. This was a trait of the Melbourne Regional Style of the 1940s and 1950s. A balcony was located at either end of the house, at the height of the canopy of trees that hugged their way around the house. In essence, the McIntyre River Residence is a combination of basic geometric shapes. Two triangular prisms form the striking elevation of the design and the rectangular plan of the house. Access to the house is afforded by a cylindrical staircase that pushes up through the triangular prism that balances the extents of the house either side of it. Colour and carefully placed windows then afford the house a definitively organic quality.

Style

After World War Two, the International Style began sweeping the world and Melbourne with increasing fervor and interest. However, following the publication of Robin Boyd's Victorian Modern (1947), a new style began to emerge. It was an adaptation and appropriation of the International Style, so that it would be suited to Melbourne's people, climate and living styles. This was the Melbourne Regional Style. Most commonly found in domestic buildings, it inspired and provoked many architects who lived and worked in Australia's capital cities. Peter McIntyre was one such architect who was inspired and decided to design a house for himself and his wife in this new style. To Boyd, the style was simple, light, fresh and unpretentious; it was modernism for the masses. A simple, succinct and clear design was the ambition, and simple materials and colours were championed. The elongated rectangle that is the McIntyre River Residence's plan is in keeping with the narrow, linear plans that defined the Melbourne Regional Style. The large glassed areas that are rhythmically articulated by timber mullions evenly spaced throughout the house are also testament to the typical features of the style. Finally, a clear receptibility to the land and vegetation that surround the site typifies the Melbourne Regional Style's influence in the McIntyre River Residence and the house's strong link with the Australian climate and Australia's outdoor lifestyle.

The steps that ascend to the entry of Peter McIntyre's River Residence McIntyre River Residence - Steps.JPG
The steps that ascend to the entry of Peter McIntyre's River Residence
Peter McIntyre standing in front of an artboard communicating his River Residence design Peter McIntyre - McIntyre River Residence.JPG
Peter McIntyre standing in front of an artboard communicating his River Residence design
An upstairs window in Peter McIntyre's River Residence McIntyre River Residence - Upstairs Window.JPG
An upstairs window in Peter McIntyre's River Residence

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kew, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Kew is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km east from Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Kew recorded a population of 24,499 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolte Bridge</span> Bridge in Melbourne, Australia

The Bolte Bridge is a large twin cantilever road bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Bolte Bridge carries a total of eight lanes of traffic – four lanes northbound and four lanes southbound. While officially only 490 metres in length, the actual structure appears much longer as it forms part of a 5 kilometre elevated roadway between Flemington Road and the West Gate Freeway. It spans the Yarra River and Victoria Harbour in the Docklands precinct to the west of the Melbourne CBD. It forms part of the CityLink system of toll roads that connects the Tullamarine Freeway from the northern suburbs with the West Gate Freeway and the Domain and Burnley tunnels to the Monash Freeway and the south eastern suburbs. It is named after Victoria's 38th and longest-serving Premier, Sir Henry Bolte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government House, Sydney</span> Official residence of the governor of New South Wales

The Government House is the heritage-listed vice-regal residence of the governor of New South Wales, Australia, located on Conservatorium Road in the Sydney central business district adjacent to the Royal Botanic Garden, overlooking Sydney Harbour, just south of the Sydney Opera House. Constructed between 1837 and 1843, the property has been the vice-regal residence of the Governor since Sir George Gipps, except for two brief periods; the first between 1901 and 1914, when the property was leased to the Commonwealth of Australia as the residence of the Governor-General of Australia, and the second from 1996 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian residential architectural styles</span> Architectural styles

Australian residential architectural styles have evolved significantly over time, from the early days of structures made from relatively cheap and imported corrugated iron to more sophisticated styles borrowed from other countries, such as the California bungalow from the United States, the Georgian style from Europe and Northern America, and the Victorian style from the United Kingdom. A common feature of the Australian home is the use of fencing in front gardens, also common in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward R. Hills House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Edward R. Hills House, also known as the Hills–DeCaro House, is a residence located at 313 Forest Avenue in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. It is most notable for a 1906 remodel by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in his signature Prairie style. The Hills–DeCaro House represents the melding of two distinct phases in Wright's career; it contains many elements of both the Prairie style and the designs with which Wright experimented throughout the 1890s. The house is listed as a contributing property to a federal historic district on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and is a local Oak Park Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonington mansion</span> Former Australian Government House in Melbourne

Stonington is a private residence and former Australian Government House located in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern, at 336 Glenferrie Road. The house was built for John Wagner, a partner in Cobb and Co coaches. Stonington gave its name to the City of Stonnington, a Melbourne municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roma Courthouse</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Roma Courthouse is a heritage-listed courthouse at 141 McDowall Street, Roma, Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia. Constructed in 1901, the courthouse is a rendered masonry building, which is still in use today. Predominately influenced by the Federation free style, it is considered a stunning example of Federation colonial architecture at its best. It is also known as Roma Court House and Roma Police Buildings. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 7 August 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter McIntyre (architect)</span> Australian architect and educator (born 1928)

Peter McIntyre is a Melbourne based Australian architect and educator.

Chancellor and Patrick was a Melbourne based architecture firm, formed in 1953 and dissolved in 1981, is best known for their numerous houses from the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s, designed in their signature dynamic, expressive take on 'organic' architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCraith House</span> House in Dromana, Victoria

The McCraith House is a modernist house located in Dromana, Victoria, Australia positioned atop a stone walled plinth overlooking Port Phillip Bay. Due to its unique geometric shape, this building is commonly referred to as the Butterfly House or Larrakeyah. In 1954, Gerald and Ellen McCraith commissioned emerging Melbourne-based architect partnership Chancellor and Patrick to design the beachside weekender, which was completed in 1956. Exemplary of structurally inspired modernist architecture in Australia, The McCraith house is national heritage listed and remains astonishingly close to its original state including "exterior and interior wall colours, furniture, crockery, even the bed linen".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurrowah</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Kurrowah is a heritage-listed mansion at 218 Gladstone Road, Dutton Park, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Lange Leopold Powell and built from 1915 to 1916. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 13 June 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Customs House, Maryborough</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

The Maryborough Customs House is a heritage-listed former customs house at Richmond Street, Maryborough, Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by John Smith Murdoch and built in 1899. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 7 February 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mackay Court House and Police Station</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Mackay Court House and Police Station is a heritage-listed courthouse and police station at 67 Victoria Street and 14 Brisbane Street, Mackay, Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. They were built from 1886 to 1963. It is also known as Mackay Court House and Mackay Police Station. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Andrew's Presbyterian Memorial Church, Innisfail</span> Church in Australia

St Andrew's Presbyterian Memorial Church is a heritage-listed former Presbyterian and Uniting church at 114 Rankin Street, Innisfail, Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The former church was designed by Eddie Oribin and built in 1961 by Andrew George Pepper in the Modernist organic style and was also known as St Andrew's Presbyterian Church. The former church was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 12 December 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oribin Studio</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Oribin Studio is a heritage-listed design studio at 16 Heavey Crescent, Whitfield, Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 11 October 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broken Hill Post Office</span> Historic site in New South Wales, Australia

Broken Hill Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 258–260 Argent Street, Broken Hill, in the Far West of New South Wales, Australia. The original building was designed by James Barnet, and was built from 1890 to 1892 by John Dobbie. Walter Liberty Vernon designed a telegraph office addition in 1900. The property is owned by Australia Post. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 22 December 2000. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 08 November 2011.

Lyons House is a heritage-listed private residence at 733 Port Hacking Road, Dolans Bay, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed in 1967 by Robin Boyd; Marion Hall Best designed the window coverings; and Bruce Mackenzie designed the landscape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle House, Sydney</span> Historic site in Sydney, Australia

Kyle House is a heritage-listed commercial office at 27-31 Macquarie Place, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by C. Bruce Dellit and built during 1931 by Stuart Bros. The property is privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerang Post Office</span> Historic site in Victoria, Australia

Kerang Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 51-53 Victoria Street, Kerang, Victoria, Australia. It was designed by the Victorian Colonial Architect, George William Watson, and was built in 1886. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 8 November 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flemington Post Office</span> Historic site in Victoria, Australia

Flemington Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 2A Wellington Street, Flemington, Victoria, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 8 November 2011.

References

  1. Vogue (US). 1956, June issue.

37°48′35″S145°0′53″E / 37.80972°S 145.01472°E / -37.80972; 145.01472