Description
The house is an exercise in pure platonic geometries in plan, a perfectly circular glass walled courtyard within a square of solid brick walls, broken only by the front door (and a back door to the kitchen). A broad flat roof with wide eaves floats above the external wall on continuous highlight windows. Internally the rooms are divided by radial walls, which stop short of the courtyard, the focus of the house. [1]
There are four flats behind the house that reach down the block, the first being a smaller single level studio unit, while the other three are matching larger double storey two bedroom units. These three step towards the driveway, allowing easy access to undercover parking, and increasingly larger courtyard gardens. While they do not have the geometry or oriental repose of the main house, they include distinctive features such as the angled carport walls, small slatted balconies, and a double height main space, with double storey window wall facing the courtyard gardens. [2]
Significance
The complete focus on the internal courtyard, creates an inward looking, almost eastern character. This oriental influence continues to the external design, with strong solid walls, topped by projecting eaves floating above the highlight windows, and a single central large door with oversized knocker. The original planting of the courtyard with persimmon and bamboo also displays an eastern influence. [1]
The house is one of series by Roy Grounds built in the same year that explored pure geometric shapes; this house was square, the Henty House in Frankston was circular, while the Leyser House in Kew was an elevated triangle. [3]
The Roy Grounds House is one of the most well known Mid Century Modernist houses in Melbourne. It received the only award granted in 1954, the Victorian Architecture Medal, which in turn was the only award granted between the awards ceasing in 1942 and restarting in 1964. in 1989 it was one of about 30 houses representing the range of Victorian house styles that were featured as models in the exhibition 'Home Sweet Home: Changes in Victorian Domestic Architecture, 1839-1989' staged by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and the Museum of Victoria in 1989. [4] In 2001 it was added to the Victorian Heritage Register. [1] The house is considered a prototype for Grounds' design for the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in 1959, which also features a rectangular masonry volume, central door, highlight windows with a floating roof, and central courtyards. Since the mid-2000s the house has been rediscovered and elements restored, and is a widely known and celebrated, with owners passionate about its significance. [5]
The Grounds house and flats is considered to be of architectural significance to the State of Victoria, with the Heritage Council Victoria describing it "... of architectural significance as one of the most celebrated works of modernist domestic architecture of the mid 20th century in Victoria. The perfectly square plan, with a circular courtyard at its centre, is a striking essay in pure geometry, a hallmark of Ground's work, and one of the best examples of experimentation with geometry in the work of post war avant-garde architects in Victoria." [6]
The Queen Anne style of British architecture refers to either the English Baroque architecture of the time of Queen Anne or the British Queen Anne Revival form that became popular during the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century. In other English-speaking parts of the world, New World Queen Anne Revival architecture embodies entirely different styles.
Sir Roy Burman Grounds was an Australian architect. His early work included buildings influenced by the Moderne movement of the 1930s, and his later buildings of the 1950s and 1960s, such as the National Gallery of Victoria and the adjacent Victorian Arts Centre, cemented his legacy as a leader in Australian architecture.
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.
Neil Clerehan was an Australian architect and architectural writer.
Frederick Romberg,, , was a Swiss-trained architect who migrated to Australia in 1938, and became a leading figure in the development of Modernism in his adopted city.
Seabrook and Fildes was an Australian architecture practice in Melbourne, Victoria that played a significant role in the introduction of modernist architecture that first occurred in the 1930s. They are most well known for the Dutch modernist inspired Mac.Robertson Girls High School, designed by Norman Seabrook in 1933.
McGlashan Everist is an Australian architectural practice founded in 1955 by David McGlashan and Neil Everist. Their designs are characterised by low-spread houses with flat roofs and walls of tall, timber framed windows. Although their last project under the original two architects was completed in 1976, the firm continues to flourish in the educational sector and merged with a larger international practice in 2022, and is now known as PMDL-McGlashan Everist (PMDL-MEA). The firm continues to offer architectural and planning services in Geelong and throughout Australia.
The Brunswick Fire Station and Flats, located at 24 Blyth Street, Brunswick, Victoria, Australia, was constructed in 1937–1938. Designed by Seabrook and Fildes, it was the first fire station commissioned by the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade to embrace a Modernist ideology.
The Cardinal Knox Centre is a noted Modernist church administration centre located adjacent to St Patrick's Cathedral, at 383 Albert Street, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was commissioned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in 1968, and the architects were Yuncken Freeman, lead architect, Roy Simpson. It replaced the 1855 bluestone Saint Patrick’s College, controversially demolished in 1971, leaving a single bluestone tower as a preserved fragment.
House at Caulfield, is a family home situated at 450 Dandenong Road in Caulfield North, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, designed by Anatol Kagan in 1956 for Polish-Jewish emigre Leo Lind and his wife Dorothy. Born in Russian on October 4, 1913 Anatol Kagan's career as an architect spanned over seven decades until his death on July 2, 2009. He was actively involved in the field of design, as well as a writer, translator, lecturer and political activist. The house is an important work of its period demonstrating the Modernist architectural movement of Melbourne during the mid 20th Century, and in 2018 was added to the Victorian Heritage Register. Kagan was also influenced by the works of his local contemporaries, Roy Grounds, Frederick Romberg and Robin Boyd.
The John Medley Building is at Kernot Road, The University of Melbourne, Parkville Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The building was designed by Sir Roy Burman Grounds. It was constructed between 1969 and 1971, and was built to relieve the cramped conditions of the campus Old Arts Building, which was built from 1919 to 1924, and to house the larger departments of the university's faculty office.
Dr Ernest Fooks was an influential European-trained architect who made a significant contribution to architecture, town planning, and design education in Australia and to the cultural life of Melbourne after emigrating to the city just before the Second World War.
Geoffrey Harley Mewton (1905–1998) was an Australian architect and leading proponent of modern architecture in Melbourne during the 1930s. He is best known for the Woy Woy flats at Elwood, Victoria, amongst the first flat blocks in Melbourne to show the influence of the European Modern movement.
Mary Turner Shaw (1906–1990) was an Australian architect. She was born in Caulfield, Melbourne, Australia and is one of the first women to be employed as an architect in the early 1930s in Australia and thus pioneered new pathways for female architects. Her career is widely known for her working qualities that made her oversee many projects across Australia. She also became a distinct figure as an architectural historian, when she started publishing books and written articles. Her skills were diverse as she worked as a fashion designer, interior designer, project manager, public works architect and pioneer architectural librarian. As historian Geoffrey Serle described her, she was "a born writer and research historian with imagination, the ability to tell a story and define and ask fundamental questions".
Rae Edwin Featherstone (1907-1987) was an Australian architect best known for serving as staff architect at Melbourne University. His early work with the firm Oakley & Parkes influenced his later stylistic approach, which was firmly rooted in an early modernist style. He worked for Harry Stuart Goodhart-Rendel in Europe as Chief Assistant, after which he returned to Australia, working for Stephenson & Turner, and retaining the right to practice on his own. His work on the house Blue Peter (1956) won him national recognition when it was published in the book Best Houses in Australia. He was then appointed his position of senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne, finally achieving the position of staff architect. He later consulted for the Australian University Commission.
Guilford Marsh Bell was an Australian architect active following from World War II until his death in 1992. During his early studies Bell travelled extensively, drawing influences that were later reflected for his projects. Bell worked prolifically both individually and in various partnerships, allowing him to produce many architectural works. Uncommonly, Bell contributed to local and interstate projects including homesteads, pavilions, suburban houses, large commercial and industrial establishments. Bell died in Melbourne in 1992. His latest practice continues under the directorship of Graham Fisher.
Ermin Smrekar (FAIA) was an Italian born Australian architect who practiced in Melbourne, Australia from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is known for designing outside the mainstream of Australian architecture in the period, his individual approach drew from organic architecture, angular and circular geometries, as well as historical sources, to create sometimes bold sculptural forms.
Penders is a heritage-listed holiday retreat at Haighs Road, Tanja, Bega Valley Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Roy Grounds and built from 1964 to 1980 by Hamish Ramsay and other local builders. It is also known as Grounds and Myer Holiday Retreat, the "Barn" and Myers House. The property is owned by Office of Environment and Heritage. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 29 November 2013.
Simpson-Lee House I is a heritage-listed residence located at 23 Roland Avenue, in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga in the Ku-ring-gai Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Arthur Baldwinson and built from 1958 to 1962 by George M. Koch. It is also known as Simpson Lee House. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 27 November 2009.
Marcus Martin (1893–1981) was an Australian architect. He was an associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, fellow of Royal Institute of Architects, and honorary secretary to the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects.
