Home Pavilion by MRTN Architects is a home centerered both physically and metaphorically around life's important moments; connection, play, growth. The home's mid-century style is inspired by the clients childhood home, an Eichler home in San Francisco. Drawing upon the aesthetic and structural characteristics that defined one half of the coupes upbringing was a driving force in creating a home that highlighted the importance of living spaces, without creating an intercontinental facsimile.
The homeowners are a young family, who had rented in the area for some time, and were looking to establish long-term roots in order to stay close to the local school and friends, with whom they share a vivid social life. Their commitment to their relationships contributed to the layout of the home, which has been designed by MRTN to accommodate large social gatherings. Additionally, the home needed to cater to the changing needs of the family, particularly their young children, with spaces that were adaptable as the children became more independent.
One half of the couple grew up in an Eichler House in San Francisco, and so was drawn to the exploration of formal and spatial qualities that these residences represented, wanting to transfer these design features into their own residence, creating a home that is timeless, despite being so heavily characterised by its period and architectural era. Drawing inspiration from these designs, but also from a desire to celebrate social loving spaces, the kitchen, living and dining rooms are oriented along a clear pavilion building, located on the corner of the suburban site.
The corner block is located on the boundary between Northcote and Fairfield, in a flat and decidedly suburban pocket of the locality. No heritage overlay, large lot sizes (typically over 500m2) and relative vicinity to the city make the neighbourhood popular for those wanting to build new homes or dual occupancy developments. However, the corner plot created a series of challenging design problems, focused primarily on increasing privacy along the two street frontages.
A study of the surrounding neighbourhood identified that the common response to a corner lot was a double-storey volume at the point of intersection; immediately defining a typology MRTN and their clients wished to avoid. The finalised design instead favours two double-storey volumes at the edges of the site, with a single storey structure at the public corner. This design works to reduce visual impact by reducing the footprint of the double volumes, bookending the home the home at the edges rather than in the centre.
The single-level pavilion in the centre of the project grounds the entire design, visually and physically marrying all other elements that connect with it. The home adopts a trabeated design, in line with Eichler homes, consistent across structure, materiality and volume, in order to unify the home in a shared dialogue. This approach also depicts a reverence to materiality and structure, particularly to masonry, concrete and timber elements.
The floorplan is arranged via a series of masonry blade walls which support oversized concrete beams, in turn supporting a series of timber rafters. This exaggerated post-and-lintel approach clearly exemplifies the materiality of the pavilion, provides structure in the floorplan and defines the social spaces in the home. The result is a home that is timeless in aesthetic, and ever-evolving in structure, oriented to maximise both social life and privacy; echoing the merits of Eichler homes that provided nostalgic inspiration for the clients and MRTN Architects.
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PROJECT FEATURES
Architecture: MRTN Architects
Builder: Resicon
