Frankston Mid Century Modern

In 1963, architect and football legend Jack Clarke designed this mid-century modern home for the family of his structural engineer.

The home was designed in the optimistic modern style of the time as advanced by Robin Boyd and The Age’s Small Homes Service, to which Jack Clarke contributed.

MRTN Architects‘ clients purchased the home from the original owners.

Rather than demolish and rebuild, they were keen to preserve a part of this important history.

But this 50 year old home needed lots of attention and updating to create a contemporary family home.

MRTN Architects’ design re-imagined the original home through the lens of the source images that most likely inspired Jack Clarke.

Referencing photographs taken by Julius Shulman of fifties and sixties United States West Coast architecture, MRTN Architects developed a palette appropriate to the time while making only minor changes to the outward appearance of the house.

Although outwardly unchanged, the design extends the size and ceiling heights of the original bedrooms through re-modelling the roof line.

The kitchen and dining spaces were recreated and connected to a new outdoor terrace with pergola over.

The natural clay fired clay tiles, American walnut veneer, and cedar lining boards were selected for their nostalgic connection to the period.

Overall there was only a minor increase in floor area.

An ensuite was added to the main bedroom and the south wall of the bedrooms was pushed out to the line of the original eave.

MRTN Architects’ design lifted the roof to provide greater ceiling heights than the original 2.2m low point in the bedrooms.

They also added an outdoor living terrace to the north with a pergola over.

Almost every surface was updated, replaced, or re-finished in some way.

This included the roofing, the entry tiles, and the ceiling, which was replaced, whilst retaining the expressed joint between ceiling panels.

The design incorporates original features and materials to create an almost seamless result that leaves one wondering where the old has been replaced by the new.

The home is now well-placed, with the new owners optimistic that it will be preserved for many years to come.

Project Details

Project size – 180 m2
Project budget – $600,000
Completion date – 2020
Building levels – 1

Project Team

Architecture

MRTN Architects

MRTN Architects is a design focused architecture and interior design studio located in Melbourne, Australia.

They have a reputation for new and renovated homes that are designed for the people who live there.

www.mrtn.com.au

Landscape Architecture

SBLA

Simone Bliss is a Landscape Architect and Urban Designer based in North Carlton in Melbourne, Australia.

www.sbla.net.au

Photography

Derek Swalwell

Derek is an architectural and editorial photographer from Melbourne, Australia. His name is synonymous with the photographic representation of the architectural landscape in Australia and beyond.

Having crossed the globe numerous times since starting out on his photographic journey over twenty years ago, Derek’s work documents some of the world’s most iconic built environments and visually articulates them in an entirely unique light.

For the past two decades, Derek’s commercial, editorial, fine art and lifestyle images have appeared in such notable design publications as Vogue Living, Habitus and Est Living, and in various international design stalwarts such as Wallpaper and Dezeen. His work resonates in both digital and print form and across numerous platforms ranging from online to large format art prints.

Having held numerous exhibitions of his diverse international collections, Derek’s photographic ensemble depicts a passionate and profound understanding of the technical and creative facets of the photographic profession.

www.derekswalwell.com

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