It Takes a Village – West Bend House by MRTN Architects

MRTN Architects brings a strong narrative and a deeply personal approach to West Bend House, a warm and welcoming family home set on a historic site in leafy Westgarth in Melbourne’s inner north. Holding functionality and materiality in equal regard, West Bend House is a place where life can unfold for years to come.

The home is situated on a long, narrow block on the banks of the west bend of the Merri Creek. The original house was built in the 1850s and has the distinction of being the first house in Northcote. Antony Martin, Director of MRTN Architects, explains that “the site was subject to a heritage overlay and while the existing house was not contributory – meaning it could be demolished – the design needed to respond to the heritage character found in the street.” As such, for the street-facing aspect of the building, he drew significantly from the architecture of the original house.

The interior, created in collaboration with Brave New Eco, is a series of relaxed spaces that permeate benevolence and ease; it is as if each room is aware of the function it must perform and is indeed ready to do so but not in any great hurry.

Antony’s relationship with his clients predated the project. Having designed a holiday house for the family in Venus Bay and subsequently forming a close friendship – with the happy coincidence of having children of the same age – Antony began West Bend House with a deep understanding of who his clients were and how they carried out their lives. “West Bend is home to a very creative and dynamic family of five. My clients often work from home, even before that was necessary, and the kids are all teenagers that require their own independence while still living under their parents’ roof.”

Even with an already established sense of understanding and trust, both personally and professionally, Antony’s process was no less rigorous. Much time was spent in the pre-design phase, contemplating the family’s present and future lifestyle. From here, a narrative concept emerged. “We approached the design from the perspective that when you have a family of five, and when the kids are a bit older and more independent, the family unit becomes one of five individuals with all the various friendship groups and interactions that come along with that,” Antony recalls. “When thinking about this, the home is more like a village and has a life like a village. There is the normal day-to-day, but then there are festivals and parties and town hall meetings when everyone comes together.”

Functionally, the home offers areas to converse and create together as well as personal spaces to retreat into.

The house is configured along the narrow site, with a pathway that runs “from street to garden with a cluster of buildings, each with their own identity, strung along the circulation path,” Antony describes. A second façade flanks the side of the house that opens onto a north-facing, internal courtyard. At the back end of the house, a lawn and pool area give way to a large, meandering garden. Looking out across the slope of this garden, mature treetops signal the creek just beyond. This assortment of spaces sits ready to be used in an assortment of ways – and so, with construction by Lew Building and landscaping by SBLA Studio, a village was realised.

Functionally, the home offers areas to converse and create https://lewbuilding.com.au/together as well as personal spaces to retreat into. “Sometimes the village encompasses rooms, corridors and courtyard, and sometimes everyone is shut away in their own areas,” says Antony. Multiple outdoor spaces expand upon this notion, as settings for spontaneous gatherings or a solitary wander. While the layout of West Bend House supports the ebbs and flows of village life, the tangible experience of the home is just as important. Materiality plays a big part in asserting the identity of the project. Antony explains that “materials are very important in our homes, we really rely on them to create character and warmth for a home and also to give them an individuality and timeless appeal.” The interior, created in collaboration with Brave New Eco, is a series of relaxed spaces that permeate benevolence and ease; it is as if each room is aware of the function it must perform and is indeed ready to do so but not in any great hurry. Materials hum quietly together and light falls softly until such time.

Strategic material choices extend beyond the experiential. Warm timber finishes are consistent in the cabinetry, ceiling beams, stairs and exterior cladding of the house. This serves as a thread running throughout the project, whilst Antony notes using “material choices to differentiate active spaces of the house from more quiet and secluded areas.” Soft textiles and shadowy corners in cool blues, greys, greens and pinks imbue the lounge, bedrooms and bathrooms with tranquillity. Conversely, lively colours – an earthy terracotta and fresh eucalypt green – are tiled throughout the open kitchen. Similarly vibrant are the warm red bricks of an interior stairway, the paving of which continues out to the north-facing courtyard, meeting the dappled reds and browns of the exterior brick walls. Here, materials have been used to blur the distinction between outside and inside, leading to a condition “where the garden slips beside and through the house before spilling out the backyard,” Antony describes.

West Bend House represents history, locality and human relationships. The home narrates the multifaceted needs of its unique occupants and provides ample opportunity to delight in the simple and sublime everyday moments. For Antony, whose connection to West Bend House will undoubtedly be ongoing, “the house epitomises what architecture can bring to the design of a home. That, by understanding clients’ needs coupled with experience of how spaces can accommodate the way we live, our homes can be designed to not only provide shelter but also a stage for our lives.”