Mid-Century Inspired – Wahroonga House by Tom Mark Henry

As an immersion within context, Wahroonga House captures the spirit of the mid-century movement through colour, materiality and tone. Tom Mark Henry draws on a freshly contrasting approach, taking cues from the saturated palettes of Palm Springs to create a unique home that connects to its owners through an expression of character.

Within its setting north of Sydney, the home of the same name sits in Wahroonga in close proximity to one of Harry Seidler’s most renowned homes, the Rose Seidler House. The area became concentrated as a residential zone in the 1950s and, as a result, many of the homes were in essence inspired by modernism. As a nod to this history, Wahroonga House embraces a series of unique sensibilities that aid in defining the home as its own unique and character-rich series of space that connect to its owners. Tom Mark Henry combines a refreshing tonality with refined details and a contemporary relevance in curating a home that connects to its origins.

Tom Mark Henry combines a refreshing tonality with refined details and a contemporary relevance in curating a home that connects to its origins.

The deeply saturated palette and contrasting features between select materiality offer an uplifting take on the family home of today. Establishing its own language and relationship with colour, the resulting home combines a boldness with a matched confidence in its use of finish, materiality and texture. Injections of round and enveloping organic forms and curves add energetic gestures throughout, while motioning at the unexpected. Connected to a mid-century spirit in many ways, the palette draws heavily from the surrounding bushland and the combination of colours adjacent the site and brings them inward in different ways. Gold and brown hues combine with warm timber and wattle accents as well as varying saturations of green to create a unique combination of earth-based tones.

An openness connects the interior with the surrounding landscape area and through large-spanning glazed elements, the visual connection acts as an important extension of the site. The principles of shared living, dining and cooking are maintained and celebrated through planning and an orientation of key functions internally. Painting the existing elements white ensures they act as the base foundation from which the other layers add richness and texture. The original internal and external pavers are continued, passing over the threshold of the building edge and encouraging a co-habitation of space.

Gold and brown hues combine with warm timber and wattle accents as well as varying saturations of green to create a unique combination of earth-based tones.

Wahroonga House conjures a unique residential experience through a refreshing, non-traditional approach. In referencing the home’s origins, Tom Mark Henry re-invigorates the principles at the centre of the previous home and activates a contemporary modernity that connects to the current home and expectations for living.