Black Rock House Architectural Trail Walk (Beaumaris)

Walk Summary:

Start: 96 Reserve Road, Beaumaris
Distance: 5 kilometres
Walking Time: About 80 minutes
Undulations: The trail path has moderate to occasionally steep undulations

Trail directions:

1. Beaumaris Library
Address: 96 Reserve Rd, Beaumaris
Style: Modernist (original building) Neo Modern (additions)
Architects: Nicholas & Alexander Architects (additions)
Date: 1963, 2005

The new library additions were designed to respect and reflect the forms and landscape character of Beaumaris. The architects, Nicholas and Alexander, wanted to build on past community efforts and not simply discard what was already there. At the entry, freestanding brick piers support a curved canopy structure, which also acts as a transition between the old and the new sections.

The design allows as much natural light as possible to enter the library while not allowing direct sunlight onto the books, and concentrates on sustainability and energy efficiency.

2. Residence
Address: 9 Gray Court, Beaumaris
Style: Environmental Design
Architects: Chancellor & Patrick
Date: 1967

In the 1960s some of the work of Chancellor & Patrick took on the attributes of the emerging Environmental style, such as the brown bricks, brown roof tiles and low overhanging pitched roofs seen here. The detailing, however, was still crisp and modern, as opposed to the rough finishes used by other designers.

Their client base also became wealthier, giving the architects the opportunity to design larger houses such as this. The unassuming street frontage, with its carport and layered roofs, hides a long house facing a built-in pool. Indeed many features of this house developed into something of a standard in the 1970s. The scale of the building also demonstrates the growing popularity of Beaumaris in the 1960s.

3. Residence
Address: 15 Olinda Ave, Beaumaris
Style: Eclectic
Architects: McGann-Carr
Date: 1950s (original house), 2002 (extensive renovation)

Unique, eclectic and fun, this house sits on one of the highest points in Beaumaris. Organic elements such as timber and stone, and inorganic elements, glass and steel, are used in striking contrast, but the overall quality is of an organic architecture. With curves and angles, it nestles among trees and garden decoration.

A wall of frameless glazing leads from the deck into the open living zones. The original 1950s weatherboard house is tucked somewhere within the extensive alterations and additions. This house feels as though it is surrounded by bush and seems to be a well-loved home for a large family.

4. Residence
Address: 1 Olinda Ave, Beaumaris (cnr Bruce St)
Style: Brutalist
Architect: Piotrowski Brand & Partners
Date: 1982-85

This residence was built as architect Andre Piotrowski's first home. Later additions and alterations were designed around the existing silver birch trees (Betula pendula). The basic floor plan of the original house still exists, but the functions of the rooms have changed and an upper level was added in a matching style. The chimney and floors were retained.

The house is built of concrete blockwork with a textured rendered effect, created by dragging a wire brush across the render, Piotrowski explained that the family wanted to use materials that were different for that time. In the early 1980s, the local council asked people to submit creative ideas for the median strips. Piotrowski designed the footpath to deviate from the original plan and paved it in the same patterning as the driveway.

5. Residence
Address: 21 Keating St, Beaumaris (cnr Stawell St)
Style: Contemporary, Post Modern
Architect: McGann-Carr Architects
Date: 2001

This house is nestled on an unusual allotment, and much of its design and layout was dictated by the site. The striking curved roof form pitches to the north, and the large windows are shaded by projecting louvres. The architect, Peter McGann, drew inspiration from English medieval houses of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The house is deceptively large, with five bedrooms tucked into the many split levels.

Contrasting materials, as well as bright colours, heighten the dramatic and distinctive appearance of the house. The timber weatherboards add softness and charm to an otherwise industrial, contemporary design.

Peter McGann, who is also an exhibiting artist, sees this house like a coloured canvas. Along the north side are blades of red glass, which at certain times when the light shines through, align with the floorboards, turning the living area into a giant sundial.

6. Godsell House
Address: 491 Balcombe Rd, Beaumaris
Style: Modernist
Architect: David Godsell
Date: 1960

A number of architects in the 1950s and 1960s were influenced by the work of internationally renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright (who practised from the 1890s until his death in 1959). This house shows the influence of Wright's 'organic' architecture, particularly his smaller 'Usonian' houses of the 1930s to 1950s. Brown brick and unpainted timber predominate. There is a dominating horizontality, such as the unusually wide timber boarding and dramatic cantilevered carport, grounding the house to earth. Overlapping vertical elements such as the brick carport pylons act as a counterpoint to these features.

Perhaps partly inspired by Wright's work of the 1920s, the architect has incorporated an unusual amount of playful detail, through the use of 'toothed' and stepped sections in the brickwork, which can be seen in the gatepost and the delightful finial topping the right-hand carport pylon. David Godsell designed a number of houses in the Beaumaris area, and his son Sean is a noted contemporary architect.

7. Residence
Address: 1 Balcombe Park Ln, Beaumaris
Style: Neo Modern
Architect: Russell Kemp
Date: 2006

Citation - "1 Balcombe Park Lane, which, while low key, apparently durable, timeless and environmentally sensitive, also displays design flair, a high level of site responsiveness, and creativity in its use of colour, materials and natural landscape features. The dwelling also responds well to its surroundings and character of the neighbourhood."

8. Residence
Address: 2 Clonmore St, Beaumaris
Style: Modernist
Architect: Vic L Reynolds
Date: 1963

Built of Mount Gambier limestone and cedar, which contrast each other nicely, this house is designed with a closed but stylish front to the street. The lounge, dining room and four bedrooms open with wide glass doors and windows onto a central courtyard behind, which is paved with bluestone.

It is typical of the 1960s trend in the latest architectural work towards courtyard planning and use of native plantings with its tea tree planted garden beds and bands of high-level windows.

The house sits in harmony with its natural surroundings, and the large windows create a relationship between interior and exterior. The house stayed within the same family until it was sold in 1996.

9. Rendell House
Address: 33 Clonmore St, Beaumaris
Style: Modernist
Architect: Ken Rendell
Date: 1967

The Beaumaris of the 1950s and 1960s is slowly becoming a distant memory as the smaller, carefully planned homes of the past make way for bigger, more dominating structures. However, occasionally a tangible link to the sandy roads and tea-tree lined streets emerges. This house was designed and built by architect Ken Rendell as his family home, and the layout was partly determined by the existing trees on the block. With walls built of concrete blockwork and exposed beams of Californian redwood, this house shows the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian work and American West Coast architecture from the 1950s to 1960s.

Rendell recalls cutting all the timber himself. He wanted to create a space that didn't feel enclosed, and he did this by having lantern windows running under the roofline to be able to look up at the trees and sky beyond. Forty years on, nearly all the original trees still exist, and the relationship between the house and the environment remains strong.

A. Black Rock House
Address: 34 Ebden Avenue, Black Rock
Style: Vernacular
Architect: Clauscen & Becker
Date: c.1856

Named after Black Rock Castle near Dublin, Black Rock House was built as a holiday house for the Hon. Charles Ebden, MLA for Brighton. It was the first house in the area, and gave its name to the suburb. Shortly after it was completed, Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Victoria from 1856 until 1863, lived there for six months.

The house is built with timber stud walls clad in weatherboards between brick double gable end walls, with Hessian-covered boards internally. Very interesting wallpaper depicts a story of indigenous South African children playing (Ebden lived in South Africa for a period). Black Rock House provides an insight into early construction practice. The verandah is carried on unique slender cast-iron columns and the front door has a classically inspired surround. The stables to the rear of the property are elaborate in their fortified appearance and are built of local ironstone; there are legends that tunnels run under the property. The house was bought by the Sandringham Council in 1979 to prevent demolition. It was restored, and is now owned by the Bayside City Council. The grounds are open to the public.

B. Residence
Address: 344 Beach Road, Black Rock
Style: Late 20th Century Modern
Architect: Holgar & Holgar
Date: 1975

This two-storey house has unusual giant pre-cast concrete balustrades/verandah supports (similar in shape to those on the President's Palace in Brasilia, by Oscar Niemeyer), with the distinctive Modernist features of the flat roof and concealed gutter. The large fascia creates a strong horizontal effect, which is softened by the curves in the concrete elements. Steps lead up to a raised entry where the glazed section creates an open atmosphere. A large balcony to the southern side affords views across the Bay.

Architects Holgar & Holgar, a Polish-born husbandand-wife team of John and Helena Holgar, designed many large mansions in Caulfield and Toorak, including Naliandrah, 3 Glendye Court, Toorak (1967). They designed in a style influenced by Brazilian Architect Oscar Niemeyer (1907-) but their work was considered too 'decorative' to be taken seriously by the architectural establishment. The work of the Holgars was unique, but related to the work of the East European and Jewish emigre architects, who did relatively more decorative work than local architects, and practised generally in the Caulfield and Brighton areas.

C. Muckle Flugga
Address: 2 High St, Beaumaris (cnr White St)
Style: Modernist
Architects: Chancellor & Patrick
Date: 1958

Muckle Flugga takes its name from the lighthouse on the northernmost point of the British Isles.

This three-levelled house is a typical Chancellor & Patrick design with cantilevered sections, flat roofs and wide eaves. These are characteristics of Frank Lloyd Wright's work in the USA, especially his Usonian houses (from 1930s-50s). Like a lookout or lighthouse, the house takes full advantage of its elevated location with large full-width windows on all sides. It is set among a native garden with a stone retaining wall.

During the 1950s, Chancellor & Patrick flourished, building numerous high-quality houses, particularly in the Mornington Peninsula, before extending in the 1960s to the Melbourne suburbs, and non-residential designs such as St Matthew's Anglican Church, Cheltenham (1964).

D. Residence
Address: 1 Ardoyne St, Black Rock
Style: Neo Modern
Architects: BG Architecture
Date: 2005

Solid rectangular boxes stacked like building blocks, each of a different material, create texture and interest in this residence. Rendered concrete blockwork and painted timber boards are the two prominent materials. The formal planting reinforces these interlocking block-like forms.

The punctured second-storey form has recessed windows and a narrow balcony, giving relief to the streetscape of this dominant formal design and also enabling a glimpse of the beach. According to the architect, this was the inspiration for the shape and design. The inset balcony also creates shading from the late summer sun. Common in BG Architecture's designs is the prominent feature of the address as a plaque on the front wall. Signage is often an afterthought to architects, yet
it is an effective component of design and can add significantly to the character and identity of a house.