Modern in Melbourne 2

Peter McIntyre

Between 1953 and 1958 Peter & Dione McIntyre designed a series of eight structurally rationalised modular, flexible houses characterised by their timber bow-string truss roof construction. goad suggests that, due to the use of a traditional building material rather than steel cables or concrete experimental construction, these were among McIntyre's most successful applications of experimental structural ideas. " The bowstring-arch house was based on a flexible floor plan roofed by softly arched lightweight timber trusses supported on internal posts at 27 foot centers, with the internal walls designed as panels of a standard size which could be taken away without effecting the structure. The owners were then able not to only change the size of the rooms but also the arrangement of bed and living areas. At 200 pounds per square, this economic system was open-ended, allowing for growth and change within the basic theme of the gently curved timber trusses." - - - " The interest in a repetitive system of house construction had great merit in a time of tight economy, and the McIntyre's clients were invariably young couples who had little money but a desire to extend themselves beyond the builder's hip-roofed vernacular, which was rapidly covering the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. " Goad, P., 'Optimism and Experiment in Melbourne: The early works of Peter McIntyre 1950-1961'.

Typical of the series of bowstring timber truss houses designed by McIntyre during this period is the one illustrated in Banoon Road Eltham (1953). Others include:

Sierakowski House, Bairnsdale (1954)

Hartley House, Kyneton (1955)

Baxter House, Oakleigh (1955)

Kerr House, Templestowe (1955)

Clarkson House, Ringwood (1956)

Pierce House, North Balwyn (1956)

Grant house Beaumaris (1956)