Petersen D71 bricks and granite create a quiet distinction to a classical home in Mount Martha
Updated: 9 hours ago
This newly completed extension in Mount Martha is an evolution and renewal designed by retired architect Bruce Trethowan. This project just happens to be Bruce’s family home, one that he intends to live in and enjoy for some time to come. So, as you would expect, the attention to detail, material choice and execution are outstanding.
The original house, designed around 1980 by renowned architect Neil Clerehan, was classical with great bones but as Bruce explains, it was old and outdated, and had lost its relationship with the most beautiful part of the property:
“The house was facing the principal section of the garden, but you couldn’t see into it. There was this non-entity of windows. That’s why we put that façade on, so we could create living rooms looking out onto the garden. So, it was about turning the house around a bit to face another direction.”
The design extended the house outwards and upwards, adding a study and additional living room while maintaining its existing 4-5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, and making them larger. More importantly, updating the home to contemporary living standards. Bruce wanted to create a clear distinction between old and new yet deliver a result seamlessly blending the two:
“I wanted it to be clear that it wasn’t part of the original house, but it melded, so it wasn’t like a dragon landed on the roof, it was a quiet continuation.”
That balance between distinction and harmony began with the material palette of Petersen bricks, hand cut granite and aluminium.
Rather than replicate the bagged brickwork of the original home, Bruce wanted something more refined and contemporary, opting for exposed, yet smaller bricks, landing immediately on Petersen D71 bricks when he visited Robertson’s Building Products’ Showroom:
“When I walked into Robertson’s, there it all was. The Petersen D71s are fabulous. They were absolutely perfect and just melded in a fabulous way, and we used them inside, too, on the ground floor fireplace.”
The brick detailing is beautiful, with bricks meticulously laid by master bricklayer Peter Engberg: “I wanted the bricks detailed so there were no cut bricks. It was all very resolved, and Peter was great, he is a very experienced bricklayer. I’d just say things to him and didn’t have to say anything else, he knew exactly what he was doing.”
The touch of Golden Dune Granite on the façade is a stunning detail, chosen to align with the original fascia, creating a visual thread between old and new. Hand cut by Rhodes Architectural Stone, Bruce is absolutely thrilled with the stonework:
“The granite picks up the fascia of the original house. I can’t speak highly enough of that stone product. Every piece arrived precisely as I ordered it; it fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. It was also beautifully packed, nothing was damaged, everything was so precise down to the millimetre and nothing went wrong.”
The facade feels handcrafted and calm, the D71 bricks working seamlessly with the colour of the bagged bricks, and the granite picking up the facia of the original house. Slimline external adjustable aluminium louvres shade the west facing rooms, eliminating the need for curtains or air conditioning. In summer, Bruce opens them slightly to cool the house naturally: "You get a draft through the whole house; it cools it down.”
Bruce is ecstatic with his newly configured home, and how comfortably the extension sits with the original house. Mount Martha House is indeed a quiet continuation of the existing classical house while offering a fully renewed contemporary home that will suit Bruce and his family for many years to come.
Architect: Bruce Trethowan
Builder: CENCON Architectural Builder, Gordon Vass
Bricklayer: Peter Engberg
Photographer: Christopher Sanders Photography
