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Roy Grounds' Residence & Flats

Location 24 Hill Street,, TOORAK VIC 3142 - Property No B5047 File Number B5047 Level National

[1/1] B5047 Roy Grounds' Residence &

Statement of Significance

The development at 24 Hill Street Toorak, with a residence designed as his own home by noted architect Roy Grounds (later Sir Roy) and a string of four investment units behind, is architecturally significant at the National level.
The house has architectural significance as one of the most celebrated works of modernist domestic design of the mid 20th century. It is also one of the best designs by Roy Grounds, one of Victoria's most well known and influential modern architects, and was designed as his own home.
The house is considered a little gem. The plan, a perfect square with a circular courtyard at its centre, is a striking essay in pure geometry, a hallmark of Ground's work. With only highlight windows on the external walls, all the rooms focus on the internal courtyard, creating an inward - looking, almost Japanese character. This oriental influence continues to the external design, with strong solid walls, topped by projecting eaves floating above the windows, and a single central large door with oversized knocker. The original planting of the courtyard with persimmon and bamboo also displayed an eastern influence. The flats to the rear are arranged like a curving tail to the main house, stepping back to allow car parking and courtyard gardens. While they do not have the geometry or oriental repose of the main house, they include distinctive features such as the angled carpark walls, small attached slatted balconies, and an internal focus on a double height space, with a tall window wall facing the side gardens. The development was widely praised at the time, and won the 1954 Victorian Architecture Medal.
Roy Grounds was considered one of the most important architects of his generation. He was one of the few architects to work in the modernist idiom before WWII, and in the 1950s was a member of the Grounds Romberg and Boyd partnership, undoubtedly the most important architectural firm of its time. His works in this period explored pure geometry, the other most famous examples being the circular 'Round House' in Frankston, and the domed Academy of Sciences in Canberra. The partnership broke up partly in response to Ground's appointment as sole architect for the National Gallery, considered his master work and a building that employed many of the themes in his own house of 10 years earlier.
Classified: 06/08/2001