Designers at Home | Hamish Guthrie
At interior designer Hamish Guthrie’s East Melbourne home, a light-touch approach has facilitated a certain malleability, allowing the space to evolve with its inhabitants over more than a decade.
Though Hamish Guthrie has spent more than 10 years living in the Victorian-era terrace he renovated for himself and his family, his affinity for East Melbourne and its quiet yet urban quality precedes this home. In fact, he previously rented in the same inner-city suburb for many years, at one point sharing a fence with the property that would eventually become his own.
“We’d been in East Melbourne for about 10 years, and then our first child arrived along with the acquisition of a large dog, and we found we needed more space, but we were wedded to the area,” explains Guthrie. This period also coincided with the inception of Hecker Guthrie, which he co-founded with friend and fellow interior designer Paul Hecker in 2001. “Everything was converging at once,” reflects Guthrie.
The home is located within a tightly held suburb, so when it became available, he jumped. “It required a lot of work – there weren’t even pictures of the interior on the listing – so it was very much a case of ‘use your imagination and bring your toolbox’, but for me it was the opportunity to stay in the area and utilise my skills to turn it into something else.” Guthrie adds, “I’d also never lived in a Victorian, so there was some appeal to the type of house.”
Built in 1888 and adapted in the 1970s, the home had retained its Victorian-era identity, albeit pared back and with less trimmings. For example, the typical double sash windows on the front facade had been replaced with full-height glazing, and the verandah had been enclosed. “It had a much more reduced facade for a Victorian,” says Guthrie. While this type of 1970s intervention of a heritage dwelling is slightly contrary to Hecker Guthrie’s philosophy, he retained these features, considering them “part of the building’s history”.
Reflecting on his design response, Guthrie recalls feeling confident about the initial gestures, describing the process of addressing the layout and re-organising the program within the existing framework as “cathartic and relatively straightforward”. He extended the ground floor at the rear, making space for a light-filled kitchen that opens onto a courtyard, and replaced the bathroom with a powder room situated deeper into the plan. Upstairs, Guthrie retained the three existing bedrooms and a main bathroom, tweaking the plan to make space for an ensuite bathroom and a laundry.
His approach to the materiality and detailing, however, demanded deeper rumination. “You think you should push hard to create something that celebrates everything you know as an interior designer, but on the flip side, you think you should keep it simple and create a more neutral expression that you can layer furniture and artwork on top of.”
The latter rationale prevailed, and Guthrie’s decision to take a minimal approach to the interiors defined by concrete, marble and whitewashed timber floors alongside a palette of mostly grey has proved integral to its longevity. “The restraint has served me well,” he says. Importantly, this neutrality has allowed the home to morph and grow with its inhabitants, acting as a backdrop to collected objects, new pieces of furniture and Guthrie’s growing art collection.
“That investment in the character or personality is something better told through the objects you place in a space,” he says. “You can mix it up or store elements in a cupboard then bring them back out; whereas, when you line a ceiling with a finish, which is sometimes very effective, it can be too prescriptive.” It’s an idea that has influenced his work for clients, where he increasingly prefers employing a lighter touch towards finishes, instead putting more emphasis on how objects are placed within a space.
One of his most treasured pieces is the three-metre-long solid oak e15 Bigfoot table, around which the kitchen orbits. In the absence of an island bench and without an adjoining living room, the table is “the main focus of the space,” says Guthrie. “The kids are always using it while they’re cooking, and at the moment, we have a quilting project spread out. It continually gets used as an extension of the kitchen.”
This is also a space for entertaining and gathering as a family, particularly in the mornings, when they start the day together in the kitchen. “We don’t go into the lounge at all – perhaps only to pat the dog or find a pair of shoes – but there’s the idea that, in the mornings and at nighttime, the kitchen is the hub of the home and there’s a nice, focused experience in that.”
Most of his initial design gestures have remained unchanged, and Guthrie harbours few regrets. Though he admits he could have chosen a different type of carpet for upstairs. “I’m not sure the kids like it. I think it’s too hard,” he says. “You live and learn.” Mostly, though, Guthrie has enjoyed seeing how the home has been shaped by his family over time. “It’s interesting being in the life cycle of the project, where you see the patina of two kids growing up and three dogs who have lived their lives here, and what those things can do to a white wall and a timber floor. But they’re the things that give a home a soul.”
The temptation to design a new space for himself occasionally simmers below the surface, but Guthrie ultimately sees the value in staying put and cherishing this place. “I’m always driven by the idea or the excitement of creating another space that gives me the ability to express a different side of myself and what we’re looking at in practice at that time,” he says. “But then I think, ‘Would I be any happier? Do I actually need it? And do I just consolidate where I am and buy better artwork instead?’”
In the quest for longevity, Guthrie has most certainly succeeded. The home he has created, with its neutral palette and concert of minimal yet deeply considered details, will endure for generations yet, and should the temptation for newness ever arise, the artwork can be swiftly rearranged and the carpets easily re-laid – light touch, big impact, indeed.
Architecture by Jackson Clements Burrows. Interior design by Hecker Guthrie. Build by Danny Rae.
- 项目文案：Millie Thwaites
- 项目摄影：Shannon McGrath
- Portrait by：Michelle Tran
- 转载自：The Local Project
- 图片@The Local Project
- 语言：英语
- 编辑：序赞网
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