River House [1955]

Designed by Peter McIntyre for himself on a riverside site to Melbourne’s Kew, the River ‘Butterfly’ House stands as one of the more important examples of Australian modernism, injecting playful geometries and colour into a then-predominantly stoic, International Modernist climate. Impulse-purchased by McIntyre for £200 in 1947, the steep site informed a dual-cantilevered design (earning the residence its ‘Butterfly’ moniker), which is triangulated at various scales with varied openness to define circulation, living and entertainment spaces.