The Australian Gold Rush began almost simultaneously in 1851 in both New South Wales and Victoria. Bendigo’s first ore was uncovered in that year at Golden Square, now an inner suburb with a range of housing from heritage to contemporary. Ian and Eva Chalmer’s house is definitely at the latter end of the scale, its bold façade standing prominently on a small rise looking towards the city’s remarkable Sacred Heart Cathedral, said to be the last gothic cathedral built.

This is their fourth (or is it fifth?) house designed by John Herniman. The Chalmers’ brief was simple: to capitalise on the views, have a flexible layout, and allow them to extend their living to the outside. “It needed to fit their lifestyle, very casual, very outdoor, very extended family,” says Herniman.
Herniman Group’s Shona McMahon did much of the initial design work, including the internal design, after considerable discussions with the Chalmers, with John Herniman overseeing as principal. “We wanted a house that was very strongly idiosyncratic and expressed Ian and Eva’s views on life,” Shona explains. “They wanted something that was striking and bold.”

The final design is staggered over four levels, with two living areas, a master bedroom and two additional bedrooms that can accommodate guests, visiting family or be turned to another purpose such as office space or a games room. “Externally, setup on a rise, it had to look impressive from a number of directions, so it really needed to be a very threedimensional building,” says John Herniman. “And it’s important with such a large façade that you articulate the volumes, expressing their relationships with materials and textures that wrap around the building,” Shona McMahon adds.
Neither Herniman nor the builder, Steve Bish, had used Austral Bricks Terraçade façade system before. “We just loved the vibrant colour, it fits in really well with the landscape,” says Herniman. Despite it being a new experience, Steve Bish found the Terraçade cladding process to be straightforward.

“Battening of the wall was the only intricate part,” he considers. “You have to get that right and the rest just flows. Putting on the tiles was easy. It’s like anything you do: get it right from the start and
everything works well.” Herniman adds that “it looks great and the level of detail is excellent. It’s this combination of textural elements that give the façade character.”

Their use of Austral Bricks semi-glazed Elements bricks was also a first for both architect and builder. The deep black brick with a silvery sparkle is laid in a flush finished mortar tinted with black oxide. “The brick was a piece of cake,” says Herniman, “and the tiles went up very well too.” Not surprisingly, the Chalmer house won Best Custom Built Home over $350,000 in the HIA Central Victoria Awards for 2007 to the delight of the Ian and Eva Chalmer, Steve Bish and of course John Herniman who says simply of Terraçade “We would be happy to use it again.”

• "We wanted a house that was very strongly idiosyncratic and expressed Ian and Eva’s views on life."
  Architect, Shona McMahon
• “You have to get that right and the rest just flows. Putting on the tiles was easy. It’s like anything you do: get it right from the start and everything works well.”
  Architect, John Herniman