With an eye for striking design, Bellarine Springs has adopted many of the architectural design features made famous by America’s most successful Architect Frank Lloyd Wright. We have embraced Wright’s design to create the Community Centre and the homes that reflect some of the most successful design philosophies embodied by his architecture. Lloyd Wright is an appropriate architect for inspiration. He sought to create an American identity with his model ‘Prairie houses’ and later on with his ‘Usonian’ system of housing for the moderate cost middle class society.
‘Prairie Style’ was a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, integration with the landscape, solid construction, craftsmanship, and discipline in the use of ornament. Horizontal lines were thought to evoke and relate to the native prairie landscape.
‘Usonian’ is a term usually referring to a group of approximately sixty middle-income family homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright beginning in 1936 with the Jacobs House. The ‘Usonian Homes’ are typically small, single-story dwellings without a garage or much storage. They are often L-shaped to fit around a garden terrace on unusual and inexpensive sites. They are characterized by native materials; flat roofs and large cantilevered overhangs for passive solar heating and natural cooling; natural lighting with clerestory windows; and radiant-floor heating. A strong visual connection between the interior and exterior spaces is an important characteristic of all Usonian homes. The word carport was coined by Wright to describe an overhang for sheltering a parked vehicle.
This reflects how we have tried to create our individual yet consistent and attractive housing.
In the context of our Community Centre, the styling is most evident in the massive cantilevered roof over our outside terrace, the horizontal banding around that cantilevered roof, the broad eaves, the natural use of timbers in horizontal styles throughout the building, the stonework and the window styles. The joinery is consistent in this style, and the interior decorations only reinforce and strengthen the design queues.
As well as being an attractive way to style buildings, the location of the Community Centre is quite deliberate. It’s centrally located, and enjoys a commanding presence on approach, as well as the best possible views back to Corio Bay and You Yangs. It fits into the site, being clearly distinguished from the houses but complementary to them, adding to their appeal. It’s oriented to get a sense of spaciousness within the overall village.
Wright’s architectural expressions are a way to capture the artistry of his architectural trade that is very relevant here today. We are passionate about the importance of the buildings we create. We have tried to create spaces that for those who experience them are a joy to be in.
We hope you enjoy the replica furniture that we have had custom made to set the tone, and we wish you to enjoy a healthy, stimulated and connected retirement at Bellarine Springs.
