![For Nick Clayton. Home mag My Place with Gerald Matthews](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
At home with architect Gerald Matthews. Photo: Nick Clayton.
Homes don’t need to be large, as long as they work for their occupants, and case in point is architect Gerald Matthews’ place.
The managing director of Matthew Architects, a firm that specialises in challenging projects, including commercial and residential design, lives in a compact home.
“I’ve never needed a lot of space, but I couldn’t do without good natural light,” he says.
“The house was built as an ultra-compact two-bedroom unit in the early 1980s. Now that I’ve renovated it, it’s a three-bedroom home with a modest open plan living, kitchen and work space. The kitchen design is based on the old-fashioned idea of a kitchen table that is both preparation bench and dining table.
“The light changes nicely throughout the day. The living space has windows facing three directions, so it always feels nice and bright.”
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![For Nick Clayton. Home mag My Place with Gerald Matthews](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 768 1024"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
At home with architect Gerald Matthews. Photo: Nick Clayton.
At home with architect Gerald Matthews. Photo: Nick Clayton.
AGE 43
WORKLIFE
I’m managing director and senior architect at Matthews Architects, an architecture and interior design firm based on Melbourne St in North Adelaide. We specialise in challenging projects; particularly commercial, education, care and residential design projects.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS/BEST KNOWN FOR …
Matthews Architects is celebrating 45 years of business and growth in 2020, something of which I’m really proud. I’ve been privileged to work across a diverse range of exciting local, national and international projects. Recent highlights include the design of Grant Thornton’s Adelaide head office building on the corner of Frome St and Flinders St, and the Middle School building at St Peter’s College.
I’VE LIVED IN MY HOME FOR …
More than 15 years, apart from a year spent overseas. I’ve renovated it twice now.
MY HOME IS …
Compact. I’ve never needed a lot of space, but I couldn’t do without good natural light. The house was built as an ultra-compact two-bedroom unit in the early 1980s. Now that I’ve renovated it, it’s a three-bedroom home with a modest open plan living, kitchen and work space. The kitchen design is based on the old-fashioned idea of a kitchen table that is both preparation bench and dining table.
At home with architect Gerald Matthews. Photo: Nick Clayton.
I
LIVE WITH …
My partner, Ash, and three rescue cats.
I LOVE MY HOME BECAUSE …
The light changes nicely throughout the day. The living space has windows facing three directions, so it always feels nice and bright.
BUT I STILL NEED TO …
Find a bookcase that I like.
MY DECORATING STYLE IS …
Spartan. I have a lot of blank walls – partly because I like the blank spaces, but also because it takes me a long time to decide what to hang.
RECENT PURCHASE
Most of my recent acquisitions have been plants for the garden. There wasn’t much of a garden six months ago, but it’s coming along nicely now.
I really didn’t want any kind of lawn because I can’t imagine having the spare time to mow it, so instead we planted dichondra. We also have a scattering of herbs. I’ve always been a fan of shade-loving ferns and delicate green things, so there’s a few of those.
At home with architect Gerald Matthews. Photo: Nick Clayton.
At home with architect Gerald Matthews. Photo: Nick Clayton.
I COLLECT …
I wouldn’t say that I collect guitars, but I have ended up owning a few (eight if you count a banjo). None of them are particularly valuable or noteworthy. It’s a sentimental collection, not a serious one.
FAVOURITE PART OF YOUR HOME
My drawing board is probably my favourite spot in the house, which is lucky because I spend a lot of time at it. It’s my go-to place. The work space is my drawing board, which I’m not ashamed to say has a view of the TV and the garden.
HOME FAVOURITES
● Years ago my sister gave me a rusty old sword she found in an antique shop. I think it’s a Norman sword because I once saw one that wasn’t at all rusty in a museum. I like it because my father’s family were Cornish and it reminds me their world once changed because people crossed a short sea carrying such things.
●
I have a bonsai tree that a friend gave me. Somehow it has survived my care for a few years. It’s calming to look at.
●
I keep a small oak muscat barrel. It’s 10 years old now and I top it up occasionally. I don’t drink it much but the blend of random SA muscat additions now tastes a lot like liquid Christmas pudding.
I
N MY GARDEN I HAVE …
Two feijoa trees. I planted one soon after I moved in because when I was a kid I developed a deep love for the fruit. It’s a love-it-or-hate it kind of fruit.
AT WEEKENDS I LIKE TO …
Spend time outdoors with my partner. We’re both so busy during the week that we don’t see enough of each other – or the sun.
At home with architect Gerald Matthews. Photo: Nick Clayton.
At home with architect Gerald Matthews. Photo: Nick Clayton.
MY FIRST CAR WAS …
An old and slightly rusty BMW 318 that had its share of electrical problems. I liked it a lot but it didn’t last long.
I LIKE TO LISTEN TO …
Live music. It’s a different kind of experience listening to a band play live than it is listening to something carefully assembled in a studio. I’ve been a fan of The Dave Matthews Band for quite a few decades now. I was thrilled when they announced they were finally coming back to Australia so I quickly bought tickets and booked a trip to Sydney. The concert and the trip were both obviously cancelled for pandemic-related reasons. I’ve also recently discovered and really like Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose, Damien Jurado and Susanne Sundfør.
AT THE MOMENT I AM READING …
I seem to always be part way through at least three or four books. Right now that includes a Neil Gaiman novel a friend lent me, a romance novel my sister wrote and A Clockwork Orange, because it’s a classic that I’ve never read before.
FAVOURITE BOOK
Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I read it for the first time when I was 16 and I’ve re-read it about every 10 years since then.
CLEAN FREAK OR MESSY BESSIE?
I’m messy, which is why I have dedicated rooms for the mess – to stop it contaminating the peacefulness of the clean rooms.
At home with architect Gerald Matthews. Photo: Nick Clayton.
ON MY WISHLIST IS …
A workshop. When I was younger I spent all my spare time building things and fixing things, and I miss having a dedicated place to do that.
WHEN I’M HOME I LIKE TO COOK …
I love cooking anything I’ve never tried cooking before, but I hate cooking in a rush or just for myself. I’m not good at following recipes. I tend to get halfway through and then convince myself I know better and start adding things.
FAV CAFE/RESTAURANT/ BAR
I like getting brunch at UR Cafe on Melbourne St when I have time. I did get caught up in the small bar phenomenon in Adelaide for a while – I liked that most of them were interesting works of tiny architecture.
FAVOURITE DRINK?
For most of my life I thought I didn’t like whisky, then I discovered that I just didn’t like peated whisky. Now I would say that my favourite drink is either Japanese whisky or anything from Speyside.
FAVOURITE FOOD/DISH TO EAT
I’d do yum cha every day if I could. It’s probably for the best that I can’t.
WHEN I WAS A CHILD I WANTED TO BE …
An actor. Not because I was interested in acting, but because actors seemed to get to learn so many other things as part of their job like horse riding, car racing and sword fighting. That probably gives away what kind of movies I mostly watched as a kid.
At home with architect Gerald Matthews. Photo: Nick Clayton.
At home with architect Gerald Matthews. Photo: Nick Clayton.
FAVOURITE SA HOLIDAY SPOT
The Flinders Ranges. There is something very important about being reminded how many stars there really are in the sky. It’s hard to remember when you live most of your life in a city.
DREAM HOLIDAY DESTINATION
I would love to go diving around the Galápagos Islands some day.
SOMETHING YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS?
Achievement for an architect is a simple goal; it just means creating buildings that last and that make things better. Perhaps it’s because of my thwarted teenage ambitions of being a musician, but I would love more than anything to one day design a music performance space. Adelaide could use a few more good ones too.
At home with architect Gerald Matthews. Photo: Nick Clayton.
MY NEIGHBOURS ARE …
A mystery. Most days I hear more from the birds in the park. It’s a quiet neighbourhood, but we all pass polite greeting terms with each other. It is nice to see how much more human connection there is when things are tough in the world, like they are at the moment.
I COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT …
A guitar. Even though I almost never play in front of other people anymore, when I sit still by myself it is usually with a guitar in my hands.
IF I COULD AFFORD IT I WOULD LIVE …
Just across the street. I like my neighbourhood, so if I moved it would either be very close or it would be the other side of the world.
MY GOAL FOR 2020 IS …
To never take social proximity for granted again. I’m lucky that I get to work with a bunch of amazing people. I hope that before long I can spend time face-to-face with them again. Even though my profession functions remotely quite well, it’s more enjoyable when you get to collaborate in person.
HOME MEANS …
The physical space within, which to find the mental space within, which to have quieter thoughts.