Melling took an interest in art and poetry at a young age before choosing architecture as a creative outlet and a way to make a living.
He left school at 16 to work in an architect's office as a cadet and attended night classes at Liverpool Technical Institute.
[citation needed] He experimented which various techniques, including efficient planning, incorporation of recycled materials, "low-tech" timber construction systems, and reduction in scale.
[4] "Thorndon Clinic", in Wellington's New Buildings, David Kernohan Victoria University Press, 1989 "The Music Box", in World Architecture A Critical Mosaic 1900 -2000 Vol.10 Southeast Asia and Oceania Springer Weinn, New York City, 1999 "The Samurai House" and "Skybox", in at Home: A Century Of New Zealand Design, Douglas Lloyd Jenkins Godwit/Random House, 2004 "The Music Box" and "Skybox", in Exquisite Apart, ed.
[citation needed] b.1943, Bumper Books, 1999 Postcards from the Coast, Thumbprint Press, 1992 Illustrated Poetry, Satyrday Publications,1968 His poems appeared in Landfall, Islands, Sport, Takahe, the Listener, and elsewhere.