John Wardle: Hand-crafted revival
Architect
Interview by Janne Ryan | Photography by Trevor Mein, Erieta Attali, Chris Crerar, Janne Ryan
On Bruny Island, Tasmania, Captain Kelly’s Cottage and the Shearers’ Quarters by architect John Wardle are exquisitely crafted domestic buildings on a working sheep farm. They are part of a larger legacy project: a ‘village of structures’, a wildlife sanctuary and a touchstone to Tasmania’s heritage. John Wardle talks to Sparkkle about his island opus.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM CAPTAIN KELLY’S COTTAGE?
The most important lesson we learnt was the profound role of research. Investigating the oral histories of Captain Kelly’s Cottage, gave us a rich understanding of the many layers of history in this building, a seaside mariner’s cottage. We also researched original diaries and detailed log books. The other (unforeseen) thing we learnt was that Captain Kelly’s Cottage and our earlier Shearers’ Quarters project – although both very small projects in the global context, have fascinated people everywhere. I think it’s their intensity – the care and skills of the many people engaged in making them.
The Shearers’ Quarters (left) built in 2012, near the Mariner’s Cottage, commenced in the 1830s by Captain John Kelly.
“THE STRUGGLE MOMENTS WERE ALL OF MY MAKING”
WHAT WERE THE STRUGGLE MOMENTS?
The struggle moments were all of my making. For Captain Kelly’s Cottage, we engaged a friend John Matthews (a historian and archaeologist), to investigate the house’s history as the layers were removed by the builders. This slowed down the process enormously and drew us into the harshest Tasmanian winter for many years. John discovered that Captain Kelly’s Cottage was originally built by many hands over time: the captain’s carpenters spent their off-season (when the whales headed left Tasmanian waters), on Bruny Island to build yet another section of the cottage. Responding to those revelations with architectural strategies was challenging and very time consuming. Many were developed on site or on the airplane back to Melbourne on Sunday nights, and are now the joys of the completed house.
Layers of history, old and new, define the rebuilt Captain Kelly’s Cottage.
WHAT WAS THE BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT?
There were several. When specific parts of the original cottage were discovered by John Matthews, and their origins further investigated. The timber sawn in a pit mill of old growth timbers from the property; the bricks fired in a kiln in the creek-bed above the house. Realising how localised the construction was, and how it was laying the foundations of a new colony. Its nails, window frames and staircases were certainly made in England, where the skills of Georgian craftsman were still paramount.
Materials from the old cottage have informed the new work.
Some of the beauty in Captain Kelly’s Cottage is the precision of the new work.
The rebuilt kitchen in Captain Kelly’s Cottage.
WHAT’S YOUR VISION FOR THE FARM, AND WHAT’S NEXT?
The farm is partly funded by producing fine merino wool, but to make it financially sustainable we are looking for new income streams. The next construction will most likely be the large barn which could house all sorts of machinery, but also people and events. A big barn is the next phase in the ‘village of structures’ that I have imagined. First I have to finish renovating our house in Melbourne, then I might give myself a month’s breather.
Ten years in the making, the Shearers’ Quarters by John Wardle architects is lined with shingles cut from stockpiled apple crates and local pine.
IS THIS A BLUEPRINT FOR THE MODERN FARM, OR AN ARCHITECTURAL EXPERIMENT?
It’s very much both. And more. It began with ten years of hard work from our family, friends, and JWA staff. We established a contemporary farming enterprise with strong environmental principles, and care for the natural habitats here. The rare Swift Parrot and Forty Spotted Pardalote have their bushland breeding grounds on the property, which we’ve made a sanctuary-in-perpetuity. We’ve also planted 9,000 trees over the life of the project. I think the way the buildings span social histories, culture and landscapes in this beautiful part of Tasmania add great dimension to the project.
Clay from the farm was used to make pottery bowls and plates.
