A textured tribute to Anglesea

ARCHITECT John Wardle’s latest project draws its inspiration from Anglesea’s ochre cliffs and rugged coastline.

Externally, the colour and tonality of this landscape is expressed in extruded and hand torn terracotta bricks that have been fired only once, with a glaze applied on the raw material that incorporates the colours of the native flora planted around the home.

Developed with brickmaker Klynton Krause, the resulting rough-hewn texture and burnt earth tones of this invented brickwork sit in harmony with the clifftop landscape on which the property resides.

 

 

“Klynton has been working our architectural practice for many years and is quite accommodating of our ideas to adapt colour, texture and form,” Wardle said.

“This was another level of trust and experimentation.

“The results are craggy and deeply individual bricks. No two are the same.”

Inside, terracotta tiles sourced from Italy and spotted gum timber give the home what Wardle describes as a “simple, textured palette”, further imbuing the space with a deep connection to place.

 

 

Designed as a retreat for Wardle’s family and the generations to come, the home is unlike anything the architect has designed before and replaces a dilapidated beach shack that partially burned down in the Ash Wednesday bushfires.

“We’ve had the house for a number of years, so we understood its strengths and weaknesses; what we wanted for the future,” Wardle said.

“It was about orientating the house to maximise light into the house and views out. We wanted spaces to socialise and spaces for quiet moments.”

An established eucalypt on the north side of the property provided the focal point for the arrangement of the home’s primary living spaces, while the kitchen’s island bench acts as both the literal and figurative heart of the home.

 

 

It is from here that all social activity spills out into living and dining areas on the ground floor.

“For our family, the kitchen is the place to gather – cooking, eating, making plan, socialising – as it is for many of us,” Wardle said.

“It made sense for this to be the centre of the plan and for this space to overlook the outdoor spaces and landscape.

“In warmer weather, we venture out, or back into the home when it’s cooler.

“Either way, the kitchen is never far away.”

 

 

Earlier this year, the project, named Burnt Earth Beach House, was recognised at the Victorian Architecture Awards with accolades in both the interior architecture and residential architecture award categories.

The jury praised the home’s masterful control of craft and detail, and the way light and shadow are carefully shaped and drawn across surfaces to amplify the warm hue of terracotta.

“Burnt Earth House embodies a rich tactility and sentiment steeped in collective storytelling, collaborative, research and experimentation,” the jury said in its citation.

“The home embodies a lifetime of honing formal and spatial language and a delight in drilling into detail.

“Every moment within and around the house is a testament to the enduring practice of architecture and its refinement over time.

“It is a house full of love for its occupants and its markets, and the craft of architecture.”

 

 

Wardle will open the doors of this Anglesea home to the public later this month as part of Geelong Design Week, where he will discuss the design and the stories behind its creation.

For more information, head to wardle.studio