John Wardle | Architect's Home, Melbourne Residential Makeover

Kew Residence is a home that John Wardle has lived with his family for 30 years and recently renovated and represents a project in which each level is further intertwined with decades of life experience. The three important elm trees that occupy the vicinity of the house represent a pivotal period in its history. THE OLDEST TREE IS A RUGGED SCOTTISH ELM TREE, NEAR THE ROAD THAT SMOOTH-BARK DUTCH ELM GREW IN THE 1950S, WHEN ORIGINAL HOUSES WERE BUILT AND GARDENS WERE BUILT.

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“The house represented our family's entire life,” John Wardle explains, recalling how he and wife Susan first discovered the original home, designed by Melbourne architect Horace Tribe, while driving through the site in 1990.

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Going inside, two materials dominate the entire interior: Victorian finishes and Japanese tiles, each with its own meaning. The Victorian finish of most of the space continues with the timber used by the original 1951 house floor, remnants of which remain in the living area.

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At the same time, tiles in bathrooms, dressing rooms and kitchens represent John Wardle's passion for ceramics. His long-term partnership with Japanese manufacturer Inai began decades ago, when he introduced the products through an Australian distributor and began a fruitful creative relationship that went far beyond those between most architects and their most valuable suppliers. Not content with simply learning about the traditional craftsmanship of INAX Inai tiles, he set off on a journey to Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, a town famous for ceramics, where many small family businesses are located, and the streets are lined with shards of ceramic sake bottles.

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Over the years, he worked with Tartarus and Inai artisans to produce custom ceramics for key projects, including Captain Kelly's cottage, the residence at Wardles Farm on Bruny Island, and the Southshore Centre in Newport. These tiles are very important, and the proportions of each space are precisely designed to ensure that no tiles are needed except to satisfy a small part of the ceiling that tilts upwards.

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Likewise, the fine woodwork not only symbolizes the importance of the collection it possesses, but also expresses the drawing process of the design and the tangible means it uses. The end of the shelf forms an edge upward, capturing the bend of the hand that draws the design, while the vertical handle embodies the gesture of grasping the hands, designing and using the two descriptions of the final product in this book.

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Everything here is interconnected, and the house seems to be saying that everything is telling a story. Some of them may be clearly visible to the unwitting observer, others are only known to a person with 30 years of family or who has designed three consecutive iterations, but each can play an important role.

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