4.17.2020 | DIGS.NET 43
Surface treatments, such as timber lath le exposed to echo traditional techniques, emphasize
authenticity while windows function as apertures, capturing so light that contrasts majestically
with darker corners and illuminates treatments, material and a rich patina.
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stratums of paint and a gabled ceiling installed to add
volume. Evidence of an old bread oven led to the creation
of a new brick oven integrated into the masonry wall.
Cushioned into the leeward side of the cottage, the
north-facing courtyard draws warmth from a new
external "ghost" white-brick chimney set in the location
of the structure's original and previously removed
counterpart. The courtyard is sited around a pair of
striking custodians: existing walnut and mulberry
trees more than a century old. "These two trees are
as powerfully present as this historic cottage that has
been a sentinel on the edge of
a cliff for over 175 years," notes
the firm. A wall of dry stone
blurs the boundaries of cottage's
dual histories while providing
a boundary for the otherwise
open coastal-edge location.
The cottage strikes a human-
centered tone throughout.
Physical interventions, while
nakedly and rigorously useful,
are at the same time aesthetically
pure. Surface treatments, such
as timber lath left exposed to
echo traditional techniques,
emphasize authenticity while
windows function as apertures,
capturing soft light that contrasts
majestically with darker corners
and illuminates treatments,
material and a rich patina.
Together this composition of continuity, craft and new
construction plays up age in a modest, graceful manner.
John Wardle Architects' restoration of Captain Kelly's
Cottage has garnered many honors, not least the 2018
RIBA Award for International Excellence. But for Bruny
Island, beloved of the small, significant Georgian at
its heart, the cottage continues to be a lookout on the
coastline at the entrance of Derwent, where its former
harbormaster is, with the advent of this extraordinary
architectural rethink, still very much on watch.
johnwardlearchitects.com
