Captain Kelly’s Cottage

Location: Bruny Island, Tasmania 

Scope: Captain Kelly’s Cottage involves the painstakingly considered restoration of the original weatherboard cottage on a remote bay of Bruny Island, Tasmania.

Captain Kelly built the cottage in the 1830’s. As part of this project, extensive research has been carried out into the history of the cottage, tracking through libraries, original diaries, and detailed logbooks. It is speculated that the various ship hands of Captain Kelly built the house during the whaling off-season. The original cottage consisted of two structures: bedrooms and kitchen, surrounded by a wide verandah. Construction has also involved the painstaking removal of paint layers to reveal the original paint colours which have been revealed in parts and provided inspiration in other areas.

A new living area has been placed between the two existing structures; the kitchen and bedrooms. The original verandah has been a major point of inspiration for the new intervention. The layered soffit and exposed ceiling rafters have been continued in the new entry and living spaces to connect new with old through this language of ceiling layers. In effect, the verandah extends and encapsulates the new works tying new and old together. This is reflected both in plan and section.

Architects: John Wardle Architects https://www.johnwardlearchitec...

Products Used: 1 x Aga eR3 Series 60 Electric                     

1 x Cheminees Philippe Radiante 873 

Awards: Dezeen House Interior of the Year 2018 RIBA Award for International Excellence, Royal Institute of British Architects 2018 Roy Sharrington Smith Award for Heritage Architecture, AIA Tasmania 2017 Alexander North Award for Interior Architecture, AIA Tasmania 2017 Commendation for Heritage, AIA National Architecture Awards 2017