John Wardle Architects restores and extends forgotten Tasmanian cottage

Australian studio John Wardle Architects has restored an original weatherboard cottage in a remote bay on Bruny Island in Tasmania. The 320-square-metre cottage dates back to the 1840s when it was built by its namesake, Captain Kelly – a harbourmaster who was noted for his voyage around Tasmania in a whaleboat and for being the first Australian to enter the Antarctic Circle in 1832. John Wardle Architects has restored the dilapidated Georgian dwelling to its original condition, while also adding contemporary interventions to the interiors to bring them up to date. The finished result earned the firm a place on the shortlist in the House interior category of 2018 Dezeen Awards. The architects used original diaries, and detailed logbooks, to discover that the house might have been built during the whaling off-season for Kelly and his daughter to live in.