A house is the most personal of architectural journeys to embark upon. The team at Wardle enjoys developing a close relationship with our clients, getting to know and understand their ambitions and needs. The design ideas for a new house emerge from this dialogue and from our reading of the site. We are good observers, gathering our thoughts before acting.

Often, we start by conceptually mapping the site – through drawings and models – to understand its topography, its flora and opportunities for views. An aspect may be outward beyond the site borrowing a landscape or seascape to situate the house in its environment. It may also be inwardly focused on a courtyard, a garden to explore. The careful choreography of views is an obsession of our practice, and a defining characteristic of our houses.

We arrange the planning of our houses around patterns of living. In our work there is a desire to understand those patterns that already exist, but also to find the potential for other ways to inhabit space that a new home allows. A house becomes a gallery in miniature at Diamond Bay, a courtyard works as a sun trap protected from southerly busters at Fairhaven, and pavilions in a garden at Lake Wendouree embrace nature.

We enjoy the process of building, and find joy in the craft of construction. Many of our houses are imbued with a strong material quality, creating a very sensory experience for their inhabitants. The skilled craft of joiners, carpenters, bricklayers and steelworkers is revealed in our work. There is delight in discovering a finely worked cabinet handle, or a folded steel fireplace hearth.

In our multi-residential projects we retain these interests in the patterns of living, the choreography of views, and the craft of construction and apply them to a larger commercial scale. We have very strong knowledge and experience in the realm of apartment buildings, and understand the infrastructure they require.