80 Australian House & GardenH&G DESIGN
TOP The form, materials and palette for the
Fairhaven Beach House were guided by the site.
BOTTOM Seen from the entrance, intricate
joinery in Australian hardwood twists and
folds like an origami napkin.“T
he Fairhaven Beach House is
described by John Wardle
Architects as nimble, which was,
I thought, a strange word for a house.
But when I ask John Wardle to explain
his description, it turns out to be
entirely appropriate.
It is built on a remarkable ridge of
land above the Great Ocean Road on
the Victorian coastline and Wardle was
determined to accord with good
planning policy so that when looking at
the house from the road, or the surf
beach below, it would not break the
silhouette of the hillside behind it. “We
had to exercise a great deal of effort as
we pushed and twisted the forms,
contorting volumes, both inserting
down into the earth and pulling up and
across various contours,” says Wardle.
“We distorted the five main chambers
until the house eventually complied
with this important landform that rears
up above the ocean.”
Not only did he tailor the form,
but the palette of materials used for
the house is very much taken from the
indigenous trees, plants, scrub and
orange and yellow fungi found on the
site. Wardle was conscious of creating a
controlled and relevant material mix,
and so chose to clad the building in a
green/grey zinc sheet and to line the
entire interior with blackbutt, an
Australian hardwood. Bolts of colour
reflecting the fungi and the intensity of
the sky are introduced in slices – the
surprise of a bright orange cupboard
interior; a sofa in deep yellow; custom-
made joinery in the bedrooms and en
suite in aqua blue. These jewel-like
flashes are characteristic of Wardle’sSUPERHOUSE
This masterful beach house on the Victorian
coast, by architect John Wardle, has earnt its
place in a wonderful new book. Author Karen
McCartney reveals what makes it special.
PHOTOGRAPHY RICHARD POWERS ❖ STYLING DAVID HARRISON