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The life and enduring influence of John Wardle

John Wardle is an award winning Australian architect based in Melbourne who has had a huge influence on modern Australian architectural practices.

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Juliet Taylor

16 Jan 2023 6m read View Author

John Wardle is one of Australia’s most well-known architects. Wardle is the owner and founder of John Wardle Architects, a highly commended architecture practice operating across three different Australian states. The portfolio of John Wardle Architects spans a diverse range of project types including commercial, residential, government, and educational.

John Wardle architects has two Australian studios, one in Sydney and one in Melbourne. He is recognised as one of the best architects Melbourne and JWA is one of the only Melbourne architecture firms with an international outreach. JWA team of more than 100 design professionals is committed to creating spaces that matter, a mission statement which has received global commendation.

Projects by John Wardle Architects are celebrated as creative, innovative, and exploratory. JWA has a special focus on client-architect relationships and will work tirelessly to ensure a client’s creative vision is realised.

John Wardle: Personal life

John Wardle was born just outside of Melbourne in Geelong, 1956. He lived in Geelong for most of his early years, living there throughout his teenage years during the 1970s. His childhood home was a house overlooking the Barwon River, and Wardle has said that his passion for architecture was first ignited when watching the process of his next-door-neighbour’s house being built.

Wardle studied architecture at RMIT, graduating with a bachelors degree in 1981 and returning almost 20 years later to secure his masters. During this time he made a name for himself as an independent practitioner, which lay the groundwork for the development of his own practice. He also successfully authored his own architecture book, This Building Likes Me (available here from Booktopia for $57.25).

John Wardle now lives in Kew, Melbourne with his wife Susan Wardle. Their two-storey house has been shortlisted for multiple design awards over the past decade that they have owned it. The home has been renovated multiple times and is something of a passion project for the Wardles.

As their children – now independent adults – grew and changed, the Wardle residence did too. Since their last kid left the nest, John Wardle reworked the home to repurpose the playroom space into a study room. Read more about the gorgeous John Wardle house and its ever-shifting renovations here.

John Wardle’s portfolio includes some of the most iconic buildings in Australian urban design. Here are just a few of many highlights.

John Wardle architects: The 19 most impressive buildings by John Wardle

19. Monash library

monash library john wardle designed

JWA has overseen a huge revamp of the Monash University’s Caulfield campus in Melbourne, Victoria. The Caulfield library in particular is one of the key projects in this area. JWA turned the raw brick building into an open, light-filled structure while keeping its brutalist roots intact.

18. Westfield Sydney

westfield sydney designed by john wardle

John Wardle beat out many international competitors with their design of this iconic commercial centre in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. Pedestrian bridges of this building join to another John Wardle building, 85 Castlereagh Street, which shows the scope of influence JWA has on Sydney architecture.

17. Flinders Street station

flanders st station reflective john wardle designed

A marvel of modern architecture, this industrialist building mimics the surrounding Yarra riverscape with its flowing curves and reflective service. It is one of Australia’s finest stations to date.

16. Epworth Freemasons

epworth freemasons CBD building east melbourne

The unique design of Epworth Freemasons cancer centre reflects the cutting-edge nature of the health services performed inside. The concept of this building was informed by its East Melbourne surroundings, imbuing the structure with a sense of character and personality.

15. Jeffery Smart

jeffery smart building educational exterior design central courtyard john wardle

Another one of John Wardle’s many ground-breaking educational designs, the Jeffery Smart Building provides an active learning centre with a diverse range of educational facilities such as a library, green common, central courtyard, and many different teaching and learning spaces.

14. Lake Wendouree

lake wendoree private residence pavilions Ballarat John Wardle

This luxurious private residence features a myriad of pavilions, courtyards and gardens that draw inspiration from the civic heart of Ballarat, Lake Wendouree.

13. Northumberland

Northumberland 12 storey office building Collingwood designed by John Wardle

This stunning 12-storey office building and its accompanying 6 storey companion building are planned for Melbourne’s Collingwood suburb.

12. Conservatorium of music

Conservatorium of music University of Sydney proposal Parkville Southbank Ian Porter Centre

Another competition swept by John Ward Architects, this design for the University of Melbourne’s new Conservatorium of Music won $105 million dollars for development. The conservatorium was relocated from its Parkville home to the newly revamped Southbank Ian Potter Centre.

11. Yarra bend

Yarra bend river private house JWA

This private residence is all bout forging a connection with the unpredictable beauty of a harsh Australian riverscape.

10. Freshwater place

freshwater place melbourne CBD

Freshwater place apartment finds its home on the fifty sixth floor of a building in Melbourne’s CBD. It has received multiple commendations for the AIDA and IDEA awards since 2017.

09. Eastern Freeway

passenger foot bridge in Melbourne CBD

This passenger bridge over Melbourne’s busy inner-east freeway provides a bold realignment of what overpass bridges ought to do in modern society; serve a function, yes, but also make a statement.

08. 500 Bourke St

500 bourke st office tower Melbourne CBD JWA renovation

This A Grade office tower located in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD has been given a complete glass and steel transformation by John Wardle Architects since its 1978 construction.

07. Jane foss Russell building

jane foss russell building city road university of sydney camperdown darlington

This building was crucial to uniting the University of Sydney’s Camperdown and Darlington campuses above City Road, with an artful bridge providing easy and safe access to either side. It is attached to another John Wardle design, Usyd’s iconic Sci-Tech library.

06. 271 Spring Street Melbourne

271 spring street melbourne CBD modern and traditional architecture JWA

This major office building on the number one street in Melbourne’s CBD presents a modern spin on traditional architecture.

05. The shearing shed

the shearing shed tasmania john wardle architects

This gorgeous structure accompanies a historic cottage on a working sheep farm in Bruny Island, Tasmania. It has received several prestigious awards including both national and Tasmanian AIA awards.

04. Melbourne School of Design

Melbourne school of design daryl jackson award for educational architecture AIA

Another competition winning design, this proposal for the Melbourne School of Design won the Daryl Jackson award for Educational Architecture at the national AIA awards in 2015.

03. Sydney Tower

sydney tower iconic skyscraper international competition thirty story commercial tower John Wardle architecture

Is there anything so iconic in the expanse of Sydney’s skyscape as the Sydney tower? John Wardle Architects beat out international competitors for the chance to design Sydney’s thirty storey commercial tower.

02. Aurizon Sydney

Aurizon sydney headquarters fortitude valley brisbane JWA

The cutting edge modernist figure of the Aurizon Headquarters carves a space for itself in the busy landscape of Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.

01. Bowral library

bowral library conservatory southern highlands botanic gardens visitors centre secret garden modern architecture farm nature

Also known as Bowral Conservatory, this design won the Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens competition to design the visitors’ centre. Affectionately nicknamed the ‘secret garden,’ this design melds architecture and nature with a beautiful design that mimics the structure of the surrounding trees and gardens.

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