his refurbishment to an elegant 1920s home marks the first project “of scale,” as Jono Ware puts it, for his recently formed practice, Ware Architects. A composed response to a modest brief, it possesses a grace and restraint that is uncommon to early work by young practices. Situated in Gardenvale, an inner south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, the maisonette is one of two dwellings, both of which front the local high street. The owners, who for a long time lived next door, purchased the property and leased it decades ago to avoid being “built out” by future development. It was a clever move, with increasingly large developments – especially of late – now marching down the street. The purchase was also a prescient one for another, unintended, reason:
