Cowra, Australia
Cowra Japanese Garden has unveiled the newly restored roof on its Cultural Centre and Café in January, 2019.
The roof replacement on the 1,000 sqm building utilised sekisyu tiles, traditional hand-glazed tiles from Shimane Prefecture in Western Japan. The use of sekisyu tiles, a staple of Edo Period (1603-1868) architecture, preserves the integrity of the Edo style architecture of the Cultural Centre and Café.
At Simply Native, in cooperation with the Sekisyu Tile Manufacturing Association (STMA) in Japan, we are proud to supply the traditional Japanese tiles.
Cowra Japanese Garden & Cultural Centre’s Chairman Bob Griffiths shares, “It is very important to us to maintain the integrity of the Garden by adhering strictly to Edo period design principles. It is for this reason that we wished to use authentic Japanese clay tiles.” According to Griffiths, the competitively-priced tiles also allowed for room in the project budget to reinforce the roof structure.
The Chairman of Sekisyu Tile Manufacturing Association (STMA), Hironori Kimura shares, “When Mr. Griffiths told us that his dream was to install Japanese traditional roof tiles for the Cowra Japanese Garden, we were delighted to do our part for Cowra. For us, it is an honour to know that our first export to Australia was to a place of friendship between Australia and Japan.”
The roof restoration project is also supported by the Embassy of Japan in Australia and the Office of the Consulate-General of Japan in Sydney.
At Simply Native, we understood the importance of Cowra Japanese Garden as a symbol of friendship between Japan and Australia. We recommended traditional roof tiles that will protect the buildings for centuries. We provided video and hands-on training to the local builders and supervised the installation to ensure it was completed safely.
Builder: Lance Ward Roof Tiling and Charlton Construction
ABOUT THE COWRA JAPANESE GARDEN AND CULTURAL CENTRE
Celebrating its 40th year anniversary this year, Cowra Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre is an important symbol of friendship and goodwill between the Australian and Japanese governments. Opened in 1979, the award-winning garden was designed by Ken Nakajima, with the building project spearheaded by Don Kibbler. The Garden commemorates the Cowra Breakout (1944) and complements the nearby POW Campsite and Japanese War Cemeteries.
ABOUT SEKISYU TILE MANUFACTURING ASSOCIATION (STMA)
STMA consists of six roofing tile manufacturers, including Kamedani Ceramics, in Shimane Prefecture in Western Japan. Using locally collected white clay, Sekisyu tiles are scientifically-proven to be exceptionally resilient with weather durability, including frost and salt damage. The quality of Sekisyu tiles doesn’t require maintenance and will benefit the building economically for long-term.