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Eco Houzz Tour: Sustainability Lessons Lived and Learned
An old Melbourne worker's cottage showcases the best new trends in design, technology and sustainability
Leanne and Scott Thompson are passionate about sustainability. The couple has set out to show, through architecture and education, how it’s possible to live well without damaging the planet. They engaged Altereco Design to renovate their 100-year-old worker’s cottage in Yarraville, Melbourne, and created a sustainable home and education space for those who want to learn about leading an environmentally conscious life.
“For years we did our part to live sustainably,” says Leanne. “There was satisfaction in doing the right thing, but ongoing compromise and guilt. You can shop sustainably but have fewer food options and less convenient store locations. You can live in a smaller house, turn off the lights, run the heating and AC less, drive less, and buy less clothing. We saw a similar trend in sustainable housing. Many green homes were focused on efficiency and environmental impact, while ignoring many aspects that have the potential to make a sustainable home desirable to the mainstream.”
“For years we did our part to live sustainably,” says Leanne. “There was satisfaction in doing the right thing, but ongoing compromise and guilt. You can shop sustainably but have fewer food options and less convenient store locations. You can live in a smaller house, turn off the lights, run the heating and AC less, drive less, and buy less clothing. We saw a similar trend in sustainable housing. Many green homes were focused on efficiency and environmental impact, while ignoring many aspects that have the potential to make a sustainable home desirable to the mainstream.”
The 100-square-metre house is configured with south-facing bedrooms at the front, and north-facing living spaces to the rear. The renovation included the addition of the open-plan kitchen, dining and living areas, with a green roof on top, as well as the master bedroom ensuite.
Inspired by green technology and design, the Thompsons are promoting a new understanding of environmentally friendly living that showcases how a sustainable home can excel in style, performance and technology.
“It is a good example of how comfortable and liveable a compact space can be,” says Goodlet. “We enjoyed getting our teeth stuck into a truly green, sustainable design.”
Inspired by green technology and design, the Thompsons are promoting a new understanding of environmentally friendly living that showcases how a sustainable home can excel in style, performance and technology.
“It is a good example of how comfortable and liveable a compact space can be,” says Goodlet. “We enjoyed getting our teeth stuck into a truly green, sustainable design.”
The clients and architect wanted to keep as much of the original structure as possible, including the architectural details, such as the arches and mouldings. A sliding pocket door can be closed to separate the living and sleeping areas.
The hallway provides passive cooling and cross ventilation from the southern front door to the northern back door. Transom windows bring natural light to the front of the house and help purge hot air for natural ventilation.
Yellow stringy bark flooring: Urban Salvage
The hallway provides passive cooling and cross ventilation from the southern front door to the northern back door. Transom windows bring natural light to the front of the house and help purge hot air for natural ventilation.
Yellow stringy bark flooring: Urban Salvage
The rear of the house has a compact and open kitchen, living space and dining area that extends to the courtyard.
When Leanne and Scott bought the house at auction, they unknowingly purchased it from Scott’s grandmother’s carer. As they dismantled the house over the course of a year, they discovered traces of the former owners, including the daughters’ names scratched on the wall.
“It made our desire to retain as much as we could even more important,” says Leanne.
“It made our desire to retain as much as we could even more important,” says Leanne.
“The owners painstakingly removed decayed and dilapidated parts of the house and cleverly identified an opportunity to use the original red brick paving from the backyard as an internal feature wall and an external brick wall,” says Goodlet. The red brick wall provides thermal mass and promotes passive heating, and the insulated concrete slab floor optimises passive solar gain for heating and cooling.
Pandomo FloorPlus cement finish to concrete slab: Concrete Resurfacing Systems
Pandomo FloorPlus cement finish to concrete slab: Concrete Resurfacing Systems
The kitchen has a functional and efficient layout to optimise the small space. Cantilever Interiors made the kitchen using timber joinery, white cabinetry and Eco benchtops by Cosentino, manufactured with 75-percent- recycled glass, mirror, porcelain and earthenware. The refrigerator is intentionally small as Leanne and Scott buy only what they need in an effort to produce little to no waste.
The house is fully electric, with no gas connection. Efficient appliances, such as a dishwasher, washing machine and heat pump, are on electronic timers to take advantage of solar energy.
The timber is local, sustainably sourced and FSC-certified. Timber beams are both a structural and aesthetic feature in the kitchen, and timber joinery provides storage for wine bottles, plants and recipe books.
Vic Ash Glulam timber beams: Australian Sustainable Hardwoods
The timber is local, sustainably sourced and FSC-certified. Timber beams are both a structural and aesthetic feature in the kitchen, and timber joinery provides storage for wine bottles, plants and recipe books.
Vic Ash Glulam timber beams: Australian Sustainable Hardwoods
The oval dining table nestles into the corner of the room with booth seating and north- and west-facing windows. Double glazing is argon-filled with low-e films in Victorian-ash window frames. The Thompsons also implemented technology to make the house as efficient as possible, including programmable and voice-controlled solutions for active heating and cooling:
- A Tivok Heat Pump with a 415-litre storage tank supplies hot water and hydronic heating. “It can hold hot water at 60 degrees for 24 hours, so functions as a battery,” says Leanne. “Timers automatically heat water using solar energy during the day for when we use it at night time.”
- An EcoBee Smart Thermostat with four room sensors controls heating, cooling and fans. It’s automated using geo-location technology and is voice enabled through Alexa Echo.
- Wall radiators with Elgato Eve Thermo smart radiator valves are programmable and voice controlled using Apple HomeKit to allow for automated zoning.
- A Daikin 5kW reverse-cycle smart air conditioning unit uses If This, Then That (IFTTT), a web service that allows smart devices to work with Alexa Echo.
- Haiku L Series smart ceiling fans are programmable using senseME technology and are voice activated using Alexa Echo.
Timber window frames: Steptoes Renovation Supplies
“The clients wanted to maximise opportunities for personal touches and storage,” says Goodlet. The high ceilings and clever joinery allow for storage in surprising locations, such as the bookshelf above the living area.
Clerestory windows above the bookshelf bring in natural light. Brightgreen canister LEDs ensure no gaps in the insulation, and Philips Hue LED smart lighting is used to create ambient evening light.
Brightgreen canister LEDs: Lighting Matters
Clerestory windows above the bookshelf bring in natural light. Brightgreen canister LEDs ensure no gaps in the insulation, and Philips Hue LED smart lighting is used to create ambient evening light.
Brightgreen canister LEDs: Lighting Matters
Sliding glass doors open the living area to the courtyard, a small and private space sufficient for entertaining. The step between the house and decking serves as additional seating.
Eaves on the north-facing windows protect living areas from summer sun and allow for passive solar gain in winter.
Spotted gum decking: Whelan the Warehouse
Eaves on the north-facing windows protect living areas from summer sun and allow for passive solar gain in winter.
Spotted gum decking: Whelan the Warehouse
As an extra step in reducing waste, the Thompsons grow some of their own produce.
A small vegetable garden from the Little Veggie Patch Co is built at the side of the deck.
The rear exterior of the house is clad in robust and economical Zincalume steel for low-level summer heat absorption. A ladder provides access to the green roof.
The green roof helps insulate the building and is a private space with drought-tolerant plants. “The green roof by Fytogreen affords additional outdoor recreation space, reduces stormwater run-off, provides insulation and cooling, attracts biodiversity and provides opportunities for additional food production on site,” says Scott.
Newport Lakes Native Nursery supplied the water-wise plants, which are native to the western plains of Melbourne. Rachio Smart Sprinkler controller offers automated water scheduling using pre-set programs and weather forecasting. It is also voice controlled using Alexa Echo.
Newport Lakes Native Nursery supplied the water-wise plants, which are native to the western plains of Melbourne. Rachio Smart Sprinkler controller offers automated water scheduling using pre-set programs and weather forecasting. It is also voice controlled using Alexa Echo.
There are 14 solar panels on the roof of the original house, and each is 320-watt to provide 4.5kW of power in total. Five panels face west to take advantage of afternoon sun.
“The system exports 2.5MW net solar energy to the community per year – enough to power an average two-bedroom home for six months,” says Scott. Their total monthly utilities cost $45 in December during the peak of summer, and $200 in July, the peak of winter. “Our total annual estimate is $1,300 – a saving of approximately $1,500 to $1,800 per year compared to comparable-sized gas homes,” says Scott.
“The system exports 2.5MW net solar energy to the community per year – enough to power an average two-bedroom home for six months,” says Scott. Their total monthly utilities cost $45 in December during the peak of summer, and $200 in July, the peak of winter. “Our total annual estimate is $1,300 – a saving of approximately $1,500 to $1,800 per year compared to comparable-sized gas homes,” says Scott.
The master bathroom opens onto the garden with the shower and bathtub on a lower level. Recycled-timber rafters are used as a bathroom feature.
The Otis timber and brass shower head by Wood Melbourne conforms to maximum WELS three-star rating at nine litres per minute. A 3,000-litre Melro Slimline water tank is connected to the green roof, garden, toilet and laundry.
Mosey supplied more than 40 indoor plants that have been selected for air filtering to improve indoor air quality and absorb VOCs in the air.
The Otis timber and brass shower head by Wood Melbourne conforms to maximum WELS three-star rating at nine litres per minute. A 3,000-litre Melro Slimline water tank is connected to the green roof, garden, toilet and laundry.
Mosey supplied more than 40 indoor plants that have been selected for air filtering to improve indoor air quality and absorb VOCs in the air.
“We hope this house inspires discussions about the simple but substantial ways that sustainability can improve a home’s liveability, longevity, running costs and architectural value,” says Scott. He and Leanne run informal Q&A sessions in their home about how to build and live sustainably, and offer workshops and consultations on sustainable design and living through their website, Melbourne Vernacular.
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Catch up here with this Houzz Tour: Welcome to the Jungle in Suburban Brisbane
Tell us
What do you love most about this environmentally friendly home? Tell us in the Comments, save the images, like this story and join the conversation.
More
Catch up here with this Houzz Tour: Welcome to the Jungle in Suburban Brisbane
Who lives here: Leanne and Scott Thompson, a business consultant and school teacher, and their 10-month-old daughter, Georgie
Location: Yarraville, Melbourne
Size: 100 square metres; two bedrooms, two bathrooms
Architecture: Altereco Design
Photography: Nikole Ramsay
The Thompsons wanted to maximise the existing footprint of their century-old worker’s cottage. “They preferred to make use of the existing house to meet their needs, rather than have the biggest house they can fit on the block,” says James Goodlet of Altereco Design.
Once planning got underway, Altereco discovered the original house was built more than a metre on neighbouring properties, and could therefore only upgrade the house up to the boundary. “For anything ‘over the boundary’ we could only be seen to do repairs and restoration,” says Goodlet.
The original frontage has been restored to retain the charm of the streetscape, and the original bluestone foundations and paving were reused for all front paving. The bullnose roof over the verandah protects the south-facing windows.