Houzz Tours
Sustainable Homes
Houzz Tour: A Pioneering Passive House in Australia
This tree-change home demonstrates how sustainable architecture works beautifully in conjunction with biophilic design
“The owners wanted a tree-change and a home that was ‘just enough’ in terms of size,” says Talina Edwards, director of Talina Edwards Architecture. “It also needed to be comfortable, sustainable, functional, flexible, healthy and beautiful.”
The client got all they asked for plus more, with the house being a blend of biophilic design and meeting international Passive House standards of construction. “In this aspect, it really is a pioneer project for Passive House homes in Australia,” says Edwards. Officially certified in December 2019, this house was the fifth certified Passive House single-detached home in Victoria, and only the tenth Passive House single-detached home in Australia.
The client got all they asked for plus more, with the house being a blend of biophilic design and meeting international Passive House standards of construction. “In this aspect, it really is a pioneer project for Passive House homes in Australia,” says Edwards. Officially certified in December 2019, this house was the fifth certified Passive House single-detached home in Victoria, and only the tenth Passive House single-detached home in Australia.
The house is orientated slightly northwest and comprises three pavilions. The kitchen, dining and living area as well as the laundry and mudroom are in the centre pavilion. The master bedroom, bathroom, walk-in-wardrobe and sitting room are in the western pavilion. And two guest bedrooms and a bathroom are in the eastern pavilion.
Covered links and a courtyard connect the pavilions, and all rooms and spaces are designed to be flexible and adaptable so they can be used in multiple ways.
Edwards and the client used Houzz early in the process to search for design inspiration.
Covered links and a courtyard connect the pavilions, and all rooms and spaces are designed to be flexible and adaptable so they can be used in multiple ways.
Edwards and the client used Houzz early in the process to search for design inspiration.
The form of the house evokes a cluster of farming sheds or bird houses sitting amid native woodland. It is also reminiscent of a Scottish village where the owners previously lived.
Thinking of renovating? Find an architect near you on Houzz for beautiful and sustainable home design
Thinking of renovating? Find an architect near you on Houzz for beautiful and sustainable home design
The gabled roofs are stretched out and folded along the western side to shelter each pavilion from the afternoon summer sun. External blinds and deciduous planting also help provide shade at different times of the day and year.
The material palette consists of natural, healthy, durable and sustainably sourced materials. These relate to the Australian landscape and minimise embodied energy and maintenance. The pavilions are clad in radial-sawn timber and grey corrugated steel. “This softens the overall feel of the home and creates a connection to the surrounding bushland,” says Edwards. The timber will grey off with time and blend into the natural environment.
The material palette consists of natural, healthy, durable and sustainably sourced materials. These relate to the Australian landscape and minimise embodied energy and maintenance. The pavilions are clad in radial-sawn timber and grey corrugated steel. “This softens the overall feel of the home and creates a connection to the surrounding bushland,” says Edwards. The timber will grey off with time and blend into the natural environment.
Composite window frames are aluminium-clad timber, which is timber on the interior frame and aluminium on the exterior. “Once again, this is for maintenance-free design,” says Lee.
Colorbond corrugated cladding in Wallaby colour: Stramit; silvertop ash shiplap wall cladding: Radial Timber Sales; Unilux timber-aluminium composite window frames: imported by Stuart McKenzie Hall
Colorbond corrugated cladding in Wallaby colour: Stramit; silvertop ash shiplap wall cladding: Radial Timber Sales; Unilux timber-aluminium composite window frames: imported by Stuart McKenzie Hall
While the structure of the house is built to Passive House standards to optimise thermal comfort, the biophilic design of the interior enriches the wellbeing of the occupants.
Biophilic design aims to create more opportunities for people to connect with nature in simple and subtle ways, having benefits for physical, mental and emotional health. By introducing natural light, plants, views of nature and materials and colours derived from the natural world, biophilic design helps reduce stress, foster relaxation and improve productivity.
Edwards designed the interior to receive plenty of natural light. It also features natural materials and generous visual and physical connections to the outdoors to create a healthy home environment.
Biophilic design aims to create more opportunities for people to connect with nature in simple and subtle ways, having benefits for physical, mental and emotional health. By introducing natural light, plants, views of nature and materials and colours derived from the natural world, biophilic design helps reduce stress, foster relaxation and improve productivity.
Edwards designed the interior to receive plenty of natural light. It also features natural materials and generous visual and physical connections to the outdoors to create a healthy home environment.
The kitchen sits at the rear of the central pavilion where it has a view across the dining room to the outdoors, as well as receiving light from a south-facing window.
It has matt-grey cabinetry with a Shaker-style profile, locally sourced blackbutt-timber benchtops and a large country-style ceramic sink. The range hood is a recirculating unit with a charcoal filter.
Joinery: GT Cabinets
Joinery: GT Cabinets
The owners’ furnishings and artworks collected throughout their lives add personality and character to their new home.
The winter sun provides passive heating to the open-plan dining and living area where the vaulted ceiling creates a greater sense of space and light. External venetian blinds on the windows provide privacy and block the sun when needed in summer.
Windows are triple-glazed with an external pane of six-millimetre toughed glass. This meets Passive House standards and exceeds BAL (Bushfire Attack Level) 29 requirements.
These windows are used throughout the home no matter the aspect. “Orientation doesn’t change the glazing requirements. We always want the best-performing windows in a Passive House as these are the weakest areas for insulation,” says Lee.
These windows are used throughout the home no matter the aspect. “Orientation doesn’t change the glazing requirements. We always want the best-performing windows in a Passive House as these are the weakest areas for insulation,” says Lee.
The combined laundry and mud room is near the entrance of the house and is used for coats and shoes. The laundry has built-in cupboards and a blackbutt benchtop, and the heat-recovery ventilation system is located in a cupboard here too.
The internal ‘linkways’ are most than just passages between the pavilions. Pictured here, the linkway to the guest bedrooms in the eastern pavilion houses the front door and a place to sit.
The linkway to the western pavilion has a back door and includes a small study nook.
The owners’ bedroom is located in the southwest corner of the house with a view out to a billabong at the side of the block. Kathleen Murphy Landscape Design created the billabong to attract ducks and local wildlife.
The master bathroom has a freestanding bath, though otherwise both bathrooms have the same fixtures and finishes, including a blackbutt-timber vanity.
In addition to providing a comfortable, functional, flexible and healthy home for the client, the house has been awarded for its sustainability credentials. It raises the standard in sustainable architecture and construction, and demonstrates how Passive House standards can work beautifully in conjunction with biophilic design.
Bathroom vanities: GT Cabinets
Bathroom vanities: GT Cabinets
Your turn
What’s your favourite feature in this home? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the renovation conversation.
More
Love great design? Get another dose here with this Houzz Tour: A Love of Art and Design in Every Detail of This Home
What’s your favourite feature in this home? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the renovation conversation.
More
Love great design? Get another dose here with this Houzz Tour: A Love of Art and Design in Every Detail of This Home
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their dog, Brody
Location: Trentham, Victoria
Size: 200 square metres with three bedrooms and two bathrooms
Architecture and design: Talina Edwards Architecture
Construction: Craftsmen Quality Builders
Passive House Consultant: Luc Plowman, Detail Green
Passive House Certifier: Clare Parry, Grün Consulting
Structural Engineers: RMG
The house is located on a sloping site in Trentham, Victoria, where it is surrounded by farming land and bush. At an altitude of 700 metres above sea level, the house endures extremes in weather, from snow in winter to 40-degree temperatures in summer.
“For the new home to be climate-responsive, comfortable, sustainable and energy-efficient, we made the decision to design and construct the home to meet international Passive House standards. This cutting-edge approach to high-performance homes is still new in Australia,” says Edwards.
The design team collaborated closely with Craftsmen Quality Builders to achieve the Passive House standards of construction. The main objective of a Passive House is thermal comfort in any climate. These stable indoor temperatures, as well as a healthy indoor environment and low running costs, are achieved through five principles:
“Solar orientation is also important for solar gains in winter and appropriate shading in summer,” says Stuart Lee, director of Craftsmen Quality Builders.