Johnstone May

Unbuilt work

A home for a couple looking to live sustainably in a cool climate in their retirement, along with many visitors.

To achieve a really comfortable home in a difficult climate, that optimizes the gently sloping site and its views to the distant mountains, within a modest budget.

The house is designed as two connected pavilions that step down the site so that all habitable rooms can have north facing glazing and the interiors can easily be connected to the garden spaces that surround them. Careful thermal modeling allowed us to optimize the incorporation of thermal mass, insulation and extent of windows and doors.

The external materials were chosen for their visual, thermal and maintenance properties. The form of the building responds to functions within, the shape of the site and the orientation of the building.

Caroline Pidcock

Katherine Madden

Marea Orellana

Builder

Gary Sillitoe, Owen + Fiveash and Partners

Structural engineer

Matthew Tierney, Tierney Consulting Engineers

Certifier

Kellie Woods, Procert

Simple and intuitive methods for operating the house

Collaborative team approach

Considerate building approaches

Provision of home office facilities

Food composting facilities

Convenient location of storage space for recycling

Good thermal performance of house - 7 star

Good natural light and ventilation

Good views to the outside

Natural oil finish for timber floors throughout house

Attention to planning and detailing to manage acoustics

Low VOC paints

Low VOC boards for joinery

Good thermal performance to result in minimal heating and cooling

Appropriate levels of insulation and thermal mass

Ability to zone areas of the house

Ceiling fans to bedrooms and living rooms

Well designed natural ventilation throughout house

Good natural light throughout house

Low energy lighting using fluorescents and LEDS

Energy efficient appliances used throughout

Solar hot water heating

Energy efficient systems selected for cooking

Installation of a 3kWh photovoltaic system for energy generation

Convenient, dedicated, sunny area for drying clothes

House wired for smart switching so unused appliances and lights can be easily turned off

High performance water saving fixtures and appliances

Low water garden

20,878 litre water tank connected to toilets, washing machine and landscape irrigation

House and garden designed to reduce stormwater runoff and make a feature of overflow feature

Materials selected with thought given to reducing their impacts over their life

House designed to easily adapt to changing family lifestyles

Certified timber /Timber from sustainably managed forests for framed windows and doors

Size of project purposefully optimised

Garden design to enhance local ecosystems and encourage local flora and fauna

Garden design inherent to house design

Inclusion of food plants to help provide for family

Connection of living areas to garden to assist in better care

External lighting designed to be appropriate for the site without extending beyond