In most hands, this dilapidated 1920s bungalow would have been promptly bowled to make way for a modern home. Instead, a substantial renovation and retrofit is underway.
These committed clients came to Envirotecture because of the values we share around genuine sustainability, health and wellbeing—of people and the planet. The starting place for their brief was the desire to inspire a rethink about designing single-family dwellings in existing neighborhoods: “Our intention is to make this a regenerative renovation which unlocks the potential of the existing building and site in ways that enable our family, our community and other living systems to all thrive and prosper. We want this to be a healthy, comfortable and inspiring home for our family—and to inspire a wider conversation within our community and the building industry.”
This ambitious project is targeting Passivhaus certification and Living Building Challenge petal certification, for core and energy. The renovation will improve the health and comfort of humans but also aims to create a living sanctuary, inviting new visitors like birds and bees to be a part of this sanctuary.
Envirotecture brings to the project deep experience in biophilic, passive solar and Passivhaus design, plus an awareness of how to reduce the carbon emissions associated with construction. These approaches ensure a healthy, non-toxic living environment that is radically energy-efficient: the renewed and extended home will take very little energy to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature year round, with excellent indoor air quality.
All of this is being achieved taking into account the constraints of the existing building footprint, site conditions (aspect, views, orientation, site slope) and the local climate. The design takes inspiration from the character of theCalifornian bungalow and uses biophilic design to create an intimate connection between the bungalow and the 140m2 two-storey extension.
The project will be all-electric, universally accessible, generate its own energy via PV panels and harvest rainwater. The clients are personally taking responsibility for Living Building Challenge requirements such as diverting at least 80% of construction waste from landfill. This has seen their entire existing kitchen cabinetry and bathroom fittings reused in other home renovations and separating demolition materials on site into specific waste streams such as timber, brick and ewaste.
To learn more, visit the clients’ website or the project case study on the International Living Future Institute’s website.
