Copa Came In From The Cold

The owners fell in love with the NSW’s central coast and were keen to build a new Passivhaus forever home, having experienced a friend’s Passivhaus home in Scotland. But land wasn’t available and neither was a ‘knock-down’. 

The couple loved this house’s dramatic form and stunning location but it was freezing in winter and the floor plan didn’t make sense. They wanted a comfortable, energy-efficient home that would support future ageing-in-place, accommodate extended family and strongly connect to the surrounding bush and in-ground pool. Sustainability was a key motivation and that drew them to Envirotecture, whose team was delighted by the possibilities a deep energy retrofit offered.

Upgraded glazing was a key solution, and all windows were replaced with certified Passivhaus double-glazed units with lower heat gain values to reduce risk of summer overheating. Wall, roof and floor insulation was upgraded in both the new and existing parts of the home.

Celebrating the dramatic form of the original design was a key strategy as it controlled costs and reduced construction waste. Every piece of original cladding was reused in order to blend in the extensions. Strategic walls were clad in a contrasting vertical profile.

Removing an awkwardly placed bedroom allowed the kitchen to visually extend through a casual living space to a voluminous outdoor room with a northerly aspect. This linked living areas to the majestic trees and provided an outlook over the pool. This natural extension of the existing geometry was repeated towards the south to create a bedroom suite.

This project was designed in 2019. Envirotecture would now use Passivhaus Planning Package software (PHPP) to energy model the design, even if the project wasn’t seeking Passivhaus certification. PHPP accurately predicts energy use and people’s comfort and helps architects get the best performance for the client’s budget.