This stunning off-grid family home shows how energy-efficiency and comfort can be achieved in a challenging climate - while also delivering on a creative and specific brief.
The summers are hot in this part of Victoria, while winters can bring snow. This particular site is exposed and the windchill is harsh. But inside, the temperatures are consistently comfortable with a minimum of active heating and cooling—and the air is always fresh and clean.
The butterfly roof makes a big design statement but in fact the clients were keen on this feature for very practical reasons, chiefly ease of cleaning. The home runs off a large kWh solar PV array and the solar panels need to be kept clean, as does guttering and the roof itself, which harvests rainwater for the off-grid home. The central box gutter provides safer passage for regular cleaning and maintenance.
While at first glance the floorplan is a simple rectangle, in fact the form factor is quite complex. A south-facing mudroom entrance (with dog washing station!) and a deep north-facing conservatory are both outside of the thermal envelope. The latter is a cleverly detailed ‘indoor outdoor room’, a liminal space between the home and its rugged outdoors. Rooflights bring daylight deep into the conservatory and adjacent east-west hallway, while the north wall of single glazing in steel frames forms an intricate array of sliding doors and louvres.
The 39m2 conservatory will more closely mirror outdoor temperatures and can provide a vivid multi-sensorial connection to the natural world. But it can also be a place of shelter from harsh elements. Its lightweight insulation and non-airtight construction makes a wood-burning fireplace possible, so this is a room the family will enjoy year-round.
Visually the roofline is very light, a clever floating effect that belies the volume of insulation it contains. It sits on 300mm thick timber-framed walls and a structural slab with insulated polished screed. The roof design creates large internal volumes, with raked ceilings featuring. External materials were carefully chosen for their capacity to resist bushfire attack.
The stellar contribution of the construction team is noteworthy, especially as this was the company’s first Passivhaus project.
The house is named after the wedgetail eagles (Aquila audax, or Bunjil in many aboriginal languages) that live in adjacent native bush.
