A young, growing family with toddlers and primary school aged children commissioned Threadgold Architecture to design an energy efficient eco home on their 120 acre Yallingup property. The desire was for a home that embodied their ideals of living sustainably and off-grid.
The brief demanded that the home be completely power self-sufficient and incorporate passive solar design principles to reduce overall energy consumption.
This south west architecture opitimises sustainable design principles by being sited at elevation to take advantage of views and cooling breezes and is surrounded by citrus, nut and pomme fruit orchards set out to permaculture principles. It achieves passive solar design through a large area of north facing glazing.
During the warmer south west days, the owners open the glass louvres to the underside of roof eaves on the northern elevation to generate cross ventilation and cool the kitchen and living areas. Throughout the colder days of a south west winter, the family closes the operable windows and louvres to enjoy direct sunlight across 85% of the living floor space. A selection of aluminium window and door systems from the Elevate Aluminium range of commercial windows and doors were chosen for this project. Elevate Series 704 SlideMASTER™ doors were used to create bold wide openings, whilst Series 411 FoldMASTER™ Bi-fold doors were used to create a classic alfresco style. Aluminium awning and double-hung windows maximise airflow and ventilation throughout the home.
The honed concrete floor to living areas captures the radiant heat from the direct sunlight during the daylight hours and releases that heat through cooler south-west evenings.
The specification for the house incorporates materials that have a low embodied energy with rammed limestone to the south elevation for heat retention and Corten cladding the west elevation. The house boasts complete power self-sufficiency with a 5.5kw photovoltaic system discretely hidden from view behind the single lap standing seam anthra zinc clad parapet. The house's sustainable design credentials are further endorsed through rainwater harvesting and a potable water storage capacity of 550 kilolitres. The house's green building benefits are also enhanced through incorporating a 440 litre solar hot water system boosted by a wood fire box. The fitout has reduced the embodied energy of the build by utilising locally sourced recycled jarrah and sheoak hard wood species with a high natural resistance to white ants.
The brief also required the landscape surrounding the house to predominantly comprise of edible plant species such as dwarf coffee trees, feijoa, papaya, pineapple and tamarillo trees also laid out to permaculture principles.
Architect: Stuart Threadgold of Stuart Threadgold Architecture
Photographer: Olivier Marill Photography
