Solar Passive in a Cooler Climate
Award Winner
This project came to us originally as an Architect supervised Tender. The specification had very detailed requirements regarding the design for the building.
Sustainability in construction methods and materials was a chief focus for the Architect. Energy efficiency was a significant driving force for the Owners who wanted a home with low energy inputs and the ease of living associated with that. The Clients developed the concept with their Architects, a design practice specialising in sustainable architecture. The completed design offered an outstanding energy rating of 7.7 Stars.
The Clients have previously lived in rural Queensland. The shift into the temperate environment of Stanley is designed to progress them into the next stage of their lives. The local area offered a climate that appealed to their sense of seasons passing. Stanley is slightly isolated but remains close to the larger township of Beechworth and the regional centres of Wangaratta and Albury-Wodonga. Access to health and infrastructure services was important to them but equally so the opportunity to live in a rural area of great physical beauty.
In making the shift there was a strong desire to keep a sense of privacy as well as the ease of living in a well designed and thermally efficient home. The site is elevated with sloping land to the North and East, on a Lane that only attracts local and traffic offered the advantages they sought in regards to privacy. The ability to make good use of the Northern aspect completed the picture for them.
The end result has been an architecturally interesting home, well suited to its aspect and environment. The completed house has a level of functionality and thermal efficiency that means the Owners comfort and lifestyle is catered for in a home that complements its surrounds and achieves low levels of energy consumption.
Solar Passive Cooler Climate
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