House profiles Archives

Back to basics

Good design need not be expensive – as architect Andrew Kerr demonstrates with his Tassie ‘apple crate shack’ built to 7.1 Stars on a $100k budget.

House profiles

Fitted with a modern take on punkah fans and the latest in battery tech, an experimental off-grid house on South Stradbroke Island is the result of a dynamic collaboration between architects Tim Bennetton and Gabriel Poole.

Renovation

Passive resistance

A heritage house in Melbourne’s inner east has collected two major sustainability awards, just as a new report highlights the need for existing houses to be retrofitted to tackle climate change.

New build

Coastal cliff hanger

Too steep for use as a backyard, the rear of a Central Coast block now hosts a versatile, energy-efficient studio with enviable sea views – thanks to some ingenious engineering solutions.

New build

Forest friendly

Discover how a surprisingly curvilinear home in Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges achieved a 7.4 Star rating without heavy lifting from thermal mass.

New build

Rising from the earth

Traditional local materials and an innovative spiral design with a green roof combine to offer a simple, sustainable lifestyle for this tree-changing family in Japan.

Renovation

About face

This mountain home demonstrates how you can achieve thermal comfort and energy efficiency despite being oriented to the east and unaided by thermal mass.

House profiles

Hilltop hood

Built on an Adelaide Hills block no one else wanted, a small house draws on big design thinking to overcome several major site constraints.

House profiles

Shedding light

Passive solar, 8.8 Stars and tucked neatly into the backyard in place of the original shed, this light-filled secondary dwelling on Sydney’s North Shore is an exemplar of sustainable downsizing.

House profiles

Cradle to cradle

Thanks to the choice of materials and construction techniques, this comfortable family house in western Victoria is almost entirely recyclable.

House profiles

A bold experiment

Having built one climate-ready house on an ideal site, this couple set out to prove they could achieve great ‘Mark II’ results on a poorly oriented block within an affordable budget.

Subscribe to Sanctuary magazine