New build 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.

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.

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

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.