Sanctuary 60 out now: Flood resilience special

Given the recent devastating floods around the country, it feels fitting that in Sanctuary 60 we focus on the increasingly important topic of designing for flood resilience.

We visit homes from Queensland to Tasmania that incorporate strategies to stay dry or to recover quickly after flooding: there’s a modest secondary dwelling in Newcastle with a services level designed to keep water out, a family home on a Brisbane creek that was reinvented to handle the twin threats of flood and bushfire, and another Queensland home with landscape design that turned an overland flow path into an asset. On our cover, a sustainable Northern Rivers beach house by Refresh Design passed its ultimate test when the waters rose this year, and in Hobart, a cottage inundated once before received a flood-savvy renovation and extension that also delivered light, flexibility and thermal comfort.

We also talk to expert architects in the field, Brisbane-based JDA Co., who explain the basics of flood-resilient design and share their small but effective retrofits helping existing houses in flood-prone areas cope better with high waters. The theme continues in our Outdoors section, with tips on designing your garden to handle stormwater and mitigate the effects of overland flow.

Take a look inside Sanctuary 60

Also in this issue: Elsewhere in our sustainable house profiles, we showcase great projects like the sympathetic renovation of an Adelaide mid-century cottage and a cosy Tassie home for two that has no need for active heating or cooling.

We look at the burgeoning ‘e-changer’ movement – citysiders making the move to the country while holding down city-based jobs – and consider what you need to know to make it work. There is a guide to choosing sustainable tapware for your build, and in On the drawing board, architect Deborah Ascher Barnstone introduces the affordable, bushfire-resilient house design that won top gong in this year’s Solar Decathlon student design competition – plus much more.

Sanctuary 60 is on its way to subscribers and is now on sale in newsagents. If you haven’t already, subscribe now to get every issue delivered. 

We welcome your feedback. Perhaps there’s something else you would you like to see in Sanctuary? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or by email.