Sanctuary Issue 53

Issue highlights

  • Profiles of six inspiring homes that make the most of prefabricated and modular construction to deliver high-performing homes while cutting building time and minimising waste
  • Just add space: Sustainable, prefab options for backyard offices and studios
  • Retrofitting advice for safer homes in fire-prone areas
  • Design Workshop: planning a fire-resilient, sustainable home on Kangaroo Island
  • The Builders Declare movement and a roadmap to making carbon zero homes mainstream
  • Design and create a native food kitchen garden

House profiles

Eco-effective collaboration
This young Perth couple worked with architect Sid Thoo to build an energy-efficient family home designed to lower their carbon footprint.

Dreams in action
A pavilion-style home and office in Cairns makes good use of recycled materials, passive solar design and landscaping to achieve a sustainable tropical lifestyle.

Sideways step
A small addition to the side of an Adelaide house brings in northern light and has dramatically changed the way the owners live in the home.

Riverside retreat
This elevated granny flat on the Myall River in New South Wales used a hybrid prefab system for a fast, cost-effective build on a constrained site.

Signed, sealed and delivered
Off-site modular construction provided a stress-free solution for this off-grid home on a spectacular site in the Snowy Mountains, New South Wales.

Urban modular
Four stacked prefabricated modules form a spacious family home on a tight site in Melbourne’s inner suburbs.

Downsizing done well
Prefabricated panels with a focus on condensation control were the right answer for a retiring couple’s new home in South Hobart. 

Kitted out
A young family opted for a ‘kit of parts’ prefab construction approach to create a lovely, affordable customdesigned house on the Victorian coast.

Inspired by tramping
A love of the New Zealand bush and walkers’ huts was behind the design of this family’s small prefabricated home in southern Coromandel.

Ideas & advice

Just add space: Sustainable, prefab options for backyard offices and studios
What do you need to consider for a ‘quick and easy’ prefab backyard office or studio that also ticks the energy efficiency and sustainability boxes?

Beating bushfire: Retrofitting for safer homes in fire-prone areas
Architect and bushfire design expert Nigel Bell outlines what owners of existing homes in fire-prone areas can do to retrofit for bushfire resilience.

A creative adventure with an old film set
In On the drawing board, a pair of designers explain how a creative alignment with clients led to a playful design for some pre-loved buildings.

Design Workshop: A fire-resilient island sanctuary
Kangaroo Island resident Mia Bertetto is planning a sustainable, fire-resilient home on a bush block with great sea views. Architect and bushfire expert Ian Weir gives her some advice.

Building a low carbon future: The Builders Declare movement and the path to carbon zero homes
Jeremy Spencer outlines a simple roadmap to making carbon zero homes mainstream, the core aim of the newly formed Builders Declare movement.

Home-grown flavours: Designing a native food kitchen garden
Looking to take your backyard vegetable garden up a notch? We look at what’s involved in designing and creating a native food kitchen garden.

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