6 minute read
STEP INSIDE THE FUTURE
Comprising four architecturally distinct pavilions, most hidden from street view, this future-ready family home generates more energy than it uses, making it tomorrow’s greenest house today. .
WORDS MARTIN JACOBS
ABOVE Caboriandi comnis re, ex essum eos et aces aris excescium volupta di ad erum aut odicien duntiantur, quatur, ex erum ea sus aceprorum voluptatem. Ut pres ad quia volorepe cus OPPOSITE Architects Andrew Maynard and Mark Austin honoured their client’s wish to build a home amid the trees of an existing garden
LEFT Positioned on the south side of the plot, the home is designed to maximise the northerly sunlight. Large windows and retractable glass doors encourage a constant connection with the garden
BELOW The shingled, pitched-roof pavilion – all that’s visible of the property from street view – houses a Tesla battery to power the couple’s electric car
M‘MORE THAN JUST a house, this is a power station,’ says architect Andrew Maynard of Austin Maynard Architects of the home he and partner architect Mark Austin recently completed. It’s a novel description for a suburban residence, but one we are likely to encounter with increasing frequency in years to come as architects forge ahead with sustainability innovation. The expected visuals the phrase evokes – skyline-dominating, smoke-billowing industrial eyesores from which multiple suburbs derive power – in this instance have been shattered. In their place, a welcome high-performance, entirely off-grid family home. A delightful series of four stylistically different pavilions that make up a home that is, currently, likely one of the word’s greenest buildings. One that is architecturally intriguing, yet modest and unassuming, given that it is almost entirely hidden from street view. The plots that border the narrow streets of Melbourne’s hip inner-city suburb Prahran are as long and narrow as the streets themselves. The property the homeowners had purchased for their family of fi ve was no different. ‘They chose an unusual plot,’ explains Mark. ‘Facing the street was a tired, single-fronted cottage with a 1980s addition at the rear.’ Beyond this now-dated addition was a large, private garden fi lled with a number of impressive trees. ‘The couple wanted us to save as much of the existing garden as possible and build within it.
RIGHT Interior designer Simone Haag’s earth-toned palette was chosen for its nostalgic value, calling to mind the landscape of the family’s former desert-town home. Low, modular furniture allows for uninterrupted flow across the open-plan space
BELOW A ‘cloffice’ (closet office) is set into hoop pine plywood walls, and offers an in-sight, but concealable, space for the couple’s three children to complete homework
They regularly entertain and wanted a home that allowed for large-scale entertaining, and space for their three children to grow up,’ he adds. Yet key to the brief was the wish that the home didn’t feel like a big house. It was around this that much of the architects’ conceptual planning centred. The idea for a series of interconnecting pavilions, some of which would hover above the ground to protect tree roots, and all with the garden as a central focus, soon emerged.
At street view, the garage – reworked as a whiteshingled, pitched-roof cottage – appears to be the house in its entirety (behind its door, a built-in Tesla battery for the family’s electric car is the first indication of the unusualness to come). But setting foot on a pedestrian pathway alongside the steel-clad structure, it becomes apparent that this pavilion is larger than it initially seemed, housing in its two storeys an office, workshop, bike room and living space.
Beyond this, and through the home’s entrance, the residential pavilions await, separate buildings ‘invisibly’ connected via mirrored glass passageways that reflect the lush foliage. ‘The couple liked the way we dealt with visual bulk on a previous project, by breaking down the home into smaller components,’ says Andrew, ‘so the response here was much the same – we designed office, kitchen and
Polished concrete screed flooring in the downstairs living spaces absorbs heat from sunlight in the winter months, warming the house from within. The homeowners opted for exposed recycled bricks reminiscent of the brickwork in their grandparents’ 1950’s homes
living, dining and kids’ zones.’ Further to these zones, internal, concealed doors allow spaces to be opened or closed, not only allowing entertainment areas to be increased in size, but also regulating indoor temperatures. ‘It’s a multitasking house, doing four things at the same time,’ says the homeowner of the pavilions. ‘There’s logical space for it and it all works. It feels homely and cosy, like a little ecosystem.’
A self-professed ‘tech head’, the owner requested that in much the same way that user experience dominates the online realm, Andrew and Mark consider the design of personalised experiences within the home. To this end, the architects have included a muesli-making zone in the pantry, a netted play-stair for the children, and a ‘cloffice’ (or closet office) in the living space.
These spaces, along with the rest of the home, are rich in natural materials, like recycled cream bricks, the pallets for which the couple personally chose to closely resemble the bricks from their grandparents’ 1950’s homes, along with the buildings of the University of Melbourne, where both spent their student days. Interior designer Simone Haag references this nostalgia in her selection of textured, earthy finishes, tone on tone to call to mind the desert town where the family once lived.
Over and above the property’s compelling design and innovative use of space, it’s that their home is completely self-powered that leaves the couple most proud. ‘That’s achieved not through us sacrificing, as there’s a heated pool, hydronic heating, we even have an electric car that’s powered by the house,’ they exaplin. ‘We pay nothing for fuel or power. There’s no cost and no guilt.’ Now that’s power worth celebrating.
LEFT The open-plan kitchen’s gathering zone is a black porcelaintopped island
RIGHT AND BELOW
Timber-clad walls with integrated bedside pedestals add warmth to the master bedroom, which includes a living area that leads onto a private balcony
A Green Machine
FIVE KEY FACTORS THAT MAKE THIS HIGHPERFORMANCE FAMILY HOME SELF-POWERED.
1. ENERGY USAGE
• Solar panels (facing north, east and west) generate all the power, which is stored within a battery. More electricity is generated daily than the family consumes, so excess electricity feeds back into the grid. • The property is free of fossil fuels; there are no gas connections and all cooking appliances are electric.
2. CLIMATE CONTROL
• Floor-to-ceiling windows with awnings or eaves allow the sun to heat the concrete fl oors in winter, and act as passive solar protection in summer. • Automated, Venetian and retractable blinds encourage the family to moderate shading to suit their needs, be it working at a laptop or watching television. • Hydronic heating is installed on both storeys and is serviced by an electric heat pump. The heat pump also warms the pool.
3. INSULATION
• Metal and brick-clad walls comprise double skins, creating a thermal envelope. • Double-glazed windows are fi tted throughout, all with high-performance frames and insulating glass.
4. WATER CONSUMPTION
• Harvested rainwater is used for fl ushing toilets as well as garden irrigation. • Water-effi cient resilient plants were prioritised when landscaping.
5. REDUCED TRAVEL
• Vegetable, herb and fruit gardens provide seasonal produce, reducing the need for travel. So too does teleconferencing equipment in the home offi ce. • A Tesla Model 3 car charges on the property, effectively running the car for free. • A dedicated bicycle entrance off the pedestrian pathway makes the decision to travel by bike effortless.
