On a narrow residential street, the unassuming Garden House by Austin Maynard Architects replaces an existing single-fronted cottage. Clad with white shingles, the house is more than a home, it is virtually a power station capable of generating sustainable energy back into the shared grid that it draws from.
On a large L-shaped plot, the house is tucked away from the street, with only the white-shingle clad peak of the garage visible to passersby. The home is entered via a brick passageway alongside the garage. Simple and domestic in appearance from the street, the pedestrian pathway leads to the front door where the site opens up to reveal a much larger property.
The house is broken into four smaller scale zones: office, kitchen/living, dining, and children’s area. The overall effect is that of distinctly separate buildings set within a lush garden landscape. Each zone is connected via mirrored glass links or bridges.
The largest house volume contains an open kitchen alongside an open plan living-dining space with folding doors that open up to the garden and pool. The main bedroom is located above this living space and includes a sizable ensuite and terrace. From the main volume a corridor leads to a separate volume containing children’s bedrooms and play space/tv room.
The orange brick used extensively throughout the home is recycled, using pallets that were personally selected by the owner from The Brick Recyclers (in the Melbourne suburb of Reservoir). The bricks, called Oakleigh Creams, matched a photo supplied by the owner of his grandparent’s 1950’s house and were also reminiscent of the University of Melbourne buildings, that held an emotional attachment to the owner’s student days.
The house uses an electric power system with energy generated from the solar panel array on the roof. The average 100 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day is stored within two Tesla Powerwall batteries. Alongside this, a 10,000-litre water tank located under the garage’s concrete slab harvests rainwater for garden irrigation and flushing the home’s toilets.
Glazed walls and concrete floors help to passively heat the home during the winter months with the concrete slab absorbing heat from the sun and redistributing it throughout the day. The house is sited to the southern side of the site, to maximise the availability of northern sun throughout the home. All living areas have floor-to-ceiling windows with awnings over, to allow the sun to heat the concrete floor slab in the winter months, radiating warmth throughout the day and evening. Awnings and overhangs above act as passive protection to the slab in the summer months.
All external surfaces are highly insulated. Roofs contain an R6 bulk bat made from 80% recycled glass and contain no formaldehyde. Where walls are metal-clad externally they are constructed as double thickness (two layers of timber stud frame) with each skin containing an R2.7 bulk bat made from 80% recycled glass. Where walls are brick externally a R1.4 ‘Dritherm’ cavity slab insulation is installed within the cavity between the two skins of double brick. The underside and all edges of the structural slab are lined with a 40mm thick rigid board insulation.
Maximum effort was employed to reduce any gaps in insulation throughout the building ensuring a high performing thermal envelope. All windows are double glazed with high performing frames. The thermally broken aluminium frames contain Viridian Light Bridge or EnergyTech, with Low E coating, double glazing units, depending on orientation.
The major trees of the established garden were left in place and the house was built to accommodate them and avoid root damage. Eckersleys Garden Architecture were engaged to create a variety of gardens, drawing the garden into the home and offering shade in the summer months. Plant selection was based on resilient plants that are water efficient. The garden includes fruit trees, herb gardens and vegetable patches that provide the owners with an array of seasonal produce.
A Hungry Bin compost is in constant use, accepting 2kg of food waste per day and removing the need to dispose of food waste into landfill.
