In Rosanna, a north-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Australia, a single-storey home featuring a striking white sawtooth facade and a Structurally Insulated Panel (SIP) envelope has been built to the Passive House Classic standard. Designed by STUDIOFANG, a Passive House-certified architecture studio, and built by Sanctum Homes, “Passive Pleat” achieves exceptional thermal comfort and air quality through meticulous insulation, airtight construction, and heat-recovery ventilation. The home maintains a stable year-round indoor environment while keeping energy use to a minimum.
Design intent and well-being
The design of Passive Pleat prioritises the health and well-being of its occupants through both symbolic and practical biophilic connections, reflecting the Australian affinity for blending indoor living with an outdoor lifestyle. After experiencing respiratory illness in their former mouldy and poorly insulated 1950s brick veneer home, the owners chose to demolish the structure and build anew. The result is a Passive House defined by clean air, consistent thermal comfort, and low-energy performance, providing a healthier environment for a growing family.
Architectural form and expression
The building form derives from an extruded silhouette that runs from street front to rear, distinguished by a “quiff” roof angled for optimal north-facing solar array performance. The end elevations are articulated with serrated pleats, most notably the street facade, creating visual dynamism through angled shadows — reminiscent of a two-way billboard when viewed from the adjacent train line. The geometry also alludes to the familiar Passive House graph of diurnal temperatures remaining within a comfortable 20–25 degrees Celsius range.
Thresholds, flow, and daily rhythm
From the street, the landscaped driveway slows the approach along the shaded dark facade, leading towards an entry courtyard marked by a Carlo Scarpa–inspired portico, where layered planes and deep reveals define the transition. The enclosed garden offers a moment of calm and privacy — a place of arrival that visually connects to the entry foyer and study.
Internally, the spatial organisation takes programmatic inspiration from UNStudio’s Möbius House — reinterpreting its idea of continuous flow into a pendulum-like rhythm that moves between activity and rest, fellowship and solitude. Reflecting the neighbourhood’s pattern of mid-site entries, this sequence centres on an ‘hourglass neck’ corridor — a moment of pause and daylight between zones, conceived as a biophilic interlude in the family’s daily rhythm.
Everyday life and sustainable legacy
Passive Pleat comfortably supports the family’s evolving routines. The professional parents work from home in an outhouse office — a timely post-pandemic addition — while the surrounding gardens invite play, pottering, and moments of connection. Generous glazing draws light deep into the open-plan kitchen and living areas, creating a calm, sunlit core for everyday life.
More than a home, Passive Pleat is a model for low-impact living — reducing embodied carbon through responsible materials, keeping operational energy demand near zero, and ensuring long-term circularity through durable, carefully detailed construction.
