Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 71 i Sanctuary: Modern Green Homes

A quarter of the way through our new century, against the backdrop of a pandemic, increasing climate volatility, and a cost-of-living crisis, Australian lifestyles are changing. For many of us, what we want (and can afford) in our housing is changing too. More and more, we’re looking beyond the twentieth-century dream of the detached family house on a large suburban block, and pursuing greater flexibility, affordability and community. This issue is all about creatively different approaches to housing. Think self-contained backyard studios, multigenerational homes, flexible layouts designed to work as one or two dwellings, and even shared houses. In Sydney, two friends bought a block together and built a pretty pair of homes; on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, a couple made sure their mid-century style future retirement home could accommodate…

HOUSE PROFILE Wembley, WA AT A GLANCE - Owner-built strawbale backyard studios - Affordable urban infill accommodation - Natural, renewable and secondhand materials When the time came for David and Tes’ children to find somewhere affordable to live, they didn’t want them pushed too far out of Perth. “We wanted to give them independence but keep them close,” David says. “And knowing that they wouldn’t be able to afford to go and buy a place or even easily rent one was difficult.” David, a carpenter by trade, built two self-contained studios in the backyard of their Perth home. The one-bedroom units, each just 36 square metres, are stacked vertically and classified as ancillary or independent accommodation, much like a granny flat. “They take up pretty much the same footprint as the shed that…

IDEAS & ADVICE Creating community The idea for Open Field Co-Living was conceived in a small, dark living room in a sharehouse in inner-city Melbourne. The cold wind was constantly being sucked through the house via the broken kitchen window, but we were too scared to ask the landlord to repair it. It was my seventh house in five years; almost every time, the house had been sold to a developer when our initial lease ended. To anyone who has rented recently, this story is probably sadly familiar. As Dan and I huddled in the cold on a thrifted couch, we thought “There has got to be a better way to do housing”. Dan and I met at a Students of Sustainability conference back in our university days, and got together…

OUTDOORS Permeable ground covers Traditionally, city flood reduction strategies involved ensuring rainfall was channelled quickly away from city streets and into stormwater drains using impermeable surfaces like paved roads, footpaths and carparks. More recently, we’ve come to appreciate the value of retaining this water in the urban environment, to keep our street trees and public and private gardens alive and cities’ ecological assets thriving. These days, a higher proportion of water-permeable paving or no paving at all is the desired approach, and we can all help with this wider-scale stormwater management by avoiding or dramatically reducing impermeable (hard) surfaces around our homes. WHAT ARE IMPERMEABLE SURFACES? As much as 90 per cent of our urban environment is covered in impermeable surfaces that don’t allow water through: materials such as concrete, stone…

UPDATE FROM THE CEO As this edition goes to print, Sustainable House Day 2025 just wrapped up on 4th May, and what a day it was! All around the country, homeowners invited the community into their houses to share with them the lessons they have learnt on their own sustainability journey – both the wins and the challenges. The open homes this year ranged from fully electrified townhouses to 1960s cottages retrofitted for energy efficiency, and from homes lovingly built using recycled materials to gorgeous new builds meeting Passive House standards. Whatever your area of interest, there were an amazing number of homes to choose from, and behind every one of them a homeowner who had thought deeply about their sustainability. A highlight of this year’s event was how many…

HOUSE PROFILE St Peters, NSW AT A GLANCE - A pair of semi-detached homes built together by good friends - Each designed for family life and flexibility - Recycled and lowmaintenance materials When Bec and Chontelle bought an old house together in Sydney’s inner west in 2011, they were both single and lived with flatmates. By the time they finished building two new homes in 2018, they each had partners and kids, and one had a live-in parent. To manage the risks associated with their atypical endeavour, the lifelong friends talked through every possible scenario and permutation that might arise if their circumstances changed, and codified them in a prenuptial style agreement. They were also lucky to have access to design input from Bec’s sister Fiona Hicks, at the time a graduate of…

Our project is significant for its dedication to creating a home where multi-family living is baked into the design. This typology is growing as the housing and cost-of-living crises force more of us to pool resources and live more co-dependently. Open Field residents use about 30 square metres per person, rather than the current average of 90 square metres per person. The cost to house 16 people under one roof came in at about a third of what it would have cost if each family built its own home to the same standard. The project’s contention is that this co-dependence can be a rich and rewarding lifestyle when supported by thoughtful design and social wisdom. There are many friction points that typically occur when living with others, however, and I…

If you have recommendations for films, books, smartphone apps, podcasts, websites or anything else, email: sanctuary@renew.org.au DOWNLOAD Free PDF download marrayeh.com/marra-and-yeh-architects-design-for- climate Design for climate, design for change Marra + Yeh Architects, 2023 Design for climate, design for change is the distillation of authors Carol Marra and Ken Yeh’s years of research, observation and design experience. It’s a succinct, readable guide addressing what they consider to be the key challenges currently facing our built environment: heat, wind, floods, bushfires, density and flexibility. “The climate has changed but what has also changed is the number of people, the density of cities and suburbs, the patterns of working and living, the composition of families and communities,” they write. “Architecture is a means of ignoring or acknowledging the changes, of responding with sensitivity,…

AT A GLANCE - Mid-century style home designed for use as two dwellings when required - Plentiful natural light and connection to views and bushland - Gas-free with 6kW solar PV system HOUSE PROFILE Second Valley, SA Liz Main loves the beach, but her husband Ray has always felt more drawn to the bush. So when the Adelaide couple searched for land on which to build a weekender and eventual retirement home, they were at a stalemate – until they discovered a 700-square-metre block in the coastal settlement of Second Valley, 90 kilometres south of the city on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Ray and Liz wanted their new home, 600 metres from the beach, to echo the old-school beachy vibe of the fibro shacks in the township, and they both loved mid-century design. It’s…

DESIGN WORKSHOP Bicheno, TAS PROJECT TYPE Renovation & extension LOCATION Bicheno, TAS (paredarerme Country) EXISTING HOUSE SIZE 90m2 PROPOSED HOUSE SIZE 150m2 maximum LAND SIZE 805m2 BUDGET $300,000-400,000 THE BRIEF - Create a modest, comfortable home for retirement on a small budget - Replace dilapidated original part of house with an energy-efficient addition - Make the most of the northern orientation and sea views - Minimise maintenance and running costs “When I bought the place in 2010 it wasn’t really habitable,” Holley says of her modest weatherboard house. “My dad helped me with a basic renovation and an extension on an extremely tight budget, to get it to a state where it could be used as a weekender and holiday rental.” At the time, she was working at sea and didn’t need a permanent…

TRACY GRAHAM Building Designer Connected Design connecteddesign.com.au Works in Sydney and NSW South Coast What kind of house did you grow up in? I grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, in a solid brick house. It had a concrete floor with lino in the kitchen and carpet everywhere else. The windows and doors were single-glazed with steel frames, and no flyscreens or shading. My dad was always up on the flat metal roof fixing the leaks. The house was orientated to the east, and the north wall was solid brick. It was really hot in summer and freezing in winter – we heated with paraffin and oil heaters. Temperatures would drop down to minus two degrees overnight and I remember the taps would freeze. My best memories of that house…