ReGeneration House

One of the core tenets of Re-Generation House was to push to source as many construction materials from secondary use streams as possible.
ASA worked in collaboration with Second Edition on the interior design, and material selection for the project’s bathrooms. The majority of the finishes, fittings, fixtures and joinery in these spaces were salvaged from local waste streams or sourced from second-hand marketplaces.

The marble floor was salvaged scraps collected from marble suppliers, the floor and wall tiles were excess stock from local renovations, the timber joinery is clad in timber flooring with substrates made from off-cuts of plywood. Plumbing fixtures (which were new and unused) were sourced from online marketplaces from people selling due to change of mind or mis- ordering.

These non-traditional procurement methods became a testing ground for their implementation within a typical design and construction process.
With ASA's focus on high performance, climate resilient & healthy architectural homes, and Second Edition's expertise and leading research on embracing the material circular economy, Re-Generation House succeeds on a broad variety of sustainability initiatives for a project of its small scale.

More than 50% of the project's materials by mass were sourced as recycled or recovered. Recycled brick, timber cladding, marble, railway sleepers, sandstone steps, tiles, basins, toilets, mirrors, taps, and joinery have been sourced as second hand or materials that were on their way to landfill, totalling over 8000kg in salvaged & reused material. Double glazed doors and windows were manufactured locally with recycled Australian hardwood frames. The project is all-electric, including a new heat pump hot water system. Due to the infrequent occupation of the site, it was decided that the embodied energy in a solar panel system would not be offset by its usage at the moment, but provisions for a PV system have been made for when the site is occupied full-time. A life-cycle assessment was conducted that shows the project’s circular economy strategy reduces the embodied carbon footprint by 50% compared to a ‘business-as-usual’ new build of the same size. Direct northern orientation, and a calculated eave depth allows deep penetrating sunlight between the winter solstices and equinoxes, ensuring minimal heating is required, while windows are fully shaded in summer. Air tightness was considered, and its importance explained to the local builder who was guided through the best practice, resulting in an air-tightness rating of 4.16ACH. Carefully located operable glazing provides natural cross ventilation.

Re-Generation house is a collaboration between ASA, Second Edition & artist Jane Theau. The home explores and celebrates the Re-Generation of the Australian Bush decimated in the 2020 bushfires, creates a home for future Generations, and embraces the circular economy by ReGenerating pre-existing materials.
The home is sited on Yuin Country in a sleepy coastal hamlet town on the NSW south coast. The clients love the quiet of the town and its humble cottages on lawn clearings surrounded by bush. ‘Maintaining this feeling whilst adding capacity and comfort’ to the dwelling was the basis for their architectural brief.
The brief was to create an extension to the existing cottage that would be able to host the clients and the next generations of family, in a way that would provide the most amenity with the least environmental and physical impact.
In collaboration with Second Edition, all materials have been sourced as reclaimed where possible. Recycled brick, timber cladding, marble, railway sleepers, sandstone steps, tiles, basins, toilets, taps, mirrors, and joinery have been sourced as second-hand or materials that were on their way to landfill. This embrace of the circular economy shows second hand can be beautiful, robust and high-performance.

The architectural response to the client’s brief was heavily influenced by the existing context of the site. With the site located in a small coastal town, currently undergoing a period of development, the clients love the character of the humble cottages on lawn clearings surrounded by gum trees. The new pavilion was sited facing inward to create a pocket of tranquillity impervious to surrounding overdevelopment and frame connection to the surrounding
bushland. A distinct separation between the existing and new pavilions retains this sense of diminished scale, and has been unexpectedly but delightedly used by kangaroos that cross the site.

Critical to the clients’ brief was that the addition should not draw attention to itself. They love the small town for its low-scale and undeveloped character, and retaining this was critical to the success of the project. The dwelling is simple and respectful of its surroundings yet highly considered and crafted to create an example of how we can reuse buildings and materials to create robust structures fit for future climate scenarios. Built with high thermal performance strategies, the new pavilion also becomes a place of retreat in extreme temperature events.