Wombat House

The brief was for a modest contemporary rural house for a professional couple and their young family. The building was to be carefully sited on the 40 hectare property, which didn’t have any house on it previously. The site had electricity but no other services, so had to be self sufficient in water and sewerage treatment. The owners were keen for an extremely sustainable design, so a passive solar response was essential. The location has a large seasonal temperature range, with hot dry summers and frosts and occasional snow in winter. By its nature the building had to be utilitarian with a simple, direct response to the horizontality of the landscape and beautiful site.

One of the hardest decisions is deciding where to site the house. We camped on the property and looked at several sites which were considered and discussed at length. Once the decision was made, the design of the house arose directly from that specific location.

Environmentally sustainable design was very important to both the client and architect, so a passive solar response was essential. The provision of cross ventilation and ceiling fans and the maximisation of natural daylighting were all sustainable design attributes that were implemented in order to minimise the requirement for artificial heating and cooling throughout. Face brickwork was used externally for its durability, texture and low maintenance requirements, whilst internal brickwork was used for its thermal mass qualities as well as loadbearing capacity and durability. A reverse brick wall was used to the southern façade to provide high insulation and values combined with thermal mass, also achieved through a concrete slab floor. Apart from electricity, the site had no access to services, so a water harvesting and reticulation system, along with on site sewerage treatment and a 3.0kw grid connected solar Photovoltaic array were installed. Low maintenance materials were selected for their longevity, durability and weathering properties.