Indholdsfortegnelse for #93 Sep-Oct 2023 i Green Magazine

Small is beautiful … and, when you're talking about architecture, uses less energy and materials. Designing small spaces requires a deep dive into what is, and isn't, actually necessary. No wasted space and a focus on the details. In this issue we look at five homes that carefully consider - and celebrate - their modest size. When it comes to gardens the opposite is true. We all crave bigger spaces in which to relax and nurture, vegetation of any sort is good for our wellbeing. In inner Melbourne architects Austin Maynard and landscape designers Lin Chew Studio collaborated on a renovation of a Victorian terrace, weaving garden spaces and architecture, blurring the boundaries and delivering a comprehensive edible garden, as requested by the clients. Up on the Sunshine Coast a…

Houses When Rhys and Jules Vleugel returned to Melbourne after a stint on the Mornington Peninsula, they bought a Victorian fixer-upper in inner-city North Fitzroy just before the 2020 Covid lockdown. Friends would sigh audibly on house tours. Not with envy. It was dark, damp and more lean-to than house. “It honestly ticked none of our boxes,” Jules says with a laugh. “It was connected to neighbours on both sides – we didn't want that – it was south-facing, no conveniences at all.” But with new baby Lola (later joined by brother Sandy), the couple loved North Fitzroy's stellar location, family-friendly vibe, beautiful streetscapes and warmly welcoming neighbours. Design savvy, they saw beyond the single-storey cottage's multiple post-70s renos and “astonishingly bad condition” to its beautiful Victorian bones. “The house…

Architect Sally Meaton Builder Karl Whitehead Invue Homes Structural Engineer Taylor Thomson Whitting Location Dharug Country. Mount Wilson, NSW. Passive energy design The house is oriented to allow for large areas of north-facing glazing to the living areas. A generous eave protects the occupants from the high summer sun while the low winter sun penetrates well inside the living room, heating the rammed earth walls. Thermal breaks, cladding and internal linings ensure the walls’ thermal mass is harnessed with heat being slowly released back into the space overnight. Double-glazed operable windows and doors are carefully positioned throughout to allow effective cross-breezes. Materials Non-combustible materials are utilised throughout the construction. The walls of the house are predominantly built from locally-sourced soil which serves as a finished structural element. An insulated slab…

Architect William Samuels Architects williamsamuels.co.nz Builder William Samuels & Hannah D'Arcy (owner-builders) Location Whakatū/Nelson, New Zealand. Sustainable design approach Sustainable design was one of the most important considerations of this home, the owners wanting to tackle it differently rather than just defaulting to extra insulation or solar panels. The main sustainability feature is its size, which has a fraction of the embodied energy and utilises far less energy for heating and cooling than the average home. When it comes to sustainability, size is often overlooked in favour of increased insulation, efficient appliances or solar panels. However, the reality is that a small, well-designed home will typically have far less environmental impact than a large home, irrespective of the sustainability features that it may boast of. Their primary goal with this…

Architect Therefore therefore.com.au Builder Basis Builders Landscape Architect Peachy Green Landscape construction Jones Landscapes Location Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country. Fitzroy North, Vic. Passive energy design The rear of the site has a southern orientation with poor access to natural light, made only more difficult by tall neighbouring boundary walls on each side. Consequently, the new extension utilises the full dimensions of the site, building on all boundaries while allowing for two generous internal courtyards. By eschewing the typical format of a backyard and inverting the orientation of the south-facing block, the new building is given solar access from all sides. Primarily, a two-storey northern façade is introduced, allowing daylight to penetrate deep into the plan. The primary outdoor spaces are therefore brought to the north of the living areas, with…

Architect Clare Cousins Architects clarecousins.com.au Builder Hacer Group Location Wurundjeri Country. Brunswick, VIC. Nightingale Evergreen Comprising 203 homes across six buildings, Nightingale Village is a zero gas, medium density residential precinct located in the heart of vibrant Brunswick. Clare Cousins Architects, Architecture Architecture, Austin Maynard Architects, Breathe, Hayball and Kennedy Nolan came together to create the precinct, setting a new standard for sustainable, community-centred design. Each building was designed according to the social, environmental and financial sustainability principles of Nightingale Housing where homes are sold at cost to owner-occupiers (not investors), encouraging the formation of sustainable communities over the long-term. Passive energy design Promotes cross ventilation and access to light. Central courtyards with open walkways and escape stairs promotes cross ventilation and access to light through apartments and encourages use…

• Spring is the time to get your annual vegetables in as the more you can plant now, the better chance you have of a full harvest basket in summer and autumn. Most leafy greens are good to plant now, with warmth-loving vegetables such as pumpkin, cucumber and zucchini best planted directly into the soil as its temperature increases. Try to plant a range of leafy greens, some that have a short time to harvest, such as bok choy, mizuna, leafy lettuces and kale, as well as those that take longer to produce such as cauliflower and sprouting broccoli. Seed potatoes can be planted now, and sweet potatoes as the weather warms. Beetroot seeds, soaked overnight in water and then planted into the soil now, will be ready for summer…

Gardens A sweet rejoining of two separate dwellings back to its original whole, this inner-city house is by architects Austin Maynard, who came to the design with the clients’ desire for a comprehensive edible garden front of mind. Fast forward to the end of construction where a blank slate awaited landscape designers Chin Liew Studio who were ready to step in and help guide the owners with plant selections. Blurring the line between landscape design and architecture, Ray Dinh from Austin Maynard integrated both structures and spaces for planting into the house's design. The carport and garage at the end of the garden was transformed into a designated food growing area on the roof with a room above and below removed to create a gorgeous internal lightwell with attached planters…

Architect SAHA saha.sydney Builder Keith March Constructions Location Cameraygal Land. Lane Cove, NSW. Passive energy design Passive thermal comfort was fundamental in space planning with the provision of three roof terraces, two of which are internal courtyards. These two courtyards create an east-west break in the building form allowing for the capturing of breezes, cross ventilation to all rooms, multiple aspects from all rooms and orientation of all living spaces to the north. Extensive solar mapping was applied to eaves to all courtyards to maximise solar gain in winter and mimimise it in summer. In addition to this, bespoke canvas shade structures were included in the project and can provide full shade to all terraces and therefore adjacent rooms, downstairs living spaces and entertaining terraces to the rear on both…

You Spin Me Powered by the sun, A Solar Powered Bench That Spins Ever So Slowly is a petal-shaped public artwork that slowly rotates both day and night, giving users a slowly transforming perspective of the public space and providing gentle opportunities for community connection. Created by Melbourne-based art and technology studio, ENESS, the bench harvests sun with custom solar panels, offering a statement about the future of public infrastructure and their energy sources. eness.com Oceanic The new Ocean Collection of designer plant pots by Dutch pot and plant-growing brand elho are made from marine waste and plastic from the oceans such as fishing nets, ropes, and dragnets. This mix of materials creates a flowy oceanic marbling effect. Available at Bunnings nationwide, in two colourways, “Atlantic Blue” and “Pacific Green”.…

Peter Zumthor studio and house • 1988 & 2005 Haldenstein, Switzerland Architect: Peter Zumthor Inspired by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor's Australian Architecture Association's Black Talk in Sydney in 2004, Lindy Atkin and Steve Guthrie from Bark Architects asked the association's Stella de Vulder to introduce them to Zumthor hoping to visit his studio en route from Paris to Venice in 2008. A brief invitation ensued – “they can try” – which was gratefully received as a challenge to seek his studio's remote location in the Swiss Alps. Arriving early at the subtly restrained series of pavilions, we were invited to wait in the sunny courtyard for Zumthor to return from a site visit. Just long enough for a sketch to record the scene. Clad in fine sun – and…