Innehållsförteckning för #72 March-April 2020 från Green Magazine

As our cities rapidly densify, opportunities for new forms of multi-residential housing arise. This is the time for innovation in sustainability, both material and social – and also to look to the past for inspiration on successful forms of shared spaces. We take a look at five developments that we think got the recipe just right. Our cover home is a machine for living, pushing self-sufficiency well beyond the norm. Clinton Cole of CplusC Architectural Workshop has built a house to sustain and connect on a 90-square-metre wedge in Sydney’s inner-west. Within an iconic Melbourne block in the city’s heart, architect and furniture designer Adam Markowitz has gently reworked the layout of one of the apartments and, using fine craftsmanship, elevated the interior to another level. Rather than max out…

LIVEABILITY 537 Elizabeth by Woods Bagot is billed as a “prototype” for compact, urban living – but given how dextrously this project accommodates 12 one-bedroom-plus-study apartments onto a Sydney microsite measuring roughly six-by-30 metres, it arguably qualifies as an exemplar. Each of its seven floors holds two apartments replete with bespoke joinery components and a fully curated furniture package developed by Woods Bagot and Living Edge. Indeed, much care has been lavished upon the details of 537 Elizabeth, from custom-designed letterboxes to a dedicated bike lobby with individual timber-clad secure storage areas (off-street parking isn’t provided given the site’s inner-city amenity). Passive environmental design solutions are implemented to manage environmental conditions – operable windows are provided to all rooms, cross ventilation is achieved in communal spaces and balconies on the…

The conduit was the chairs’ furniture maker, Adam Markowitz, of markowitzdesign, whose heritage craftmanship impressed the owners so much they procured his architecture services to renovate their new double-storey penthouse – within the original 1954 telephone exchange building – alongside (design and documentation) collaborators George Stavrias and Nicole Henderson of Stavrias Architecture. “The brief was that the refurbishment meet a Paul Smith aesthetic,” Markowitz says. “Considered, mature and minimal displaying an artisan’s understanding of materials, yet with intentional bursts of bright detail.” Given Markowitz’s experience, he and the design team selected a natural material palette of timbers and stone to provide tactility and warmth, as well as age with grace. The entryway introduces gently fluted floor-to-ceiling timber panelling, with sensor-lit LED strip lighting below an American walnut veneer oak bench…

Architect Luke Moloney Architecture lukemoloney.com.au Builder Casey Bros Building Passive energy design The house is aligned to face north, but this beneficial aspect is compromised by adjacent development. To overcome this, skylights were included to permit northern light without compromise to privacy. The ocean views are due east, so management of solar heat gain was a design consideration from the outset. Deep eaves shade the eastern and western windows. Openings on the upper floor were located to permit cross ventilation. External screens and blinds offer added protection. Existing glazing on the ground floor was replaced with improved aluminium framed windows. Materials The ground floor comprises the existing brick bungalow. Walls are double brick, new aluminium-framed windows have been installed in existing openings. The existing timber floor had rotted and was…

When the Brisbane suburb of Petrie Terrace was subdivided for housing in 1861, the ambition was for density. Lots were as small as seven perches (177-square-metres) and on each, modest timber workers’ cottages accommodated the burgeoning population. Intense overcrowding of the enclave was impetus for 1885 legislation to increase minimum lot sizes to 16 perches (404-square-metres). But not before Albert Villa was constructed on a corner block of approximately nine perches (230-square-metres). It still stands today, a relic of the 1880s and a treasured home to architect Terry McQuillan and his wife, Charlie. Originally, Terry and Charlie purchased the house as an investment property, having completed alterations and additions to their historic Wooloowin cottage on a site twice the size. But it didn’t take long for them to succumb to…

Convergence The latest collaborative project from avant-garde object designer, Trent Jansen with designer and Nyikina man, Johnny Nargoodah captures the two’s differing sensibilities and skills in working with animal skins. Shown as part of Melbourne Design Week 2020 by Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert, ‘Partu’ (2020) – the Walmajarri word for ‘skin’ – presents a range of pieces, of which this chair is one. trentjansen.com gallerysallydancuthbert.com Round Sydney designer-maker Max Harper’s eye for detail guides his interest in lighting and furniture. “Big Round” is no exception, with its texturally-intriguing cork top resting on a slender base of powder-coated steel. maxharper.co Tassie’s Finest The Tasmanian Design Awards bring together emerging, established and professional designers to honour their excellence and, crucially, pursuit of sustainable practices. The following works from last year’s finalists attest to…

“A house must be a machine for sustaining life if we are to survive the next 100 years,” says Clinton Cole, referencing Le Corbusier’s famous statement: “A house is a machine for living in.” Clinton is director of CplusC Architectural Workshop, and his new family home in Darlington, Sydney, integrates nature, energy, water and food into the architecture, so that it generates and stores solar power; harvests and recycles rainwater; and produces fruit, vegetables and fish. “This house brings meaning back to architecture and connects people with landscape, food production, energy and rainwater capture,” Clinton says. The house is located on a 90-square-metre wedge-shaped site that Clinton would walk past on his way to University of Sydney where he studied architecture. He long had his eye on the derelict property…

Architects markowitzdesign with Stavrias Architecture markowitzdesign.com stavrias.com.au Builder DGO Developments Cabinetry and stonework Evolve Interiors and Evolve Stone evolveinteriors.net.au Passive energy design As an apartment renovation with strict body corporate rules there was little opportunity to alter the external building envelope. By opening up the interior to both the downstairs and upstairs areas the sense of space and openness is increased. Good cross-flow ventilation is promoted by introducing opposing windows rather than a single loaded façade. The clients installed low-E double glazing to reduce heat transfer particularly given the strong northern exposure. The original Fender Katsalidis design employs deep eaves to control the sun, even on the top level (where there is no deck above), and vertical fins provide protection against the western sun. Materials Materiality and handcrafted detail are…

Nice One The Dirt Company is big on highly-functional, sustainable household products. Hence these 316 Marine-grade stainless steel pegs, housed in a bag made from 100 per cent post-consumer recycled plastic that can hang on the line open or closed. Neat, huh? thedirtcompany.com.au Lots of Spots Capra Designs’ “Banjo Terrazzo Pots” are handmade, so no two pieces are identical. However, they all have an inbuilt tray for proper drainage and a funky speckled finish recalling a vintage vibe. capradesigns.com Symbol This terracotta cactus is handmade by Australian ceramics studio, Ruby & Frank for Pampa. Prickles not included. pampa.com.au Peaceful  Queensland’s Kooroomba Chapel by Wilson Architects is stunningly simple in execution, but profound in meaning. The non-denominational chapel is defined by three aesthetic concepts: the Pastoral, the Picturesque, and the Sublime.…

Architect CplusC Architectural Workshop cplusc.com.au Passive energy design Designed with the building’s lifespan in mind, Welcome to the Jungle House is built to last. The steel structure, although higher in initial embodied energy, requires less maintenance and will long outlive the alternative timber structural elements. With careful orientation, the building intelligently reacts to the microclimate of the location, heating the spaces with passive solar heating and thermal mass when needed, and cooling with transpiration-cooled predominant breezes when needed. The façade oriented photovoltaic system is fixed in place with a clip system, allowing panels to be serviced and/or replaced with future models that may have higher efficiency, meaning the home can adapt to the newest technologies in the future. Provisions are made for electric car charging as the popularity of electric…

The coastal walk from Coogee to Bondi, passing Clovelly, Bronte and Tamarama, is one of the most popular and beautiful walks in Sydney – and the houses facing this walk are some of the most coveted. Architect Luke Moloney’s brother and sister-in-law bought a one-storey bungalow in Clovelly, which is part of the local scenic foreshore protected area. The bungalow was in a somewhat ruinous state, and cold, dark and damp inside. The couple engaged Luke to design a modest two-storey house, maintaining the existing structure as much as possible. “The brief was to make it comfortable, economical and sustainable,” says Luke. When these old coastal houses are bought, they are often demolished and replaced with buildings that maximise outlook and internal space. Needless to say, neighbours were apprehensive about…

Architect Zen Architects zenarchitects.com Builder 2iC Construction Joinery COS Interiors Timber shelving Made by Morgen Landscaping Eckersley Garden Architecture Passive energy design The entire residence was elevated to achieve a 6.2-star NatHERS rating even though the original residence equates to 50 per cent of the footprint. Zen positioned the new kitchen, living, dining and deck on the ground floor with a northern aspect. The first-floor master bedroom also faces north. The northern façade contains a pergola element that wraps the entire façade. This is optimised for winter gain whilst eliminating summer sun. The first-floor internal courtyard allows northern light deep into the hallway of the original Victorian weatherboard. Due to the soil conditions and the state of the original residence the house is predominantly lightweight construction, requiring careful attention to…

Up above Hobart (mouheneenner Country, lutruwita, under kunyani), in a pink house, we talk over tea with milk from Hannah Moloney’s sweet-natured goat. Our conversation weaves its way from her horticultural upbringing, through to Cuba and Detroit and their respective garden resurgences, about the debate on the value of ‘weeds’, to Hobart and the power of radical hope. Hannah was raised working in her parents’ herb ‘farm’ in West End (inner-city Brisbane). She cannot remember a time when she wasn’t deeply connected with plants, the seasons and soil. The concept of an urban farm seems so natural to her she cannot imagine any other way of living, even on the smallest and most city-locked of sites. Hannah left Brisbane well before the advent of public urban permaculture sites, such as…