-
Architects: Steffen Welsch Architects
- Area: 165 m²
- Year: 2023
-
Photographs:Tatjana Plitt
-
Manufacturers: Binq Windows, Classic Ceramics, LIVOS, Melbourne Stairs, RMS Traders, Sanden, Solstice Lighting, Timber Revival, Timberwood Panels
'Life Cycle' is a rigorous passive solar design on a small footprint. Our ethos of "building as background" guides layout, detailed planning, and articulation. This home is functional and unassuming, it resonates with approachability and warmth drawn from utilizing natural elements and materials.
The zoning and plan are simple: the original house accommodates a home office, the parents' living quarters, and essential facilities; the rear extension is dedicated to communal areas on the ground floor, and children's spaces upstairs. There is a transition zone in between: a spillover lounge connected to a winter garden, and a small lobby overlooking a fishpond. With the developing privacy needs of the family in mind, parent and children's zones are easily interchangeable.
Design decisions were driven by a life cycle assessment and passive solar: This led us to a simple and modest addition moved to the side, balancing the building with open space. The compact structure minimizes material use. This building is not overglazed: doors and windows are sized and placed strategically to balance natural light, optimize airflow, and provide easy access to nature. The pond outside the lounge acts as a natural cooler, the winter garden serves as a thermal buffer.
Above the dining area, a netted void functions as a thermal chimney. The pergolas provide shade, the planters near the windows offer easy access to edible gardens and reduce radiant heat, and the low embodied carbon stone flooring optimizes thermal comfort. Collectively, these measures reduce the building's global warming potential by 79% against the Australian average. Homes should have an identity and this home forms its identity from drawing in and giving back to the neighborhood.
Social impacts were important considerations. To invite engagement with the street, we opened the front and extended the verandah. Upstairs is designed for curated views of neighboring trees and buildings. The new addition picks up a traditional building form that dissolves into an articulated timber structure, forming a transition between building and garden. It honors the existing architectural context while seamlessly integrating a contemporary aesthetic that both complements and enriches its surroundings.
Life Cycle is the result of an engaging dialogue between clients and our team, a collective effort that is more than just an add-on to a house; it's a thoughtful and very personal articulation of domestic spaces that are functional, comfortable, and warm. The learnings from Life Cycle guide the firm's sustainable design approach and construction practice. They support our commitment to helping clients adopt a resource-conscious, community-focused lifestyle that re-evaluates suburban living.
As the owners, Simon and Chris, described it in their own words: 'Our new home is nurturing; warm; and welcoming. It gives a calm comfort and joy to how we live through its beauty and connection with nature. It gathers the family for meals and music, while its nooks let us each do our own thing. It reaches out to the street, drawing in friends and neighbors for fun and play. It is a joy in our lives.'
