Hills End, Ecohome.

The Ready Ecohome is a new house with sustainability at the core of the design brief. Energy generation and conservation; water collection, reticulation and recycling; recycled content in construction materials; low toxicity; durability and low maintenance. Design features, materials and products have undergone rigorous assessment of their environmental, social and economic sustainability credentials.

Picture of feature project - by Tropicool Homes

Two very committed clients with a brief for a sustainable house approached Riddel Architecture in 2005. The goal was to produce the greenest home possible in every aspect from dismantling the existing house on the site to the final landscaping touches. With this in mind, and working with Robert Peagram Builders who are also dedicated to a sustainable approach, this vision has been realised with few compromises.

The building form responds to the site and draws on elements of the Queensland home in a contemporary way. Large overhangs, window hoods, outdoor living spaces, blinds, lightweight building materials and generous ceiling heights, set within a lush landscape reflect this. Openings are maximised to capture breezes, sun and daylight, with the exception of the western walls which provide minimal openings.

The existing house was dismantled to make way for the new building with most of the timber framing, flooring, linings and claddings reused in the new building.

Whilst all of the doors and some windows were salvaged from the original house, it was decided that new ones would be used in the new home to satisfy the aesthetic style and to meet new building code requirements.

The criteria for the material selection was it had to be locally sourced, low or no toxicity, durable and sourced from Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) certifited forests with full chain of custody certification. Plantation Araucaria (local species, locally grown) joinery from Finlayson's was the ideal choice.

Finlayson’s Envirowood was not only considered because of its superior environmental credentials, but also due to it’s density, stability and durability. Envirowood also offered the best solution for clear finishing as it posseses minimal colour variation and absolutely no raised grain or furriness.

Interesting Facts

Approx. 80% of the original house was reused in the new home. 95% of the original house was recycled or reused
Demolition waste - only two 4 cubic metre skips and two car trailers
Construction waste - no skips during construction. Three 3 cubic metre skips at completion
New house has estimated total recycled content of 80%
The house is self-sufficient in water and power

For more information on this project:
www.hillendeco.blogspot.com or download Ecohousebrochure.pdf (732KB)
Builder - Robert Peagram
P. 0412 460 615 E. robpeagram@optusnet.com.au
Architects - Riddle Architecture
P. 07 3831 4155 E. reception@rara.net.au W. rara.net.au
Photography- Christopher Frederick Jones
P. 07 3298 5493 E. studio@cfjphoto.com.au W. cfjphoto.com.au