Hillary Passivhaus
Residential: Single Dwelling
EnerPHit Plus Certification
East Lindfield, NSW, 2024
The clients had lived at this address for decades. They’d raised their children here, and they didn’t want to leave this suburb. They consulted the project team, thinking the house simply couldn’t be fixed—the renovation done on the 1930s two-story house in the early ‘00s hadn’t made the house any easier to live in.
And so, a brief was taken for a knockdown rebuild. But then an interesting thing happened. As the floor plan developed, the team couldn’t help but notice how similar it was to the original house. That’s when they went back to the clients with an unexpected proposal: what if the old house could be fixed?
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AIRTIGHTNESS n50 ACH@50pascals: 0.47
HEATING DEMAND (kWh/m².yr): 10
COOLING DEMAND (kWh/m².yr): 10
PRIMARY ENERGY RENEWABLE DEMAND (PER): 43
PRIMARY ENERGY RENEWABLE GENERATION (PER): 116 -
LOCATION: East Lindfield,NSW
NCC CLIMATE ZONE: 5
NATHERS CLIMATE ZONE: 56
YEAR OF COMPLETION: 2024
TREATED FLOOR AREA (PHPP sqm): 270
PROJECT TYPE: Retrofit & addition
RESIDENTIAL: Single Dwelling
CONSTRUCTION TYPE: Timber Frame, High Mass Masonry, Plastic void former concrete slab
CERTIFICATION LEVEL/ ENERGY STANDARD: EnerPHit Plus -
MHRV SYSTEM: Zehnder ComfoAir Q350
DOMESTIC HOT WATER SYSTEM: Sanden Eco Plus 315L
EXTERIOR WALL TYPE, U-VALUE: Insulated 140mm timber framed wall, 0.287
FLOOR SLAB TYPE, U-VALUE: Additional insulation to existing suspended timber floor. New plastic void former concrete slab with 30mm XPS slab edge insulation, Suspended floor: 0.388, concrete floor: 2.045
ROOF INSULATION TYPE, MANUFACTURER: Bondor Solarspan
ROOF CONSTRUCTION: Structural insulated panel
ROOF ENVELOPE U-VALUE: 0.189
GLAZING TYPE, MANUFACTURER, U W-VALUE, G-VALUE, U VALUE:
Double, Logikhaus, 1.5, 0.34, 1.06 -
NUMBER OF MODULES: 42
HEIGHT, WIDTH OF ONE MODULE (m, m) : 1.7, 1.1
EFFICIENCY (%): 98
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There are several design elements that weave together the old and the new, inside and outside. The new extension is clad in narrow vertical timber cladding, which also features on a dramatic wall that leads from the kitchen to the living room. The front door sits in a curved wall, behind which the staircase winds up to the first floor. The kitchen wall echoes this same curve.
They now have the best of both worlds; the art deco character and familiarity of the original house plus a new extension with a beautifully workable floor plan and gorgeous connection to the garden.
There was a small consolation with regard to the regrettable ‘00s extension: it had beautiful floorboards and design team made a point of re-using them.
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The entire house is wrapped up in a new airtight building envelope featuring Passivhaus components, ensuring a warm, comfortable and healthy home. In fact the building surpassed the requirements for a PHI retrofit (the EnerPHit standard) and qualifies as a Passivhaus classic.
That outstanding result flowed from good architectural detailing and a lot of good execution by great builders with Passivhaus experience who had worked withthe team before. Interestingly, the render on the exterior of the original masonry acts as the airtight layer.
Project Members
PASSIVHAUS CERTIFIER: Detail Green
PASSIVHAUS CONSULTANT/ ARCHITECT/ MECHANICAL ENGINEER: Envirotecture
BUILDER: Red Cedar Constructions
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Tall Ideas
WINDOW SUPPLIER: Logikhaus
HRV SUPPLIER: Fantech
AIRTIGHTNESS MEMBRANE SUPPLIER: ProClima
BLOWER DOOR TESTER: Blower Door Services
PHOTOGRAPHER: Evan Maclean