This is our first project that incorporates the ECOHUS details in full. The site is a north-facing block on a low rise in the warm-temperate climate zone of the lower Hunter Valley, providing ideal conditions for passive solar design, and is entirely off-grid. The only existing building on the site was a modern steel-framed shed, which was craned intact to a new position to free-up the preferred location for the house, and it provides the platform for the off-grid services to be installed prior to construction: solar PV panels with a battery, and 100,000 litre rainwater tank and pump. The house is rectangular in plan with verandahs stepping in-and-out from under a hipped scissor-truss roof. The walls are prefabricated panels made by Viva Living Homes: timber framed with straw insulation and lime render, providing high levels of insulation using only bio-based materials. The floor is made in two parts: the western end is a concrete slab to provide thermal mass, whilst the eastern end is a raised timber floor to give the sensation of ‘floating’ above the landscape as the site slopes away. Accommodation includes an open-plan living/dining/kitchen space, three bedrooms and a studio, and a large mudroom/laundry to make space for country clobber. The main living space is a ‘breezeway’ with large openings to north and south and high level rooflights for natural ventilation, as well as some large north-facing rooflights for sunlight during winter.

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