sanctuary magazine issue 14 - pavilion living - eumundi, qld green home profile

8/7/2019 Sanctuary magazine issue 14 - Pavilion Living - Eumundi, QLD green home profile

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SANCTUARY58

pavilionlivingThiS No-fRillS home iN The SUNShiNe CoAST

hiNTeRlANd mAkeS The moST of CooliNg

bReezeS, SiTTiNg high oveR A dAm

Words Fncn ly

photography pu ccul ppy

G

he home sits high over a

dam. ts safe from oodig

de to the high eevatio of

the vae.


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SANCTUARY60

hoUSe pRofile RegioNAl qUeeNSlANd hoUSe pRofile

In the country or on the coast,

architect Matt Cooper would use the same

tenet to guide the design of any new home:

orientation, orientation, orientation.

In our experience, orientation is the most

important element to consider in sustainable

design it has the largest impact, says Matt,

of firm Aspect Architecture, based in Brisbane

and Kingscliff on the New South Wales north

coast. The plan, 3D form, ceiling heights and

the like can all then be designed to exploit and

add to the benefits of correct orientation.

After years of hunting for just the right site,

the client came upon a perfect patch outside

Eumundi, a township in the Sunshine Coast

hinterland. Its 25ha of rural heaven.

This particular site is in a beautiful piece

of country and the dam, which is continually

flushed by a small creek, was an added

attraction, says Matt, who homed in on the

dams potential for water views and natural air-

conditioning.

The house is sited over the edge of the

dam so when the wind passes across the water,

it cools as it goes and then passes through the

house as cool air.

And if youre shuddering to think of rising

flood waters, Matt holds steadfastly to the

decision to place the house so close to the dam.

The dam is continually overflowing as

small creeks feed into it on the high side. The

site is still quite high in the landscape, although

this house is built in a valley within that

immediate landscape. Although the ground

might get a bit boggy, the water always gets

away. There was no need to do anything extra

to mitigate flooding.

On this land, Matt decided upon a simple

pavilion structure, with the living area at the

centre and a bedroom on either side.

The client was clear that two bedrooms

would be enough for their needs, Matt saysof the basic floor plan for inhabitants that

may include, in various combinations at any

one time, two adults, two children and sundry

guests.

Matt says the pavilion idea allows the house

to function well both environmentally and

practically.

The separation of the building mass

encourages cross-flow ventilation through the

building, gives great opportunities for natural

light, and allows us to control the sun to each

space more accurately. Functionally, it allows

each space its own privacy for a modestly-

sized home, you never feel like you are on top

of each other.

Its a house with a simple floor plan, put

together with no-frills building methods and

materials, which means once the building

floor platform was up, there was very little

disturbance to the site during construction.

All the natural overland water flow paths

were maintained, which was very important as

they feed into the dam with its great fauna: fish,

turtles, birds, Matt points out.

For materials, Matt chose cladding and

flooring that would respect the rural sett ing.

He says the exterior zincalume wall cladding

is a long-lasting, basic building material which

aesthetically fits in well with the bush. Matt

adds that the environmental benefit of one

cladding over another when considering the

overall project is marginal.

The bigger impact items are orientation

and access to sun, breeze and natural light. For

this house, the northeast orientation of t he

main building axis allows excellent solar access

during the morning and winter periods while

the ensuites of the sleeping pavilions act as a

buffer from the western sun.

Some heating help is required in winter,

and thats where the slow combustion wood

stove becomes invaluable.

The client wanted something that would

provide both atmosphere and the amount of

heat needed for the home, Matt says. The

overall property is very large, so a fire of this

size will be fed with timber already available

from fallen branches around the property or

trees that are knocked down by storms. On thisproperty there will be no need to ever cut down

a tree to fuel the fire.

The house is sited over

the edge of the dam so

when the wind passes

across the water, it

cools as it goes and

then passes through

the house as cool air.

D

he oivig,

rooms

thro

aviio

o fro

L

he aviio st

eorages ro


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SANCTUARY62

hoUSe pRofile RegioNAl qUeeNSlANd hoUSe pRofile

sustaInable Features

Water saving

Grohe five star water saving taps throughou

www.grohe.com

10,000L water tank supplies all water for ho

Passive heating & cooling

Building orientation and articulation of buil

form allows maximum cross flow ventilation

maximum solar admittance during winter, w

minimising solar access during summer

Location of windows throughout the three p

provides ample natural light throughout the

R2.5 ceiling insulation, R1.5 bulk insulation t

external walls

Active heating & cooling

Wood stove

Ceiling fans to bedrooms and living areas

Windows & glazing

Aluminium framed, grey tint glazing

www.gjames.com.au

Lighting

Low impact lighting

Building materials

Zincalume metal roof

Recycled timber weatherboards

Zincalume metal wall cladding

Spotted gum tongue and groove flooring

Hoop pine plywood used in cabinets

Other ESD features

Envirocycle sewer treatment

www.envirocycle.com.au

desIgner

Aspect Architecture

WebsIte

www.aspectarch.com

buIlder

N & N Webster Builders

project type

New building

project locatIon

Eumundi,Sunshine Coast, QLD

sIze

house 143 sqm, excluding decks;

land 25 hectares

eUmUNdi ReSideNCe

J

roia homes eed to ath

ever breeze. he ivig areas

i this home oe omete,

makig the most of its

oatio over the dam.

G

he hose has 10,000 itres of

raiwater storage, sig

a its water eeds.

gRoUNd flooR plAN

1 arage

2 tr ek

3 Kithe

4 livig oom

5 iig oom

6 tdoor ek

7 Bedroom

8 site

9 Bedroom

10 Bathroom

11 am

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2

3

4

5

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sanctuary magazine issue 14 - pavilion living - eumundi, qld green home profile

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