The Annandale EnerPHit project is a south facing, heritage listed terrace on a leafy street in Sydney’s inner west. Typical to terrace design, the original building was dark and closed-in with small rooms and no connection to the outside by either natural light or visually to the garden. The building was cool in summer and freezing in winter.

The guiding principle of the renovation was to overcome the unfavourable south facing orientation, open up the living spaces to as much natural light as possible and bring some visual delight through a strong connection to a lush garden.

With no northern aspect or other means to access light; The originally dark ground floor living spaces were transformed into warm, welcoming spaces that are now flooded with natural light. This was achieved both by sacrificing small areas of the first floor for light shafts to bring natural light down from High performance skylights, as well as a strip of glass flooring to let the ground floor benefit from light from existing first floor windows.

The side passage which will be densely planted and with splashes of colour to the neighbouring blank walls was conceived holistically as one space with the internal living rooms. Similarly, the expanded courtyard serve to extend the living areas.

The Passivehaus Enerphit component to the project was a significant challenge, particularly given the building’s heritage listing and the extensive damp problems of the existing fabric. Existing linings were almost completely stripped back to reveal extensive mould throughout, and all insulation and membranes were applied internally to preserve the external heritage features and windows needed to recreate existing styles.

With well-considered architectural design by Karen Erdos Architecture; Passivehaus consultancy from LAB Design; construction expertise of builder Sowden Building Solutions; and the client’s commitment to ‘doing better’ in all decisions, the project achieved certification ‘plus’ and a delightful ‘forever home’.