Golden Turret

In Melbourne’s inner north, this home has been redefined into a biophilic sanctuary, drawing the occupants closer to nature in a comfortable and welcoming dwelling.

The designer and builder, Sustainable Homes Melbourne, worked closely with the clients to customise a tailored solution, using eco-friendly, sustainable & high-quality materials.

With an emphasis on solar passive design principles, whilst harnessing advanced systems and technologies, this renovation/extension has transformed this once cold and leaky 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom home into a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home.

With a varied range of external materials including Zinc Cladding, recycled bricks and Western Red Cedar Shingles, the home’s façade is of considerable visual interest. A turret on the East elevation is a staircase to the first floor, featuring a slender 2.4-metre high Fixed Lite Window.

For the ultimate in thermal performance, several products from Rylock’s Thermally Broken Series were specified, including Fixed Lite and Awning Windows and Hinged Doors featured throughout the home. In addition, Commercial Series Casement Windows and Architectural Aluminium Sliding Windows are specified on the first floor of the dwelling to take full advantage of cross-flow ventilation; whilst external shrouds provide added protection from solar heat gain.

With the team at Sustainable Homes Melbourne’s unwavering focus on energy efficiency gains, they achieved a NatHERS rating of 6.1 stars, from the original 3.1 to significantly improve the comfort of the home. This, together with blower door tests, (which measure the number of air changes per hour), where a pre-renovation score of 27.7 ACH (Air Changes per Hour) was dramatically reduced to 7.7 ACH, all whilst retaining 90% of the existing building fabric.

Whilst achieving such a notable result for the blower door test involves a whole-of-house approach, Rylock’s high performance product solutions play an integral role in this success. Rylock is committed to designing windows and doors that feature multiple, quality seals which when tested in NATA-accredited laboratories for Australian Standard AS2047 – Window and External Glazed Doors in Buildings, (AS 4420.4 Air Infiltration test), achieve outstanding results.

Sustainable Homes Melbourne was recognised as a Finalist in the 2024 HIA GreenSmart Energy Efficiency Awards for Golden Turret; a testament to their innovative design, energy efficiency focus, and commitment to delivering a comfortable and environmentally responsible living space.

Frame Colour: Textura Monument
Glazing: Grade A Safety Toughened Low-e Double Glazing (Argon Fill)