Hillside Hideaway by Envirotecture

ArchiPro Project Summary - Sustainable family home near Lake Macquarie featuring innovative PV awnings, high insulation, and off-grid capabilities for year-round comfort and energy efficiency.

Title:: Hillside Hideaway
Architect:: Envirotecture
Category:: Residential/; New Builds

Near Lake Macquarie, on small acreage in a peri-urban semi-forested hillside, this comfortable family home sits across the contours so it is all on one level, with unimpeded winter solar access. Summer heat is shaded out, with a unique feature being the large sliding awnings over the north facing patio, which also house the photovoltaic panels. In fact, if you look up at the underside of the awning you are looking at the actual PV panels themselves.

Project Details

This ‘PV awning’ allows minute by minute control of sun and shade in all seasons and all weathers, allowing the outdoor space to be used year round, without impeding the powerful passive solar performance. High insulation levels and elimination of thermal bridges, along with double glazing and an insulated thermal mass floor, provides a very comfortable environment.

The house is virtually ‘off-grid’, looking after its own power, water harvesting and waste water treatment. The 25KL rainwater tank sits concealed under the carport slab. BAL-40 construction is achieved with Rylock double glazing, and MgO expressed joint sheet and stone cladding. The Colorbond roof and shielded gutters keep radiant heat and embers out.

At the 2020 Building Designers Association of Australia National Design Awards, the Hillside Hideaway House was commended in the New Residential category (251-350m2).

Photography by Dick Clarke

Project Gallery

Views and Engagement

Professionals used

EnvirotectureArchitects

SUSTAINABLE BUILDING DESIGN

CONSULTANCY

•••

SUSTAINABLE BUILDING DESIGN

•••

Envirotecture

Architects

Ballarat Central, Ballarat, Victoria

(+1 More)

envirotecture.com.au

Envirotecture. At Envirotecture we design beautiful, sustainable buildings that work for you, your family or your business. With over 35 years’ experience in sustainable architecture, we can offer you a full range of building design and consulting services to deliver the best possible built outcome for your build. Facilitate and future-proof your lifestyle with our cost-effective designs that provide stylish design solutions. See our sustainable design portfolio. We Design for ComfortOur designs, using state-of-the-art materials and passive design principles, will keep you cool in summer and warm in winter. We Design for StyleYou want you to enjoy spaces that inspire your soul. We will design your building so that it not only works really well, it looks great too! We Design for ValueWe can give you the biggest bang for your buck. Our sustainable designs are an affordable alternative to traditional design and will significantly reduce your long-term operating costs. We Design for the EnvironmentWhen you chose our sustainable architectural solutions your build will have a direct beneficial impact on the environment by helping to: protect the ecosystem reduce emissions improve air and water quality conserve water reduce waste conserve and restore natural resources We Design for the FutureOur architectural solutions will help create you a responsive, beautiful, energy efficient home that will continue to work for you and your family as your needs changes. Sustainable design will also optimize the life cycle of your building and increase your property value. We use the latest technology to ensure clever, creative design solutions that last the distance. We Design for BusinessYou want your commercial building to provide environmental, economic and social benefits to your business. We can design your building to: help reduce your operating costs improve workplace environment optimize the life cycle of your building increase your property value improve your employee’s attendance and productivity We Believe in Giving BackAt Envirotecture we always have a pro bono project, or ‘love job’ on the go. The current Love Job is for the Read Triplets who are wheelchair bound with muscular dystrophy Previous love jobs include: Wakisa Foundation's shelter for homeless pregnant girls in Kampala, Uganda the Laotian School project We Believe in Sustainable Architecture We have over 35 years’ experience in sustainable design, and our team are all leaders in their fields. We each bring different skill sets to the business but we all are inspired by sustainable design because we see the difference it makes on so many levels.